Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park calls itself a small, supportive, college-prep high school designed around students, not systems. Our tutoring starts from the same idea. Our tutors are Stanford students, and each one works with a single Mid-Pen student on what that student needs this week.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.
Meet our tutors
A 9:30 start and a daily Core group
In recent years Mid-Pen’s first period has begun at 9:30, with 50-minute classes and never more than two in a row. We schedule sessions around that day, after school or online. Every day also includes Core, a short small-group meeting led by a teacher who serves as the student’s advisor and helps with goals and study skills. A tutor can pick up whatever goals came out of Core and practice them on real assignments.
Honors options without AP courses
Mid-Pen describes itself as proudly AP free: it offers honors options in a number of courses in place of AP classes, and students may still sit AP exams. A Mid-Pen student who decides to take one may have exam topics to cover outside class, and that is a project our tutors can lead from the first chapter to the practice tests.
Our high school tutors, in parents’ own words
All reviewsFind a writing tutor“Our tutor was a senior at Stanford who tutored my son in English, and also SAT preparation. My son received great marks on the SAT exam and also improved his grade in AP English from B to A.”
Find a math tutor“Your program really helped us. Henry pulled up his English last year to an A, and his next tutor helped him pull up his math and bio.”
“Everyone is looking for tutors and I said you're the best.”
Find an online tutor“Their response time is outstanding. Neil responded quickly to my tutoring request for my 15-year-old. Love knowing that I have access to these high-quality services for my children. And, we use them via Zoom since we live in Tennessee. I cannot say enough great things about this business:)”
Find a math tutor“My son had a wonderful experience with Cardinal Tutors when he needed help with his High School math and science classes. It turns out my son also needed help staying organized with all his assignments, something that the tutor helped with as well.”
Find a math tutor“Our tutor is truly amazing! He is so patient, explains things well, asks great questions, and checks for understanding. Owen really enjoyed working with him and they accomplished so much. This is really a game changer for us! I had high hopes and he exceeded them.”
Find a math tutor“I wanted to thank you for finding our tutor who tremendously helped Sam with his math.”
Find a Tutor“Iris loved working with her tutor!! … Also, I have another student for you — a friend of Iris's that needs help.”
Find a Tutor“Fantastic tutoring service. The tutor (who was a Stanford junior) really connected with my son and inspired him to learn. He had some great study tips and was able to help my son raise his grades by quite a bit.”
Find a math tutor“She found a perfect match for my son… He is stellar. My son has grown leaps and bounds in math. Our tutor is not only a subject matter expert but teaches very well, highly prompt, flexible when needed.”
Find a math tutor“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.”
Find a Tutor“Very professional service with excellent teachers. My son loved his teacher, called him the best he ever had! I can very highly recommend it.”
Find a Tutor“I am usually not one to write a review, but I wanted to communicate how great Cardinal Tutors was for my child. They had a very flexible plan which helped accommodate my child's needs and I saw a tremendous return (grade-wise) from their services. Could not recommend more highly.”
Find a math tutor“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.”
Find a math tutor“The subsequent long term tutor that we had for pre calc and for ACT tutoring was amazing. She was completely professional, organized, thorough and easy to work with.”
Find a math tutor“You have been a wonderful inspiration for Eli and we are very grateful for having you in the past half-year!”
Find a coding tutor“The program has been awesome for us. Theo loves working with our tutor and has learned so much.”
“Our tutor is just outstanding — great with Theo and very communicative with me. Super helpful!”
Find a Tutor“I reached out to Cardinal Tutors and was lucky enough to find the most amazing tutor. I wish I had found him earlier.”
Find a math tutor“We used Cardinal Tutoring again in the Spring 2018 for precalculus. Once again, she had a great tutor she really liked and who really helped her this year. My daughter is a senior so we won't need Cardinal Tutoring again, but I highly recommend them!”
Find a Tutor“We have had an excellent experience with Cardinal Tutors for the past two years. Neil was very responsive whenever we had any questions. We definitely strongly recommend them and plan on using them again in the near future.”
Find a math tutor“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.”
Algebra I to Calculus or Statistics
Mid-Pen requires three years of math, typically Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II, and students are placed by prior experience and a math placement result. After that come Precalculus with Trigonometry, Calculus and Statistics. Our math tutors help a student shore up algebra before placement or keep pace once the course is set. Science asks for one life and one physical science, usually Biology and Chemistry, and we tutor both.
Working alongside the Learning Support Program
Mid-Pen’s Learning Support Program designs plans with families of students who have documented learning differences, and its Study Center class builds organization and time management. We’re tutors, not clinicians, so we follow that plan and add practice at home; our academic coaching and ADHD coaching pages explain how.
Sessions are one-on-one, at your home in Menlo Park or wherever you live nearby, or online. We tutor students from Menlo-Atherton as well. Write to us with your student’s classes and we’ll introduce a tutor.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.












