Christine really pushed for Priory when helping us select a right fit school for our child who is…read moreacademic, athletic, kind, extroverted, personable and social. She made no mention that out of a class size of about 80 12-17 of those kids would be international boarders, primarily from Asian countries who often reclassify when they enter 9th gr. Another thing she left out about priory is it draws a fair number of Asians frompaloalto and losaltos hills. She also failed to mention that it is known for being open ti accepting the quirky and socially awkward kids. My child is none of these things. I think she needs to update her info on each high school to more accurately reflect their current student body, not the one her daughter experienced at Priory 1-2 decades ago.

Our child was recently admitted to their dream high school. It would not have happened without…read moreChristine's abundant knowledge, professional advices, and personal support to our child and to us as parents, throughout the entire HS application season. It would be a cliché to call the result the icing on the cake, but we truly value the application process working with Christine just as much. She led our child through the reflection and self-discovery as a 13 year old middle schooler, which will no doubt benefit them far beyond HS application or HS. As far as we know, there is a great collaborative relationship between her team and the Keys school team led by our head Heather.

My daughter's SAT score wouldn't budge past the 1300s, and she felt as if the schools in her list…read morewere slipping further out of reach every time she retook the test. We'd tried other prep on our own but with barely any movement, so we were becoming more and more skeptical anything would help. Fortunately, our friends referred us to Cardinal Education. Daniel, her tutor, took the time to figure out her (academic) strengths and weaknesses through a diagnostic test. After multiple sessions and practice tests, we had the highest hopes. And so when we finally started seeing progress (her score came back at 1530), we just sat there in shock lol. It completely changed her options for college that we decided to also sign up for their college consulting package. All thanks to her team of tutors and consultants!

We have been working with Cardinal for several years for both tutoring and college preparation…read more Their approach is absolutely phenomenal; I originally reached out for their help with my daughter's application to a local private school last minute. They were an absolute godsend in helping me honestly understand what was involved in the process, getting my young daughter prepared, and help drafting some statements from interviews. They really know how to partner with families and come alongside and provide the guidance and preparation needed. We get also math tutoring from them for 2 daughters, and the tutors are so familiar with the school's teachers, approach and curriculum that it's more like private instruction than tutoring. The big win is working with them for our senior's college application process. It was a huge investment, and at first we weren't sure about the cost. But now that we see the full picture of services they offer, it's well worth it, and such an investment into our child's future. What's invaluable, is the way they are teaching her how to think and function like an executive. The level of planning, idea generating, and execution is unlike anything I' ve ever seen. Cardinal has brought in an entire team to support our daughter's complicated college application process so that she is advised, guided and cheered on every step of the way. It's about a lot more than simply getting her into the college of her dreams. They are teaching her how to plan out a future goal, work harder than she ever has, revise 7+ times and keep revising. Improving math grades, choosing classes, how to present herself as a unique individual who can contribute meaningfully. I'm blown away by their services!

Assi is amazing. He's calm, the lessons are appropriately paced, and I felt his pricing was fair…read more He taught both of my boys the fundamentals and both passed their test with flying colors on the first exam. I have also recommended him to a few other folks and their kid's also had great experiences and passed their first time. That all said, I think there are some expectations to set. Assi communicates via texting. If your expectation is a fancy online school where you can book your hours via self-service, etc...this is not that. You text Assi, he replies, you figure out your lesson, he shows up and the work gets done. So...I think if your expectations are great lessons from an experienced instructor without the frills of websites and booking systems, then you found your driving company.

If you have an anxious kid, there is absolutely no other driving teacher to consider…read more Period. Thank you for your kindness and patience

I cannot recommend Anne's Beneventi's qualitative assessment highly enough. She keeps her rates…read morelow, and from what I hear from other families who have had their children tested by her, she is accurate in her assessment of IQ scores. She will also tell you whether your child will be a good fit for school or not. She is very highly respected in the gifted community. But the important factor in helping me figure out my gifted, "2e" child was her dead-on assessment of what needed to be done at the time. I had just pulled my son out of school to homeschool him and was in crisis as to how to teach him and address his needs. (I was told to address his handwriting by one professional, and given other confusing advice by others.) I was given a very helpful, clear and concise direction to go in by Anne. (In our case, committing to vision therapy (no matter how resistant he was!) and occupational therapy. She was even accurate in her assessment that he may need some auditory help down the road, which he did.) A year later I have addressed these needs, and he is thriving.

