Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School carries the name of one of Stanford’s founders, and our tutors are current and former Stanford students, so tutoring JLS students has always felt like a natural fit. We work one-on-one, at your home in Palo Alto or online.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.
Two ways through JLS: the main program and Connections
JLS runs a choice program called Connections alongside its main program, with its own teachers in 6th, 7th and 8th grade and an emphasis on inquiry, projects and presentations. Families apply through the district’s choice lottery. Project work rewards planning more than last-minute effort, so with Connections students we often break a long project into dated steps and rehearse the presentation. In the main program, JLS 6th graders spend five of their seven periods in core subjects and a Flex period, and our tutors help keep that core strong.
Writing that builds to MLA essays in 8th grade
JLS English moves from structured paragraphs in 6th grade to full essays in 8th, with claims, textual evidence, commentary and MLA citation, and the English department’s page links a JLS Writing Handbook. Our English and writing tutors can work from that handbook, helping a student find evidence, explain it and revise a draft at the kitchen table until the process is one they can run alone.
Four languages, three years of math and two high schools
JLS teaches French, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish, and its two-year 1A and 1B sequence equals the first year of high school language. In math, JLS students take Foundational Math, Concepts in Math and Algebra 1, the three-year Palo Alto Unified sequence that leads into high school Geometry. JLS also offers a Math Workshop class for 7th and 8th graders who need extra help, and a math tutor can give that same support with one student instead of fifteen. JLS 8th graders go on to Gunn or Paly, and we help them arrive with algebra and essay writing in good shape.
What a parent says about organization
“It turns out my son also needed help staying organized with all his assignments, something that the tutor helped with as well.”
Amy C., Palo Alto · Yelp review
Women tutors as role models
“It was great to find a couple of really smart young women who helped not only with the subject matter, but became great role models.”
Joel S. · Yelp review
Get in touch and tell us a little about your JLS student. We’ll match them with a tutor for this year at JLS and the step after it.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.