Tutor Training

This past Sunday, at least half of our team (26 tutors) participated in a productive, fun training session at Georgia Tech! We discussed best approaches to working with students of all ages, private tutoring techniques, and teaching classes for standardized tests. It was exciting to come together as a group as it was the first time we have come together as a group for the many tutors who recently joined the team.

Class Update

We have two small, productive SAT Prep classes going on at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in Marietta and at Peachtree City Christian Church in Peachtree City!


Mt. Bethel Class

We have 5 students from the North Atlanta Metro area enrolled in our Mt. Bethel class: 3 juniors and 2 seniors who attend public and private schools in Cobb and Fulton Counties. Kristin Rogers is leading this awesome group through our 17-hour SAT prep program, which includes thorough review, a rigorous study plan, and the completion of 5 full practice tests.

Kristin is a Georgia Tech alumna who has been teaching middle and high school for over 5 years. She is an experienced SAT teacher and tutor who brings a lot of energy and knowledge to the class! Kristin also tutors many of these and other students one-on-one, which is the most powerful teaching method for the SAT. Kristin's SAT students have seen excellent results after working with her!



Peachtree City Class

Our Peachtree City class has an instructor-to-student ratio that is as effective as group tutoring. We have 3 wonderful students enrolled in the class who are juniors and seniors at public high schools in Fayette County.

This class was also meant to serve as a make-up class for several students for the early fall class we taught at Landmark Christian School, but unfortunately the sessions conflicted with many students' football and cross country schedules.

Travis Banks is the instructor for the Peachtree City class. He is a well-spoken and successful Chemistry major at Georgia Tech who loves to teach. Travis is a patient and experienced SAT prep tutor under whom students have gained confidence and knowledge to reach their goals on the SAT.

Because of the small class size, Travis is able to tailor our 17-hour SAT Prep curriculum to the class' collective needs. He is enjoying working with each student and looks forward to seeing improvements in their practice tests!

Happy Studying to all our SAT Prep students taking the December 4th SAT!

Teaching to Teach

Many of our tutors will tell you that working with Connective Tutoring students actually helps them in their own studies. This is because teaching someone else builds confidence and well-rounded expertise as part of preparing for and delivering the material.

Stated in our mission, tutoring methodology, and training philosophy is the concept of "teaching to teach". This is a technique that we use for students who struggle with basic math and science concepts. When students are able teach back to their tutors, they demonstrate a thorough understanding of the subject.

"Teaching to teach" is a great approach for many students in mastering areas of weakness. We use this method in private instruction, group tutoring, and classes. What better test is there than to teach back the material?

Peachtree City SAT Prep Class for Dec. 4th SAT!

Sign up for the Fall Connective Tutoring SAT Prep Class in Peachtree City!

Location: Peachtree City Christian Church; 500 Kedron Drive; Peachtree City, GA

Schedule:
Saturday, October 30th, 8 am - 12 pm
Saturday, November 6th, 9 am - 12 pm
Saturday, November 13th, 9 am - 12 pm
Saturday, November 20th, 9 am - 12 pm
Tuesday, November 30th, 5 pm - 9 pm

Price:
SAT Prep Class Only: $499 (book and supplemental tutoring are extra)
Full SAT Prep Package: $799 (includes book and 2 hours of tutoring per week)

More about CT SAT Prep:
Connective Tutoring has been successfully providing SAT Prep in the form of classes and private tutoring for the past 3 years. We offer classes at Georgia Tech and local schools, churches, and libraries throughout the year. Our experienced, motivating instructors were educated at Georgia Tech, Harvard, and other prestigious schools. This 5-session class is geared toward students preparing for the December 4th SAT. This is a convenient opportunity for students who live in Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Newnan, Sharpsburg, Fairburn, Union City, or College Park!

Our full SAT Prep package includes 2 hours of supplemental tutoring per week. We highly recommend the full package to maximize results. Students who have used our SAT prep services have seen an average score increase of 100 points!

Contact:
Sign up online at www.connectivetutoring.com/fall_sat_class
Class Coordinator: Teresa Shell, CT Atlanta Director, (404) 671-8064
Note: We will send you a registration form with payment information, directions, and a copy of the schedule.