Anne was referred to my family by a number of people as a top-notch consultant for assessing…read morechildren's educational needs. Anne asked us to fill out a number of forms and provided guidance on answering some of the more ambiguous questions. The forms are very comprehensive and try to thoroughly asses both the child and the family. While it took a while to fill out the forms, I felt the forms were done very professionally. We scheduled qualitative assessment, but my child got a bit sick, and Anne advised rescheduling the assessment, as she wants to see children at their best. Considering how busy Anne is, I thought it was very nice of her to accommodate us. Anne came to our place for assessment one Saturday morning. My child is a bit shy at first and Anne gave it some personal space. After less than five minutes, they were cheerfully playing together and chatting. I had never seen anyone else gaining my child's trust so quickly. I must say, that those five minutes made it absolutely clear Anne has plenty of experience and talent working with and engaging children. I was really impressed, the child behaved almost as if Anne was a long-term friend. I'm not a psychologist, but my impression is that gaining child's trust and getting a child to open up is absolutely essential to be able to do a thorough evaluation. After the evaluation, we talked to Anne for over an hour. I was shocked how much she was able to tell us about the child just from the evaluation. She was spot-on on everything she said and provided a lot of helpful advise and guidance on what kind of education would work best for our circumstances. A few days later, we got a detailed evaluation report, which was thorough, perceptive, and professionally done. Also, Anne sent us a list of references. I've read most of the references in the meantime. There were a few that were very solid scientifically supported research and I found those very helpful. A few others were hand wavy and not written in a scientific way. I simply ignored the latter references. All together, we found the evaluation well worth the money and very helpful in both gaining deeper understanding of our circumstances and for deciding what type of education would work best for our child. Anne has been highly professional and caring in the whole process, and I highly recommend her.

I wrote a review 4 years ago (see below), and I don't know how to post a new review separately from…read morethe first one. Anyway, this is my second review for Cathy Chen. My daughter, Angela, has been with Cathy since her 8th grade 4 years ago. Angela is a very independent, thoughtful, passionate girl. All these great qualities have served and will continue to serve her well, but nothing comes without a flip side. She can be very stubborn, so I had a sense that my wife and I need someone like Cathy to help her and help us. I have to say this is one of my smartest decisions. Cathy has great skills and experience working with teenagers. Parents are not trained at all for teenagers. During the beginning of the covid period, Angela experienced a big challenge, and it was a big test for our family, too. Luckily, we had Cathy. We got out of it successfully, and I believe it became a valuable experience for Angela. Cathy's assistance to Angela's college preparation was also great. We all know there is great amount of work and so many details to be taken care of. Just imagine on top of this amount of work and you have a daughter or son who has time management issue and can be stubborn. Angela certainly is not the only teenager who has time management issue. In the end, Angela not only got it done, but actually didn't allow my wife and I to get involved at all. Personally, I appreciate more Cathy's guidance on the soft skills, like the right mindsets for life. Angela is going to college now, and she has Cathy as a good friend probably for life. Review from 4 years ago: Cathy is coaching my daughter who is an 8th grader. Cathy has great communicating skills, and is compassionate helping children. I feel lucky that we found her.

Very qualified coaches in terms of college coaching and advising. Some coaches who do parent…read morecoaching are not parents, so if that's important to you I recommend you ask about that. There are several coaches in addition to Cathy. Be sure you have a good fit for your child/teen AND you as the parent. A coach might work well for your teen but be a mismatch for you. If you have that sense, consider someone else at Village or elsewhere. College coaching Packages include very minimal and unstructured parent contact (eg no or inconsistent weekly reports or updates, and you will be charged extra or even admonished for more than 1-2 emails or conversations) Many other college coaches provide more structure and clearer policies for interacting with parents. I recommend that you ask questions to be sure Village Coaches is a fit for you. Even if you want your child to be independent, if you will be paying for college and living with your teen during their application process, it's helpful to be informed and educated and kept in the loop. This parent connection takes more time and is not integrated into Village Coaches college advising packages. Potentially you could ask to add it but philosophically they may not want to. I encourage you to at least ask questions about this.

