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.

Online only tutoring. My understanding is that Mr. Test Prep used to be great when he had kids come…read moreto his home. Now it is entirely online. My son (who actually does well with online learning) did the trial and felt he could do better on his own. I eventually got someone who did in person tutoring. In my experience, a lot of these online classes and tutors benefit the tutor but not the students. If you have a student who does well with online teaching, maybe this is okay. But if you want to pay big money, make sure you get results. For our family, the benefit of taking the SAT over and over was good. But not having any human interaction with the tutor or peers was not good. My son eventually scored a 1570 but with an in person tutor and taking the SAT five times.

It was divine appointment that we found Mr. Test Prep. I…read morealmost never use Yelp anymore to search for anything (sorry, yelp!) but I came on here just to see if there was any SAT prep service that could help my son. He had already sat for the SAT in his 10th grade, and had a decent 1550 score, but we wanted to see if he could improve it. Mr. Test Prep's approach and clear value proposition really stood out to me in the sea of the multitude of tutors and SAT prep services. We gave it a try, our son Ethan loved Michael's style, and format, and it was a good fit for our family's needs all around. Ethan sat for the SAT again in a few months of working with Michael, and his score was perfect. Of course, everyone's mileage may vary. For us , it was a match made in heaven :) Thanks, Michael

Our son has struggled with social communication and expressive language, but through learning math…read morewith Daisy, he has not only developed a genuine interest in math, but also improved his communication skills and confidence. Meeting a teacher who truly understands and supports a child is something incredibly meaningful in life. We are deeply grateful for Daisy's warmth, patience, and encouragement, as well as the caring support from AJ Tutoring . Thank you for making such a positive difference in our child's growth and happiness.

I had a fantastic experience working with Peter Littlefield while preparing for my MCAT. He was…read moreincredibly thorough in his explanations and always took the time to break down complex concepts in a way that made them feel manageable. I never felt hesitant to ask a question because he created an environment where curiosity was encouraged and every question was met with patience and respect. Peter also helped me develop a structured and intensive review plan for my full length exams, which made a significant difference in how effectively I was able to study and track my progress. His guidance strengthened my understanding of the material and gave me the confidence I needed as I moved closer to test day. Peter is an exceptional tutor, and I recommend him wholeheartedly. He is a wonderful choice not only for MCAT preparation but for any science course. His dedication, clarity, and supportive teaching style truly set him apart.

Arthur is a great tutor He is knowledgeable, flexible…read more And caring . Very devoted Tutor . Highly recommended.

My granddaughters were having some math problems in school, grades 6th and 7th grade. We were set…read moreup with Ruby, and she is very knowledgeable, and the girls are learning more from her than their school. We have had other tutors from other companies, but they seem to favor Ruby and thinks she is the best!! Now school is much more pleasant as they feel more confident in their skills.

5 stars for Alex Carlson (math) and Nick Deehan (English)! Both were extremely helpful to my middle…read moreand high schoolers. They are both very friendly and approachable, they answer emails very quickly, and they helped my kids improve their confidence and skills in math and English. They also were very flexible and patient with my constant rescheduling due to sports conflicts. Huge thank you to Nick and Alex!

From my son who is a Senior at Sequoia HS:…read more At first I didn't know if I wanted a college counselor at my mom's request but Ryan exceeded all my expectations and I don't regret a thing. I was lost during the beginning of my senior year and Ryan guided me through everything. Making a college list to start and explaining the college process, the different portals, and of course the supplementals. This was just the start. From working with Ryan I was already able to get comfortable with the college apps process and the timeline which would leave me with the least amount of stress. College apps is a stressful time and experience but he helps you throughout and ensures that you will meet every deadline. On top of all that is his help on your essays. He first helps explain the prompt and brainstorms various ideas with you. He revises and looks over every essay, giving edits and feedback from an experienced perspective. He helps you boost your activities list to make sure it's the best it can be, and it has descriptions that college admission officers will like. I really am glad I had Ryan as my college tutor and only knowing him from the beginning on August, I feel like we got lots of work done through his guidance. Easily 5 stars

My older son had a fantastic experience working with Jennifer over two years. She helped him…read moreidentify schools of interest, calibrate likelihood of admission so that he had a great mix of "reach" and "safe" options, and assess the pros and cons of different majors (really helping him define and articulate for himself what he wanted to study). She also helped him turn an initially disparate set of activities and extra-curriculars into something much deeper and coherent. She presented him with an amazing range of options (like online summer courses in entrepreneurship) which he enjoyed, looked impressive, aligned with his admission "narrative", and which we frankly would never have found without her. Finally, she was invaluable in compiling everything into the applications themselves and invested a ton in making each one as good as possible. This included essay ideation, rough draft reviews, and went all the way through to line edits with us of every final essay and application. I think I'm a pretty good writer, but the input and help that Jennifer provided my son was far beyond my expectations and much better than what I could offer. I believe that her effort, expertise, and attention to detail significantly increased the number of acceptances and options that my son ended up with. Throughout this, Jennifer was patient, persistent, encouraging, and comforting during a period when I know my son was stressed about both the admissions process and also moving into this new phase of life. Jennifer was invaluable to my son and he was delighted with the options she helped him get and is incredibly happy with the choice he ultimately made on where to attend school. We heard of Jennifer through word of mouth and are so happy that we did. My sophomore has just begun working with her and asked if he could based on the experience that he saw his older brother have.

