Challenger School moves quickly, and a new concept can sometimes feel like a big jump. Our tutors are current and former Stanford students who are patient, clear and good at explaining things more than one way until it clicks.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.
We help Challenger students keep up and get ahead in math, reading, writing and science, and build good study habits early. For 8th graders applying to independent high schools, we also offer ISEE, SSAT and STAR prep.
How Challenger builds each year on the last
Challenger describes its curriculum as beginning with the end in mind: each grade, from preschool on, builds toward what it expects of its eighth graders. Teachers present concepts in a logically ordered sequence and show how each new idea connects to earlier learning, and students are asked to discover the reasoning for themselves. Fourth graders, for example, learn the reason behind the process of dividing fractions, and first graders already diagram simple sentences. Because each step rests on the one before, a piece that didn’t quite land can show up again later in a new topic. Our tutors can trace a hard problem back to the idea underneath it and rebuild that idea patiently, while your student does the thinking, which fits the self-reliance Challenger works to develop.
Middle school at Challenger
In sixth grade, Challenger students start working with several teachers who each specialize in a subject. The work grows more abstract each year. Seventh graders learn to recognize and avoid errors in logic, and Challenger says its eighth graders study topics many students don’t reach until college: they write two-column geometry proofs, analyze the corrupting effect of power in Macbeth and program arrays to store data. We help Challenger middle schoolers with algebra and geometry, with writing about literature, and with the organization it takes to keep assignments from several teachers on track. A Stanford tutor who enjoys proofs and close reading can make that last stretch at Challenger feel exciting.
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
Sessions are one-on-one, in person in Palo Alto or online. Learn more about our Palo Alto tutoring.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.