One-to-one tuition · 42 Fenwick St, Chicago
We publish what our students actually gained, and how many hours it took.
Nine tutors above the Fenwick Street library. No packages, no franchise workbook, no minimum term. How we work, who teaches, what it costs and the booking form are all below, in that order.
Last school year
1.7grade levels gained on average across a term of weekly sessions
9.8median hours billed before a family and tutor agreed to stop
380families taught above the Fenwick Street library since 2014
01 — Method
Diagnose, then stop as early as honestly possible
We are paid by the hour, which gives us every incentive to keep you. The way we handle that is to write the number of hours down at the start and hold ourselves to it in front of you.
01
Free consult
Twenty minutes. A tutor works two or three questions with your child while you watch, then tells you plainly what is missing.
02
Diagnostic hour
One paid hour to map the gap properly, ending in a written plan with a number of hours on it and a named tutor.
03
Weekly slot
The same tutor at the same hour, held for the term. A three-line progress note reaches the parent within an hour of each session.
04
Re-test, then stop
We re-measure against the starting point and say when it is time to finish. Roughly one family in five stops earlier than planned.
02 — Tutors
Nine on the team, four with openings this month. Open a name to read how they work.
The index
Ursuka CorberoMaths · Physics · Python · Grades 6–12 · $64/hr · Next opening Tue 4pm
Engineering degree, eight years tutoring, and a habit of finding the year a student actually missed rather than the one they are sitting in.
How they work. First session is diagnostic — she works backwards through a topic until it stops being wobbly, then rebuilds forwards. Homework is one page, never more.
“She found out in forty minutes that the problem was fractions, not algebra. Nobody at school had spotted it in two years.”
Rachel D., parent of a grade 8 student
Draper MooreSAT/ACT · English · CS · Grades 9–12 · $78/hr · Next opening Wed 5pm
Former admissions reader. Runs every diagnostic himself and will tell you plainly when a student does not need twenty hours of anything.
How they work. Full timed paper first, then only the sections losing points. Parents get the score report explained, not just forwarded.
“He said she only needed the reading section. Eight hours instead of thirty, and she went up 170 points.”
Marcus T., parent, SAT prep
Esther AceboChemistry · Biology · Spanish · Grades 9–12, college · $70/hr · Next opening Thu 6pm
Taught chemistry in schools for twenty-two years before joining us. Owns every mark scheme back to 2009 and quotes them from memory.
How they work. Works from the exam board specification outwards. Six-mark answers get written, marked and rewritten in the same hour until the student can predict the marks.
“Alan marks the way the examiner marks. My son stopped losing marks for saying the right thing the wrong way.”
Helen A., parent of a grade 11 student
Itziar ItunoReading · Writing · Spanish · Grades 1–8 · $56/hr · Waitlist only
Primary specialist, reading-recovery trained. Most of her students arrive saying they hate books and leave with a library card.
How they work. Ten minutes of decoding, twenty of reading something the child chose, then writing about it. Progress is measured monthly against a reading age, not a feeling.
“Nina got a kid who hid under the table at reading time to read aloud in class. Two terms. I still do not entirely know how.”
Imani B., parent of a grade 3 student
03 — Booking
No card for the consult. Most families are seen within three days.
Twenty free minutes, then you decide
The consult is a tutor working two or three questions with your child while you watch, then a plain assessment. No card, no obligation.
Times are shown in America/Chicago. Cancel or move any session up to 24 hours before.
04 — Fees
Per hour, at the centre. Online is $4 less. Nothing is bundled and nothing auto-renews.
The whole rate card
| Subject | Gr 1–5 | Gr 6–8 | Gr 9–12 | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MathsAmara, Alan | $56 | $62 | $69 | $78 |
| English & writingNina, David | $52 | $58 | $65 | $73 |
| ScienceAlan, Amara | — | $66 | $74 | $83 |
| SAT & ACT prepDavid | — | — | $78 | $88 |
| Coding & CSAmara, David | $63 | $70 | $78 | $88 |
| SpanishNina, Alan | $50 | $56 | $63 | $70 |
Online
Four dollars an hour less, same tutors, recording sent after.
Packs
Five sessions save $15. Ten save $60 and are shareable between siblings.
Weekly plan
Six dollars off every hour, billed monthly, paused for school holidays.
Also
Homework club $22 a visit. SAT bootcamp $690. Sibling discount 10%.
05 — Parents
The consult was the useful bit. They told us six hours on fractions, not a year of weekly maths, and they were right.
Rachel D. · Parent, grade 8
I have never had a tutoring place try to make the engagement shorter. It made me trust everything else they said.
Marcus T. · Parent, SAT prep
A progress note after every single session. Three lines, always honest. I knew what was happening without ever having to ask.
Imani B. · Parent, grade 3
06 — Visit
Second floor, 42 Fenwick Street
Six quiet rooms above the library, one long table for homework club, and a waiting area with decent coffee for parents who would rather not drive home and back.
Rooms
Six, each with a door that closes. One tutor, one student.
Homework club
Mon–Thu 3:30–5:30, six students to a tutor, $22 a visit.
Waiting
Coffee, wifi and a desk, so you need not drive home and back.
Parking
Library lot behind the building, free after 3pm.