Refer-a-Friend Discount: Refer a friend and receive $50 off the class price for
both you and your friend.

Best SAT Tutoring, According to Clients

We recently got some great feedback on our SAT prep tutoring:

"This is by far the best tutoring my child has had for the SAT. [Cait] is particularly outstanding. Recommend this service highly for all sorts of tutoring but especially for the SAT."

- Parent of a Weber School Student

East Cobb SAT Prep for December 4th SAT!

We are hosting another Fall SAT Class, this time for the December 4th SAT! Since many of our students are from Lassiter and Walton, we will be hosting this class at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church on Saturdays and one weekday.

Here is the schedule:
Saturday, October 30, 8 am - 12 pm
Saturday, November 6, 9 am - 12 pm
Saturday, November 13, 9 am - 12 pm
Saturday, November 20, 9 am - 12 pm
Tuesday, November 30, 5 pm - 9 pm

We have 11 students at the Georgia Tech class and are looking forward to continuing having 10-15 students per class. Also, Mt. Bethel members get a special discount that I will be posting on the church bulletin board.

Lane

High Schools in Atlanta

Over the past 2.5 years, we have tutored students at over 50 high schools (public and private) in the Atlanta area! The subjects have been a vast array of areas, including all levels of Math and Science; English/Literature; Reading and Writing; Essay Coaching; Foreign Languages; Test Preparation for the SAT, SSAT, and ACT; Study Skills, Organizational Skills. We also tutor elementary and middle school level as well as college and graduate level, but since most of our students attend the following high schools, I wanted to list them in this blog!



Alpharetta High School
American Heritage Academy
Atlanta Girls School
Blessed Trinity High School
Campbell High School
Centennial High School
Chamblee High School
Collins Hill High School
Dacula Classical Academy
Decatur High School
Druid Hills High School
Duluth High School
Dunwoody High School
Grady High School
Heritage High School
Holy Innocents' Episcopal School
Holy Spirit Preparatory School
Johns Creek High School
Kennesaw Mountain High School
Lakeside High School
Landmark Christian School
Lassiter High School
Mill Creek High School
Milton High School
Mount Vernon Presbyterian School
Norcross High School
North Atlanta High School
North Cobb High School
North Gwinnett High School
North Springs High School
Northview High School
Pace Academy
Parkview High School
Peachtree Ridge High School
Pope High School
Riverwood High School
Roswell High School
Salem High School
South Cobb High School
South Paulding High School
Southwest Dekalb High School
Sprayberry High School
St. Pius X Catholic High School
The Galloway School
The Walker School
The Weber School
The Westminster Schools
Walton High School
Wesleyan School
Whitewater High School
Woodland High School
Woodward Academy


We have a personal connection with many of these schools, and they are close to our hearts since their students' success is also our success. Best of luck to these wonderful schools as they start the 2009-2010 school year!

SAT and ACT Statistics are in!

Connective Tutoring has been analyzing the test score improvements of our past ACT and SAT Prep students. Some were only tutored a couple of hours, some over 20 hours, and some attended one of our classes; and almost all of them saw results!

We are SO PROUD of our students and wish them luck as they embark on new journeys at Harvard, Davidson, Georgia Tech, Mercer, UGA, Georgia Southern, Valdosta State, and many other wonderful colleges!

SAT Prep
Includes Math, Comprehensive Reading, and Sentence Completion/Writing Sections
On average, our SAT Prep students' scores improved by 100 points.
On average, our SAT Prep students had 10 hours of SAT Prep tutoring or classtime.
91% of our SAT Prep students improved their SAT score after working with us.
Our best success story is an SAT score improvement of 140 points after 4 hours of tutoring.


ACT Prep
Includes Math, Science, Reading, English, and Writing Sections
On average, our ACT Prep students' scores improved by 1.5 points.
On average, our ACT Prep students had 8.5 hours of ACT Prep tutoring or classtime.
92% of our ACT Prep students improved their ACT score after working with us.
Our best success story is an ACT score improvement of 3 points after 4.5 hours of tutoring.

New Website!

