Needless to say, after working with Sharon, we will attest to her exceptionalism. After each…read moresession my daughter had with Sharon, she took the time to explain what they were working on and how we could help our daughter until the next session. She provided helpful feedback always. Sharon put an immense amount of time into finding the right combination of homework assignments and integrated testing strategies into lessons. To say the results were dramatic is an understatement. Within a short period of time, we witnessed our daughter improving and applying her new knowledge to Sharon's homework curriculum and ISEE Practice Tests. After only her second official practice test, our daughter's math score went from the 3rd to 47th percentiles. Her reading score doubled. But the final results on the real test were even more astounding. Our daughter's math scores went from the 3rd (on an official practice test) to 60th percentiles (on the real test), a 1900% increase. Her reading comprehension went from the 11th (on an official practice test) to 90th percentiles (on the real test), a 718% increase. Our daughter's reading proficiency went from the 3rd to the 5th grade and she is now familiar with mathematical concepts that are usually taught in the 6th grade! But while Sharon challenged my daughter to learn, and clearly got excellent results, she was careful to not push her beyond her limits. I would also like to note that Sharon is one of the most client-focused professionals I have come across. I was impressed by her organization and communication process. We never missed a beat with Sharon. Sharon possesses a rare combination of dedication, expertise, and genuine enthusiasm. Her professionalism and work ethic is unparalleled. Sharon is a huge asset to any child. To conclude, our family is grateful to Sharon. The experience has been one to remember and it is truly bittersweet that the test season is over. Our daughter once told Sharon that she wanted her "to teach her everything she knew." I can tell she genuinely loves working with children.

Sharon is the best. She helped raise our daughter's test scores significantly. So happy to…read morerecommend her to other families.

We enrolled at Sylvan to assist our daughter with her transition to 6th grade and the increase in…read moreschoolwork that came with it. They have really helped her with the fundamentals of the math and writing that she was struggling with upon arriving to Middle School. The teachers are nice, friendly and give her the motivation that she needed to power through. Thanks Sylvan!

I enrolled my child at Sylvan hoping to get real academic support, but after months of sessions and…read morepaying $71 an hour, her progress actually declined. Her latest school assessment came back lower than when she first started Sylvan, despite being told she had "mastered" certain skills. A reassessment outside of Sylvan confirmed she made very little improvement, which was extremely disappointing. The recent staffing changes also caused major issues. My child struggled to connect with tutors due to high turnover and even left sessions upset. She eventually told me a tutor was being mean to her, which was the final red flag. Between the lack of progress, inconsistent staffing, and my child's emotional discomfort, I decided to withdraw her. I had high hopes for Sylvan, but the results and experience did not match what was promised.

I called Piedmont Tutoring looking for help in Chemistry. My course at Berkeley was not unusually…read moredifficult but after a month in I had a high C, no not the drink. The regional manager was very knowledgeable and took some background info in order to assign someone for me. The tutor ended up working out really well. Alex was able to meet me at the school library around once a week (sometimes more for tests and quizzes). He actually graduated from Berkeley and had taken the same course before. Sometimes scheduling didn't work but he made sure I was taken care of at least once a week. Never hired a tutor before so the experience overall was enjoyable. I believe they do offer to change tutors if you aren't happy but I didn't have to deal with that. Will call again but hopefully won't have to!

My daughter Angie wasn't doing well in her calculus course during her first year of college. We…read moreweren't sure if we should drop or continue. I reached out to Piedmont Tutoring for a tutor that can help us out. Andrew was our "first responder" and helped us right away. Our assigned tutor worked well with Angie and has improved her confidence and her grades over the last few months. He has been flexible and easy to communicate with. We kept a consistent schedule throughout the year which was best for both parties. Would recommend to others looking for tutoring in the area.

