Groundbreaking News for Community Reading Buddies
245,000 That’s the number of Bay Area K-3rd graders who are now behind grade level in literacy after Covid. Studies show if those students don’t catch up by 3rd grade, they’ll already be four times as likely not to graduate high school. The educational need is unprecedented. At the same time, our capacity to meet that…
Read MoreHow to Get into Your Dream School
Getting into college is tough. Students (and their parents) spend hundreds of hours over 4+ years navigating college admissions. You have an involved set of needs: (1) help finding post-secondary paths and (2) support building and executing admissions strategies. These needs aren’t always met: 70%+ of high school students report being constantly worried about…
Read More75% of Success Depends On This, according to CEOs
According to 400 Fortune 500 CEOs, 75% of long-term career success depends on soft skills while only 25% depends on technical knowledge. However, this is not reflected in our education system: educators have reported that over 80% of their graduates were ready for work, while employers reported that number to be less than 20%. Young…
Read MoreNo Student Should Fall Behind
With Covid disrupting the dynamics of the 2020-21 school year, many parents are worried about their students falling behind. The research-proven answer to prevent students from falling behind? Educational mentorship. As Plutarch once surmised, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” Unfortunately, most tutoring is instructional, putting…
Read MoreSurviving (and Thriving!) While Learning at Home
With students at home because of the coronavirus threat, social media feeds quickly filled with parents dialoguing about how to stay ahead while staying at home. For most, that’s become a challenge, without the structure and community of a school environment. But the sudden shift to work-from-home can actually provide a good kind of disruption,…
Read MoreTraditional Tutoring Doesn’t Work
Imagine being an 8th grade student, not only trekking through the rat-race of high school admissions, but failing in the subject that used to be your strength—Math. That was the story of one Aspire student in 2018-19, Eric Cortez. A Boy Scout who loves the outdoors and had once said Math was his greatest strength,…
Read MoreWhat’s Your Story for College Admissions?
The college admissions process is not just about reaching certain markers. It’s about telling a story. And telling that story starts at the beginning of high school. At a recent event organized by the University of California, Berkeley, admissions director Olufemi “Femi” Ogundele said the admissions process is “rational but not predictable.” That term rings…
Read MoreSAT vs. ACT: Which test is right for your child?
It’s an age-old question every 11th grade student must face: which college entrance exam is the best? The answer isn’t so straightforward, and can depend on test-taking skills and preferences, strengths and challenges in certain subjects, and other various factors. First, the similarities: Both the SAT and ACT are accepted by all U.S. colleges. The…
Read MoreTips for Executive Functioning
Have you ever felt that, no matter what you do, you can never stay organized? With a new year and a new school semester, we understand how difficult it can be to be and stay motivated. Executive functioning refers to a number of skills, including: Paying attention Organizing, planning and prioritizing Starting tasks and staying…
Read MorePreparing Your Child for the Careers of the Future
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” From a family gathering to a parent-teacher meeting, it was the question many of us grew up constantly being asked. And yet now it’s the unanswerable question. According to the World Economic Forum, 65 percent of children in elementary school today will grow up to…
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