Sacred Heart Preparatory is the high school of Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, a Catholic, independent school whose Prep division covers grades 9 through 12. Our tutors are current and former Stanford students, and we tutor SHP students one at a time in the courses that crowd their week.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.
Seven classes plus religious studies
SHP freshmen and sophomores typically carry seven classes a semester, and nobody takes fewer than six. On top of the usual subjects come seven semesters of religious studies and a required service learning sequence that starts with a freshman retreat and ends in a senior capstone. With a load like that, the hard part is often juggling everything at once more than any single course. Our tutors map out the week with an SHP student, and our academic coaching turns that into a habit.
Placement exams before freshman year
Standardized testing is not required to apply to SHP. Placement is a separate step: an entering freshman who wants advanced math, science or world language needs department approval, which may rest on placement exams, 8th grade transcripts and teacher recommendations. We review algebra with incoming SHP students ahead of those exams, so the result reflects what they really know.
Honors and AP decisions in the first weeks
SHP opens honors sections in math, science and world languages to 9th graders, and in other subjects from sophomore year. An AP course there is generally a full-year commitment that can’t be dropped once the August drop/add period ends, and a switch from honors or AP down to the regular level has to be settled by the last school day of September. Those opening weeks are when a math or science tutor matters most, because the first major assessment arrives fast.
The May AP exam is part of the course
Every SHP student enrolled in an AP class sits the exam in May, though the score doesn’t touch the course grade. We set up spring review a few weeks out, and juniors often pair it with SAT or ACT prep.
What a parent says about our tutors
“At each level of math needed, we found these Stanford students to be not just helpful tutors but great mentors as well.”
Christy S., Portola Valley · Yelp review
What an ACT parent says
“The 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.”
Melissa H., Redwood City · Yelp review
We come to your home in Atherton or a town close by, or meet online, always one-on-one. We tutor students from Menlo School on the same avenue, too. Send us your student’s SHP course list and we’ll find the right Stanford tutor for it.
Tell us about your student, and we’ll match them with a Stanford tutor who fits.