Emily and her staff have helped our family through both high school homework help, organizational…read moreskills, and college SAT prep in uniquely professional and thorough ways. The process for understanding who your child is, who your family is, what is at the core of the need, and adjusting and checking in along the way are beyond compare. I am an educator, and worked with many tutors and tutoring services over many years, and these folks, with Emily at the mast, really find a unique and effective balance. They have a no nonsense approach, are goal oriented, target with professional skills, and have a human approach. They know how to meet families and kids where they are, wont shy from giving advice, and they really know the landscape of all the different schools in the area, even down to the curriculum expectations; they know students they serve well. This experience of local schools alone is a huge experiential leg up. I am an elementary educator, but they helped me with my two very different high school kids journeys. I am VERY confident they can do it all, K-12! This place is the BEST!

Study Smarter was terrific in helping our daughter (and her parents!) through the college…read moreapplication process. Everyone we worked with -- Ariel, Joel, Mel -- was professional, thoughtful, and connected well with our daughter. They built trust with our teenager, coached her throughout the process (school selection, test prep and essay writing), listened to her and evolved their recommendations as they got to know her. The bottom line: Reduced stress in the process and (we firmly believe) better results in admissions and financial aid offers than our daughter would have achieved without their help.

Camy is truly the best tutor ever! Warm, sensitive to the student's needs, flexible in approach,…read morewilling to try new things, highly communicative... and super smart to boot (fluent in English and French, and even speaks Mandarin!). Highly recommend. My son and needed help with English writing: he had lots of creative ideas, but structuring those ideas, bringing them to life, finer points of grammar, vocabulary etc. were challenging. Camy devised a series of classes where he would write elaborate fiction over a few sessions, with each writing session focusing on different skills. Result: his writing tightened up, vocabulary improved, and he felt more confident in English. On top of this, Camy made the classes enjoyable. My son LOVED his sessions with them. He used to say classes were so fun that he would lose track of time. Thanks Camy!

We had a wonderful experience working with Camille. She tutored my son for the essay writing prep…read more She was very effective in working on his areas of improvements and organizing thought process. Camille is an exceptional tutor for ISEE.

I worked with Marty to prepare for the GRE and couldn't be happier with the results. He's…read moreincredibly knowledgeable and helped me break down math concepts in ways that I could remember. I was particularly struggling with the quant section of the test. Marty helped me make a significant jump in my score. His explanations were clear and patient and he will help you focus on the areas where you need improvement. On top of all of that, he's nice, friendly, and a true joy to work with every week. If you're looking for a GRE tutor who's skilled and easy to work with, go with Marty!

Marty was great to work with - knew the test extremely well and was especially helpful on verbal…read morestrategies, where I struggled most. TC helped me boost my score by 9 points to eclipse the 330 mark!

Achieve Learning and Resource Center is a dynamic organization built to serve young people and…read moretheir families as they navigate school based learning. I had the pleasure of working with Madison who took on the role of Tutor Coordinator and Regional Manager for our group of young men in Oakland. She provided an outstanding tutor and many resources for us to build on. Madison and Achieve still follow up and provide strategies and opportunities for our young men. I would recommend them to anyone looking for affordable, tutoring, SAT or College Prep assistance.

We are very disappointed in achieve learning and resource center SAT prep course. They have been…read morevery unorganized. The tutors are kids and they let kids leave early and chose to do or not do certain things. I paid good money and expected way more. They should be clear that they pretty much just hand out study guides ( which you could just buy and do on your own ) and have kids do them. I was expecting a little help on problem areas. No such luck. I would not recommend them.

