Award-Winning High School Reading Tutors

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Award-Winning High School Reading Tutors

Emily

Certified Tutor

4+ years

Emily

Master of Arts, Communication, General
Emily's other Tutor Subjects
Calculus
Algebra
Biology
High School Biology

Strong reading at the high school level means more than comprehension — it means identifying an author's purpose, evaluating how structure shapes meaning, and drawing inferences from context clues. Emily's background as both an honors English graduate and a qualified ESL teacher means she can diagno...

Education

Johns Hopkins University

Master of Arts, Communication, General

Skidmore College

Bachelor in Arts, English

Candice

Certified Tutor

4+ years

Candice

Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing
Candice's other Tutor Subjects
Calculus
Algebra
PSAT Writing Skills
SSAT- Elementary Level

By high school, reading assignments get dense — whether it's unpacking symbolism in a novel, analyzing rhetorical strategies in nonfiction, or synthesizing multiple sources for a research project. Candice's English degree from the University of Chicago trained her in exactly this kind of close readi...

Education

The New School University

Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing

University of Chicago

Bachelor in Arts, English

Certified Tutor

3+ years

Philip

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering
Philip's other Tutor Subjects
Pre-Algebra
Competition Math
Trigonometry
Middle School Math

Years of teaching biology and chemistry have made Philip skilled at breaking down dense, unfamiliar texts — a skill that translates directly to high school reading comprehension. He shows students how to identify an author's central claim, trace how supporting details connect, and distinguish betwee...

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering

Test Scores
ACT
32

Certified Tutor

4+ years

Meg

Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing
Meg's other Tutor Subjects
Calculus
Algebra
College Essays
Literature

Reading at the high school level isn't just comprehension — it's learning to track symbolism, unreliable narrators, and authorial intent across complex texts. Meg's graduate training in creative writing gave her deep fluency with how literature is constructed, and she uses that lens to teach student...

Education

Columbia College Chicago

Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing

Rhodes College

Bachelor in Arts, Creative Writing

Certified Tutor

6+ years

Ariana

Master of Arts, Teaching French as a Second or Foreign Language
Ariana's other Tutor Subjects
Calculus
Algebra
Human Development
SAT Subject Test in French with Listening

Teaching both English and French at the secondary level gave Ariana an unusual vantage point on how students process written language — she's watched the same reader who struggles with inference in an English novel suddenly grasp subtext in a French poem, and vice versa. That cross-linguistic perspe...

Education

Kansas State University

Master of Arts, Teaching French as a Second or Foreign Language

Kansas State University

Bachelor in Arts, French

Test Scores
SAT
1410
ACT
32

Certified Tutor

2+ years

Melinda

PhD
Melinda's other Tutor Subjects
PSAT Writing Skills
SAT Reading
ACT Reading
SAT

I love to help students to do well on the SAT and ACT Verbal, Reading, and English sections. I have tutored these areas of standardized tests for more than 3 years. My approach is not "standardized" because I enjoy working one-on-one with clients to tailor learning experiences that address each pe...

Education

University of Pennsylvania

PhD

Certified Tutor

8+ years

Kaitlyn

Bachelor of Science, Biology, General
Kaitlyn's other Tutor Subjects
6th Grade math
6th Grade AP Language Composition
Pre-Algebra
College Algebra

Medical school demands a particular kind of reading — synthesizing dense research papers, extracting key findings from studies full of jargon, and connecting information across dozens of sources at once. Kaitlyn applies those same skills to high school reading, teaching students to annotate strategi...

Education

Fairfield University

Bachelor of Science, Biology, General

Test Scores
SAT
1500
ACT
33

Certified Tutor

3+ years

Patrick

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (minor in Mathematics)
Patrick's other Tutor Subjects
Middle School Math
Calculus
Algebra
Elementary School Math

Patrick's computer science and math training at Penn meant absorbing technical documentation, research papers, and dense problem sets daily — all of which demanded precise, active reading rather than passive skimming. He teaches high schoolers to approach any text the way a programmer approaches cod...

Education

University of Pennsylvania

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (minor in Mathematics)

Test Scores
ACT
33

Certified Tutor

5+ years

Arlin

Bachelor of Science, Neuroscience
Arlin's other Tutor Subjects
Middle School Math
Calculus
Algebra
Elementary School Math

Reading at the high school level means grappling with unreliable narrators, layered symbolism, and arguments buried under complex syntax — skills that don't come from just re-reading the passage slower. Arlin teaches active reading techniques like annotation, contextual vocabulary inference, and str...

Education

The University of Texas at Dallas

Bachelor of Science, Neuroscience

Test Scores
SAT
1400
ACT
32

Certified Tutor

Toni

Master of Arts, English
Toni's other Tutor Subjects
Calculus
Algebra
PSAT Writing Skills
SAT Mathematics

Teaching college English for years means Toni has watched firsthand what happens when students arrive without strong reading habits — and she knows exactly which skills close that gap before it widens. She walks high schoolers through how to read literary and nonfiction texts like a conversation, te...

