Jennifer N.

University of Virginia (B.A. in English, with honors)

After college, Jennifer moved to New York City where she worked as a marketing manager for Forbes Magazine while writing short plays in her after-hours. (Her play The McBuck Stops Here – about two men who get into a fight over the McDonald’s Dollar Menu – won the Swampking 10-minute Play Contest at the Brooklyn Lyceum.) In 2006, Jennifer left the East Coast to accept a fellowship at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles, where she just completed her MFA in Screenwriting. In Jennifer’s spare time she takes Improvisation classes at The Groundlings and goes for long hikes with her two amazing dogs from the North Central Animal Shelter. Jennifer is a warm and encouraging teacher who loves to tutor students of all ages in English, Writing, Composition, and Spanish.

Jennifer S.

Harvard University (B.A. in Social Studies and Visual and Environmental Studies)

At Harvard, Jennifer studied history and film. After graduating, she moved to Barcelona where she taught English and worked as a freelance writer and illustrator. She recently moved to Los Angeles, and she is excited to continue teaching. When she is not tutoring, she spends her time working at an independent movie production company.

Josh B.

Harvard University (B.A. in English and American Literature and Language, with honors)

Josh’s studies culminated in an original full-length play that he wrote for his senior thesis. Josh also wrote, acted, and served as President for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, an experience that afforded him the opportunity to hang out with the likes of Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and that’s right, Scarlett Johansson. Also as an undergrad, Josh worked for the Harvard Admissions Office, where he learned the ins and outs of the college application process firsthand. He has happily passed this knowledge along to a number of high school students and plans to continue doing so with Launch Education!

Julie F.

University of Pennsylvania (B.A. in English); University of Southern California (M.F.A. in Creative Writing)

Originally from the New York City suburbs, Julie graduated Summa Cum Laude from The University of Pennsylvania, where she played varsity lacrosse, club ice hockey and wrote for and hosted an entertainment news show on the campus television station. In her free time, she taught lacrosse to at-risk youth in West Philadelphia and consulted on college admission essays. She also worked for Kaplan Test Prep, authoring a fascinating guide to dental school and several articles on the 2005 SAT changes.

Kate R.

UCLA (B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavioral Biology with a Minor in Biological Anthropology)

Kate is a native to southern California, following in her parent's footsteps by being the 5th person in her family to attend UCLA. She was instantly attracted to the sciences at an early age and pursued it full heartedly at college. Kate enjoyed participating in leadership roles at her residential halls for the first two years, becoming a student leader as a Sophomore. Having always enjoyed being the local babysitter of her neighborhood, she began focusing her attention to education by joining the California Teach program at UCLA. She shadowed two teachers and taught two lesson plans to science classrooms at Brentwood Elementary and Lincoln Middle School. When not reading up on the latest science discoveries, Kate enjoys being outdoors and playing sports, as well as riding her bike down to the beach. Kate currently resides in West Hollywood and works as an assistant account manager at a marketing PR firm.

Kari C.

UCLA (B.A. in English Literature) Columbia University (M.A. English Education)

Kari, a Los Angeles native, taught middle school and high school English in New York City for the past 5 years. She recently moved back to Los Angeles and is looking forward to joining the educational community here. While attending graduate school at Columbia University, Kari tutored children with various learning differences. She worked specifically with students struggling with reading comprehension, decoding, and word retrieval in the writing process. After graduate school, Kari started teaching full time. She spent her last two years teaching for K.I.P.P. (Knowledge is Power Program). Her 7th grade classroom was composed of students reading from the 2nd grade to 10th grade reading level. Despite the great divide of reading abilities in her classroom, 90% of her students passed the NY State English Language Arts exam for the 07/08 school year and 94% passed for the 08/09 school year. When she is not teaching Kari enjoys running, playing beach volleyball, and working her way through a New York Times crossword puzzle.

Lindsey F.