I've been signing up my two daughters for different programming curriculum via afterschool programs…read moreand summer programs and I noticed that they thrived when they were in environments such as the all girls coding summer program run by Alexa Cafe. But there isn't a year-round option like this available for us. They were the only girls in the programs after school and they felt like they were passive learners. They hated it. I was lucky to hear about Juni Learning from a friend who is one of their teachers and I figured I'd try the free trial. I liked the set up, coding from home, they can both log on separately in their laptops receive 1:2 instruction from a female MCS student at Duke who is more relatable than someone decades older and male. It's a financial sacrifice for us but it's worth every cent. They are enjoying the classes, tinkering when they don't have to, and are excited to show me their projects because they feel a sense of ownership they didn't feel before. I can't wait to see their progress as they continue with Juni learning. I can't recommend Juni enough.

My 15 year old son has been taking classes with Juni for over a year…read more We have been extremely happy with his instructors, he had two amazing instructors. Both instructors are highly qualified.. Both instructors always motivated and challenged him focusing on keeping his interest on their sessions with him - my Son has been coding on his own with the work they assign him throughout the week which is a big plus.. Furthermore, the customer service is phenomenal, professional and responds to my questions and concerns if any arraise promptly ( which is very important to me) .. That said, I would like to personally thank Ashley in Customer service who always goes above and beyond with helping me.. The customer service and highly qualified instructor's that are provided by Juni are the reason I would not hesitate to sign my kids to this great company. Thank you Juni!

We worked with Lauren for our 5-year-old who had always struggled with "big feelings" but suddenly…read morehad an aggressive behavioral change. We were walking on eggshells, bracing for violent outbursts, and had run out of strategies (books, podcasts, and Instagram posts could only take us so far!). We contacted Lauren as a referral from our pediatrician and she came within a couple of days. She was direct, honest, flexible, and honored our personal constraints. Within an hour, she had connected with our kiddo and reset the tone for our family. We committed to Lauren's approach. Over the course of several weeks, we saw dramatic improvements in behavior and breakthrough moments that brought tears to my eyes--calming his body, being kind to his little brother, and demonstrating patience. We not only regained control of our household, we learned how to be much more positive and resilient parents. As we reflected back, we spent the prior year+ losing our sh** and thinking that was normal (it probably is "normal"). Lauren was the intervention we didn't realize existed. We are now more equipped, in a way that is customized and works for our very special child. Thank you Lauren!!

Lauren truly is an exceptional behavioral consultant. I can't recommend her enough!…read more She has the ability to strike just the right balance of cool aunt and drill sergeant while working with children. She's so good at what she does that she's able to get the behavioral changes needed while maintaining a positive relationship. Not to mention the children walk away feeling really good about themselves. When speaking with children she truly humanizes their experiences and makes it so relatable for them. She has been instrumental in working with our school and has provided guidance and strategies for the school that are both novel and impactful. This has made a remarkable difference. Finally, she has been immensely helpful in teaching me how to manage behavior at home.

My students took the SAT this Saturday, and they all agreed about one point: the tutoring they…read morereceived -- through Matthew Downhour of AJ Tutoring -- helped them feel prepared and confident. They said that they were better able to manage their time, and their stress levels, because of the tutoring he provided. Since January of this year, Matt has arrived on time at 8 am, twice a week, to our junior AVID classes. AVID is a college prep class, but I always felt less than confident tutoring my students for the SAT. I'm an English teacher, after all. Can I help with the reading? Sure. The grammar? Yes. But Matt is able to teach them skills, strategies, rules, and... math. I could not have been more happy with Matt, and AJ Tutoring.

We've had a wonderful experience with this tutoring center. They are incredibly responsive,…read moreproactive, and easy to work with. I also really appreciate that we're only charged for the sessions we actually use -- no pressure or unnecessary commitments. Most importantly, my daughter's tutor, Amelie, has been amazing. My daughter is in 5th grade and started tutoring because she was behind in reading, spelling, and writing, and she needed extra support from someone other than mom or dad. Homework at home was often a struggle, so it says a lot that she genuinely likes Amelie and actually looks forward to her sessions. In fact, we were running late once and my daughter was very upset because she didn't want to be late to tutoring -- something I never thought I'd see! Seeing her excited about learning has been incredible, and that wouldn't have happened without Amelie's patience, encouragement, and ability to connect with her. We're so grateful for the progress we've seen and highly recommend this tutoring center, especially Amelie.