Jennifer helped my daughter (and us!) with her entire college application process. We loved…read moreworking with her because she was very patient, supportive, communicative, non-judgmental, kind, motivating, and organized! I already referred my friend and her daughter to work with Jennifer. She really relieved a lot of stress for my husband and me. We are very grateful!

Great if you want to spend 8k on SAT prep. they charge $270 for 50 minutes and half of that time is…read moresitting with your kid while your kid takes practice tests. The cost is absolutely outrageous. The tutor was very good but it's just not worth it for a test that the UCs dont even require anymore.

These guys are totally first rate. We've worked with them as needed since 2006; most of their…read moretutors are extremely high achievers from top rate universities with a tremendous ability to teach students how to perform well on standardized tests. AT starts with a diagnostic to identify a student's area of needs and then focuses on improving a students weaker academic areas while also enhancing a students stronger areas. This makes for an efficient use of study time to maximize results in a reasonable time frame. Whether a student is trying to fill in the gaps one has from one's school's curriculum, or trying to prepare for standardized tests, the AT crew headed by Gus is true find.

I first want to disclose that I'm related to the proprietor of this business, but he didn't ask me…read moreto write this review and I wouldn't do so if I didn't know what a fantastic teacher he is. It actually helps that I knew Mark before he started Lyon Prep Academy because I witnessed the years he spent teaching for other top tier academies, developing his own curriculum, and pursuing his academic degrees (including math and teaching English as a foreign language). I've seen how well he interacts with students, and the care and pride he puts into his work. I couldn't recommend Mark more, but you don't have to take my word for it. Lyon Prep already has two other reviews, but Yelp is currently filtering them for some reason. Click "read 2 filtered reviews" below for the goods.

Mark has helped me to improve my SAT 's score. I have a mild experience with SAT before coming to…read moreLyon Prep. Since English is not my first language, I have come to struggle with the writing and the reading section of SAT test. However, with great advice from Mark, I have been able to boost my writing score, up to 800 and get over 630 for my reading score. I wish I had known Mark earlier so that I would even improve greater my reading score.

Our daughter used Compass (Bay Area) for three exams during her junior year of high school: the…read morePSAT, the ACT, and one AP (calculus). Her results speak for themselves: National Merit eligibility on the PSAT, a 36 on the ACT (single-sitting), and a 5 on the calc AP. As caveats, she is extremely bright and is an inherently good test-taker, and we were proactive about selecting her tutors to match her personality and scheduling needs. That said, I had no significant complaints. Jill and Alex were responsive and worked to conform to our requests, and our daughter found her assigned tutors engaging. And she, in turn, did the assigned work. We originally found Compass via recommendation by parents of an older student who had already used them. We, in turn, have now recommended them to parents of younger students whom we know. We told them the same thing I'll now tell you: Compass isn't the cheapest option, but I suggest you use them anyway. To us, the results were well worth the expense.

I highly recommend Compass Education Group. They helped my son with the Reading and Writing…read moresections of the SAT, and his score improved drastically from 620 to 760 (99th percentile).

Toddle is truly such a special preschool that sees and nurtures the whole child. Our son attended…read moreToddle for two years, and every single morning he walked into the classroom, he would absolutely beam - both from excitement to play with his teachers and friends, and also with pride knowing he was seen as an important part of the community. The school is intentionally small to maintain an amazing student teacher ratio, and the entire little school is thoughtfully designed for independent, creative, collaborative, open-ended play - with a beautiful outdoor space as well. Very Montessori in feel. The curriculum at Toddle is student-inspired, evolving based on the children's' interests (from anatomy to forests to outer space), and hands on. The lessons are creative and engaging - My son has brought home handmade treehouses, a paper model of the lungs (complete with straws to inflate), a miniature planet diagram, just to name a few. When the students were learning about forests, the teachers introduced this idea that the kids could earn a paper leaf for doing an act of kindness -- by the end of the quarter the ceiling was covered in leaves. It not only transformed the classroom into a beautiful forest to match the curriculum, but the students had a physical reminder of all the kindness they had showed to one another. Most importantly, to me, is how Toddle has bolstered my son's confidence through the respect, independence, healthy challenges, sense of community, and belonging the school offers. He is greeted with such warmth from the teachers each morning, the students are respectful to one other because that is the clear expectation, and my son takes pride in his daily jobs and responsibilities-- it's all added up to giving him an incredible baseline for his schooling for years to come. I can't say enough positive things about the Toddle ethos and approach to preschool education.

I can't say enough good things about Toddle. Both of my children have attended from the time they…read morewere 2 all the way until they graduated to TK/Kindergarten, and honestly, leaving this school feels like leaving family. It is definitely not your "standard" daycare setup--it's a deeply nurturing preschool that is 100% invested in making sure kids are emotionally and academically ready for the big transition to elementary school. What really sets them apart: - The Head Teacher is a "Child Whisperer": She is essentially a child psychologist in disguise. She has this amazing ability to understand each child's unique personality and meet them exactly where they are. - Incredible Hands-on Projects: They do the coolest activities I've ever seen. My favorites were when the kids made actual paper from wood chips and a project where every child picked their favorite food and the whole class learned how to cook it. - STEM & Music: They do a ton of anatomy lessons through play, and they even have a dedicated music teacher who comes in weekly. - Deep Parent Involvement: They hold regular family conferences to discuss how your child is doing both at school and at home. You never feel out of the loop. - The Community: Between the parent meet-and-greets and the sweet student gift exchanges at Christmas, we've made real friends here. If you are looking for a place that treats your child as an individual and makes learning feel like an adventure, Toddles is it. We're going to miss them so much!