We have a great new website, thanks to the hard work of Justin Friel!
Check it out by typing "Atlanta tutors" in a Google search and finding our link on the first page. "tutor Atlanta" is on page 2!

There is more to come, including our rates and test score improvement statistics. There is also exciting functionality to come, including a client login where you can pay your balance online!

Fall SAT Class at Georgia Tech!

We are offering a SAT prep class this fall for high schoolers registered for the October 9th SAT! Sign up today at http://www.connectivetutoring.com/sat_contact.php. The location is the Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center. Classes are 8 am - 12 pm on the four Saturdays in September. We have a handful of students already - looks like it will be a small group, which makes for a great learning environment - and are looking forward to teaching this class!

Fayette and Coweta

Last year, Connective Tutoring expanded to Fayette and Coweta Counties. This summer - as we get more and more requests in Fayetteville, Peachtree City, and Newnan - we are really enjoying building up our team of tutors in the area.

We have brought some wonderful new southside tutors on board, one I am proud to have gone to school with. Her name is Johanna DeCotis and he graduated two years after I did as the valedictorian of Fayette County High School C/O 2004. She went on to Georgia Tech to get her bachelor's in Civil Engineering and practice her Spanish in Chile. As her flute section leader at FCHS, I know Johanna's character and work ethic very well: not only is Johanna diligent, focused and extremely smart, but she is also well-rounded, personable and fun! These are all qualities that make a great tutor. I know that she will work hard to help her students reach their academic goals. We are so excited that she is available this summer and to have her on board.

Some of the subjects we are tutoring in Fayette and Coweta Counties are: College Calc I, College Calc II, College Physics, SAT Prep, ACT prep, Chemistry, and Trig.

Once we've established ourselves a little more in all 6 counties we currently serve (Fayette, Coweta, Gwinnett, Cobb, Fulton, and Dekalb) we plan to expand even further into Douglas and Henry Counties.

New Reviews for Connective Tutoring!

After over 2 years of service to the Atlanta community, CT has started asking clients to post reviews for us online as we work to expand our internet presence. Here are our first 3 exciting reviews on CitySearch:

5 Star Review, "Connective tutoring" by Eric Burdette, SAT/ACT Prep student in Fayetteville:
"Connective tutoring raised my ACT score 3 points. I tutored with Lane Clark and she helped me with my math and science sections. I am very happy with my results and the cost was extremely appropriate and affordable.
Also, ct helped me with my college interviews during my application process. I am a successful harvard applicant and I had a mock interview with ct beforehand.
Eric Burdette
Harvard Class of 2014"
Pros: Personal, effective
Cons: Requires personal ambition

5 Star Review, "great" by Lynn Goldstein, parent of 9th grade Biology student in Dunwoody:
"Have had two tutors for my freshman in High School and they were both energetic and so helpful"
Pros: great tutors

5 Star Review, "I've been so happy - recommended them to friends" by Betsy Dimmel, parent of college-level math and science students in Marietta:
"Connective Tutoring is wonderful. Every tutor has been great, super prepared and very knowledgeable. Scheduling has never been a problem and they come to my house in East Cobb. I've recommended them to my friends and they've also been happy. Great people to work with, always pleasant."
Pros: professional, prepared, come to your house

Thank you to the wonderful clients who posted these reviews. We wouldn't be where we are now if it weren't for your valued business.

Cheers!
Lane

E-mail Ad from Q100!

Q100 is sending out an e-mail blast today with an ad for our SAT class! Thanks again to Suzanne Clark, English tutor and graphics artist extraordinaire.

Happy Graduation Class of 2010!

It's been a great school year at CT!

Many of our students are graduating from high school today and next week. Having coached them to reach one or more of their academic goals during their high school careers, our tutors and our company have a sense of achievement as their high schools send them off.

We are so proud of their accomplishments and wish them the best as they embark on a new journey in college!


Here are some of the schools we are celebrating with:

Alpharetta High School
Decatur High School
Heritage High School
Kennesaw Mountain High School
Landmark Christian School
Mount Vernon Presbyterian
Norcross High School
Pace Academy
Riverwood High School
Salem High school
Wesleyan School

Best,
Lane

SAT Class Postcards!