Brittany and Ben are wonderful tutors and mentors, excellent at teaching both STEM and…read morehumanities/social studies subjects. I am someone who needs concepts explained to me in several different ways, and they are able to adjust their teaching style to fit my needs. I also have a difficult time staying focused, and they are good at keeping me engaged in whatever I'm working on. Brittany tutored me from 7th grade through the end of high school, and has even helped me with some of my college coursework. In middle school, I was a year behind in math, and she helped me catch up by tutoring me in Pre-Algebra over the summer before 8th grade. With her help, I passed a placement test that allowed me to take Algebra as an 8th grader. Brittany then helped me prepare for the ISEE in 8th grade, which got me into my top choice school, Head-Royce. When I started at Head-Royce in 9th grade, my classes were much harder than at my previous school, Oakland School for the Arts. Brittany helped me transition more easily to taking rigorous college-prep courses. She helped me with English and history throughout high school, including APUSH. She was also my SAT tutor and helped me with college application essays. Ben helped me with math during high school, and the math section of the SAT, and substituted for Brittany when she travelled to Guatemala. Unfortunately, they don't tutor high school science, so I had to get another tutor for Chemistry. During my first two years of college (I will be a junior this fall), Brittany gave me invaluable essay-writing strategies that not only helped me write large research papers, but personal statements for my transfer applications and for applying to the Honors College at my university. I highly recommend Ben and Brittany. I'm a strong student now and owe a lot of that to their constant guidance and support. I highly recommend them to any parent who wants tutors that will adjust to their kid's unique needs, and more importantly, truly care about them.

Brittany is an amazing tutor. She started helping me with geometry my sophomore year all the way to…read morecollege admissions. She is such a hard worker, and has helped me in so many different ways throughout high school. She's assisted me in geometry honors, precalculus honors, SAT prep, college applications and so much more. Brittany has been an invaluable source of knowledge and advise, and I can honestly say that I would not have succeeded as much as I did without her help. But the thing I cannot stress enough is that she has such a enormous heart, and truly cares deeply about the students she tutors. She will go above and beyond for each and every one of her students to make sure they succeed. Brittany is honestly one of a kind, and I am so incredibly grateful that my parents chose her to tutor me.

We used Aspire for several tutoring sessions, a practice exam, and exam review for our son who…read moreneeds to take the ISEE as part of the private high school admissions process. The one-on-one attention he received was invaluable and the cost was reasonable; but more than that, the flexibility to help our son even on a Sunday, having someone come in just to assist him, showed a commitment to his success that went beyond the other study services. In addition to tutoring for these and other exams, ASPIRE, as a non-profit, has a mission to enhance the opportunities for kids of low-income families. For us, it meant that we were supporting a good organization even while paying for high quality tutoring services. There was no trade off between the individual attention and the high quality our son received on the one hand and, on the other, their non-profit status. In fact, they complemented each other. It showed that this was more about Will's success and not a business transaction. Indeed, we were so grateful to the team there, we made a further donation to assist them in one of their programs: a volunteer-based literacy program for low income preschoolers in the East Bay. We highly recommend them.

I used Aspire back in 2014 when my daughter was preparing for the SAT. They did a great job…read moretutoring her and helping her maximize her score without an undue amount of stress. The staff were excellent, professional, and very knowledgeable. I liked it so much that later when I wanted to switch careers, I became a tutor at Aspire, and worked with students through them. It has been a privilege working with the very good, very talented staff there.

Our daughter started at Raskob in 3rd grade, after trying two different schools (public and…read moreprivate) that did not provide her the support that she needed for her learning differences. It has been an absolute game-changer for her (and our whole family!). She went from hating school and feeling bullied by peers to loving school, forming sweet social bonds and making strong academic progress. Her teachers have all been extremely caring and attentive with great home-school communication. Each child has an individualized learning plan specifically tailored to their needs and core subjects are grouped by skill level, not by grade level. So a 3rd grader with stronger math skills might spend math class with a 5th grader who is more challenged in this area. We haven't experienced middle school yet but I know that kids graduate from 8th grade at Raskob and receive great high school counseling to help them choose the just-right school for them (I've seen some kids graduate on to O'Dowd, or public high schools and others stay in private schools for learning differences like Sterne or Orinda Academy). It really depends on what the kids need at that point. Huge Raskob fans in our household!

They kicked my son out a few months before he was to graduate for reasons that, I'll say were…read morehighly suspect. In a meeting with the school they said some things about middle schoolers in general were pretty terrible in my opinion. That meeting was recorded by lawyers present. Can't imagine what they would say off the record. Inner monologue must be be pretty bad. Stay away.