Yale Education (B.A. in American Studies and Theatre Studies)

Lindsey graduated from Woodward Academy in Atlanta. She has been tutoring students in the LA area since she moved out here in September of 2005. She tutors students up through the 8th grade in all subjects. For high school students, she mainly tutors Spanish, English, and Writing (for the SAT I and II and for college applications).

Naomi K.

UCLA (B.A. in Japanese)

Rebecca F.

Rice University (B.A. in Psychology) UCLA (currently pursuing M.A. in Architecture)

Born in Tennessee, raised in West Virginia, Rebecca has worked and studied in inspiring places, including Spain, Mexico, Swaziland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, which she now calls home. Rebecca first started teaching in 2001, working at a bilingual elementary school in San Francisco. Throughout the last eight years Rebecca has enjoyed teaching in myriad forms: from SAT prep to HIV prevention and grant-writing to high school Special Education. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Architecture at UCLA. When she's not laser-cutting architecture projects, Rebecca loves to do yoga, play outside, read good books and check out local music.

Rebecca loves working with students of all skill levels. She believes all students can find ways to achieve their fullest potential. She enjoys helping students find their confidence, positive attitudes, organizational skills and the internal satisfaction of doing well in school. She particularly enjoys helping students with Spanish, English literature and composition, and study/organizational skills.

Shirag S.

Cornell University (B.S. in Human Development, focusing on Biological Development)

Born to Armenian parents in Los Angeles, Shirag is a recent college graduate who will soon be working as a research assistant at UCLA's Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART). Throughout most of his life, he has been intrigued by the brain and the disorders that affect it, which has led him to eventually pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.  Shirag has numerous tutoring experiences, all of which he considers to be very dynamic and engaging, as he has developed strong mentoring relationships in addition to the usual academic work.  During his spare time, Shirag enjoys playing basketball, working out, cooking, traveling, studying maps, and reading about different cities.

Stephanie M.

Dartmouth College (B.A. in Mathematics, summa cum laude); UCSD (M.A. in Mathematics)

Stephanie grew up in Honolulu, and at Dartmouth, she played varsity tennis, tutored math and science courses, and studied Mathematics abroad in Budapest, Hungary. Upon graduating from Dartmouth, Stephanie moved to California to attend graduate school at UCSD, graduating with an M.A. in Mathematics, also gaining valuable experience as a teaching assistant in Calculus. Prior to tutoring at Launch Education, Stephanie worked as an associate at a business consulting company in Los Angeles. She enjoys tutoring math and science courses, especially Pre-Calculus and Calculus.

Tricia B.

UCLA (B.A. in Art History); UCLA (M.A. in Education)

While completing her Masters degree and after receiving her degree, Tricia taught at West Athens Elementary School in South Los Angeles for a total of four years. She is currently a full-time substitute teacher in schools throughout the city. Constantly refining her practice, Tricia has had extensive training in teaching reading, math, and the writing process. The most valuable training was in Thinking Maps. These are graphic organizers that correspond to various mental processes, and can provide exceptional support for students in all subjects. In addition, she attends L.A.C.M.A.’s, Evenings for Educators. Also a jewelry designer, Tricia incorporates elements of design into teaching mathematics. This summer she taught reading to autistic and a variety of students with learning issues. The experience crystallized her belief that all students have strengths and talents from which to draw upon. As a tutor, she guides her students to work towards their potential and thrive academically.

Zoey S.

Wesleyan University (B.A. in English); George Washington University (M.A. in Public Policy)

Zoey’s first tutoring experience was at the Writing Center at Rockland Community College (now SUNY Rockland), where she taught grammar, writing and reading comprehension to both native and international students.  As a volunteer for The Academy of Hope in Washington, DC, she helped students obtain their GED, and then tutored for the No Child Left Behind program.  Since her move to LA, Zoey has primarily focused on helping students navigate the Critical Reading and Writing sections of the SAT's.  When she's not having fun with grammar, you'll find her out and about advocating for animals.