Thanks to the skills of Suzanne Clark, we'll be sending out this postcard to families around Atlanta next week! Mention this blog or postcard to get your book for free!

Exciting News for Harvard Class of 2014!

It's an exciting day at CT! One of our students, a graduating senior at Landmark Christian School, just found out today that he got into Harvard University! His mother called me and their whole family is elated. We are so excited for him and and are just extremely proud of the SAT and ACT scores he achieved, which helped get him there.

When we first started working with him, he thought a school like Harvard was way out of his reach. He hadn't even planned on applying there until after his first crack at the ACT, on which he scored a 31. He then became confident that he could score even higher and apply to prestigious colleges like Harvard, Vanderbilt, and Duke. We helped him set goals for the test scores he needed, gave him a study plan and practice schedule for the SAT and ACT, coached him on test-taking strategies, and even set up a mock interview with one of our tutors who went to Harvard himself. But he did the hard work to get there! All we did was push him in the right direction. He very diligently executing the plan and got himself into Harvard!

One of the best parts of this job is seeing your students become successful and this is DEFINITELY one of those moments.

CONGRATULATIONS to our new Harvard student, class of 2014. We are so proud of you!

-Lane

Summer SAT Prep Class at Georgia Tech!

We are so excited. For the past year and a half, Connective Tutoring has taught a series of SAT and ACT Prep classes at Atlanta area schools and libraries. We have seen wonderful results in both score improvements and motivating students to excel on the tests. And now we have the opportunity to host our SAT Prep course at Georgia Tech this summer!

What better place for a parent to send their rising junior or senior to spend 6 Saturday mornings preparing for the SAT? In the heart of Atlanta, Tech is a beautiful campus with lots of student activities during the summer - including sports, tours, and student activities. This is better than camp: this is the real college experience!

Our SAT instructors, all educated at Tech or other prestigious schools, are not only experienced and helpful, but they are also fun, encouraging, and able to relate to their students. We've seen that great tutor-student connections lead to the best results, and is something we are always able to provide for both private tutoring and test prep classes.

And compared to the exhorbitant costs of other SAT classes in the area ($1,000-$2,000 for the same amount of class time!) we really do have the best price in Atlanta. For 20 hours of productive class time, our summer course is only $499. If you're going on vacation during one of the sessions, we are able to pro-rate the price for up to one missed class.

The class schedule is below. If you or anyone you know would like to enroll, signing up is easy: just call us at (404) 671-8064 or e-mail our Atlanta Director (Teresa Shell, who is coordinating the class) at teresa.shell@connectivetutoring.com.

Summer 2010 Class Schedule:
Saturday, June 19, 9 am-12 pm
Saturday, June 26, 9 am-12 pm
Saturday, July 10, 9 am-12 pm
Saturday, July 17, 9 am-12 pm
Saturday, July 24, 8 am-12 pm
Saturday, July 31, 8 am-12 pm

We are so excited to help our students prepare for the SAT this summer and get into the colleges of their dreams!

Best,
Lane

Welcome to the CT Blog!

Hi! My name is Lane Clark Friel and I am an owner of Connective Tutoring, a local organization that I started in 2008 with a fellow Georgia Tech alumna as a math and science tutoring company. We have since expanded our expertise into all subjects, levels and test prep; as well as our service areas into 6 counties: Fulton, Cobb, Dekalb, Gwinnett, Fayette, and Coweta. Since 2008, CT has hired 50 well-rounded, top-of-their-class tutors educated at Georgia Tech, Harvard, and other prestigious schools; and worked with over 200 students in Atlanta through private tutoring and test prep classes!

Our goal at CT is to connect Atlanta area students with well-matched tutors who will serve as academic mentors and role models. Teresa Shell, our full-time Atlanta Director, not only matches students with tutors based on students' subjects, schedules, and locations, but she is also able to factor in personalities, learning styles, interests, backgrounds, and other client preferences such as gender and age. We have seen incredible results from great student-tutor connections.

Visit our website to see selected tutor profiles, client feedback, and more information about pricing and subjects offered. We look forward to helping your student reach his or her academic goals!