Saratoga High lets students choose their own course levels, and its math department warns that honors and AP math can take far more work than the regular classes. Our tutors are current and former Stanford students who took that kind of load themselves and know how to keep it from taking over a student’s week.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.
We tutor Saratoga students in everything from Algebra 1 and Biology to AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C, and help with English essays and the college application essay. Sessions are one-on-one, at your home or online.
Algebra comes first
Saratoga’s math department asks every student to sharpen the core of algebra: skills like factoring, compound fractions, negative exponents and quadratics. Honors math begins with Algebra 2 Honors, and changing levels once the year starts depends on open space, so the choice made in spring matters. A tutor makes those algebra skills automatic and helps a student decide on a level, and succeed in it, with confidence. Learn more about our math tutoring.
Chemistry and AP sciences
Saratoga ninth graders take Biology of the Living Earth or Earth Science. Chemistry of the Earth System, or its honors version, comes after Biology, and freshmen and sophomores can take only one science class a year. Chemistry has to be taken during the school year to open the AP sciences, which run from AP Biology and AP Chemistry to a full sequence of AP Physics. A Stanford tutor makes that chemistry year count, working through the problem sets and lab analysis so the AP courses start on solid footing. Learn more about our science tutoring.
What parents say
“My daughter went from a C in Algebra II to an A- in one semester. The tutor was great, she really related to my daughter and made learning fun for her. Not only did her grade in math improve, her study habits improved and she’s doing better in all of her classes.”
Eduardo S., San Francisco
“The tutors themselves have been great: well-prepared, thoughtful and on-time. At each level of math needed, we found these Stanford students to be not just helpful tutors but great mentors as well. … This is a first class operation.”
Christy S., Portola Valley
“My son was a senior this year and I reached out to Cardinal Tutors and was lucky enough to find the most amazing tutor. I wish I had found him earlier.”
Sharon C., Los Altos
English and the Media Arts Program
Saratoga’s first honors English class is English 11 Honors in junior year, followed by AP English Language and AP English Literature. Students in the Media Arts Program take English and social studies together for four years and finish with a senior capstone project. A tutor helps a student find a sharp thesis, support it with evidence, and write clearly under time pressure. Learn more about our English and writing tutoring.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.