Education

University of Dallas

Master of Arts, English

University of Dallas

Bachelor in Arts, English

Test Scores
SAT
1520

Meet Varsity Tutors Experts

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Amos

Calculus Tutor • +45 Subjects

I am a music and arts industry professional with over 20 years experience working in a variety of settings. It would be my pleasure to help you achieve your academic and musical goals.

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Nikit

Pre-Algebra Tutor • +44 Subjects

I am confident that I can share some of my expertise. Hobbies: reading, music, writing, art, sports, books, yoga

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Esther

Pre-Algebra Tutor • +61 Subjects

I'm Esther! I am currently a student at Binghamton University, studying in the School of Management.

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Rachel

Calculus Tutor • +60 Subjects

I am a certified English teacher for grades 7-12 and have a master's in teaching English from Brooklyn College. I also hold a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in English, music, and University Honors Program from Portland State University. Prior to graduating from Portland State, I studied piano performance at University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. For the last two years, I taught middle and high school English in NYC public schools. Now I freelance as a tutor, book editor, and musician; I love the increased opportunities to work with people individually! In addition to working as a classroom English teacher, I have worked with music students of all ages in classrooms, in ensembles, and individually. My favorite part about teaching and tutoring is helping students get excited about a new idea or creative process. In my tutoring sessions, I will focus on both big ideas (developing and structuring arguments, analyzing themes, building connections, etc.) and the nitty gritty details (conventions, grammar, sentence structure, style, voice, etc.) of reading and writing, whether it be for an essay prompt on an assigned novel or for SAT prep. By the end of a session, you'll be better equipped with skills that will help you not just with your current assignment but also with any reading or writing assignment in the future.

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Qays

Applied Mathematics Tutor • +93 Subjects

Hobbies: reading, music, hiking, art, books, writing

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Kenna

AP Calculus AB Tutor • +90 Subjects

I'm Kenna, a Chemical Engineer within the Semiconductor Processing industry. I also have professional experience in the Energy industry. My B.S. in Chemical Engineering is from Georgia Tech -- Go Jackets! I've lived all over the world. Right now, I am a proud Texan!

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Emma

Pre-Algebra Tutor • +54 Subjects

I am above all passionate about Computer Science, Mathematics, English, and the Arts. Hobbies: writing, painting, art, books, reading, music

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Maha

Calculus Tutor • +43 Subjects

I am a current graduate student at Columbia University studying international affairs. I graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with Honors and Distinction. Hobbies: art, books, photography, reading, music, writing

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David

Middle School Reading Tutor • +2 Subjects

I specialize in helping younger students with their writing and reading challenges. I cover the basics of language instruction and can assist with more complex situations. Some of my students in the past have been diagnosed with ADHD conditions and other learning disabilities like dyslexia. I have been test-scoring in the area of essay writing for Pearson Assessments for 15 years. My educational background includes degrees from Brown University; St. Edward's University (Master's degree in Liberal Arts); and the Berlin School of English (CELTA). I take pride and pleasure in seeing my students succeed, or at least make some improvement in their ability with language. I also like to introduce some fun into our tutoring sessions to keep my students interested and excited, as we focus on how to read effectively and write clearly.

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Katie

Pre-Algebra Tutor • +33 Subjects

I earned a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Maryland in May 2023. I would like to use my degree in a field that involves education, children, and studying child cognition. I have over 3 years of tutoring experience, and math has always been a passion of mine. Thus, I prefer to tutor children in math, but I am qualified to tutor in subjects such as Spanish, science, and English. I find it very rewarding to help students learn and overcome struggles they have in school. Their smiles alone make the work worthwhile to me. My past experience tutoring students includes working with children between the ages of 6 and 16. While tutoring, I try my best to keep the student engaged by including physical and virtual math games, physical learning tools, and other learning instruments designed to make learning more engaging for students. My tutoring style is pretty hands-on, but I also try to sit back and allow the student to think more deeply about the content and absorb the knowledge on their own. Outside of academia, I love to draw, especially with graphite, but I do occasionally use charcoal, colored pencils, and pens. I also love to exercise at the gym, but I especially enjoy hot yoga and pilates classes. I was also a gymnast all throughout my childhood and adolescence, and I was a gymnastics instructor at my hometown gym in college.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Tutors help students move beyond passive reading by teaching active comprehension strategies like annotation, questioning the text, and making connections to prior knowledge. They also use retrieval practice—asking students to recall and discuss key details without looking back at the text—which strengthens long-term retention. For complex texts, tutors break down challenging passages, model how to identify main ideas versus supporting details, and help students recognize how authors structure arguments and develop themes.

Literary analysis requires moving beyond plot summary to examine how authors use language, imagery, and structure to create meaning. Tutors teach students to identify literary devices (metaphor, foreshadowing, irony) and explain their purpose, then connect these elements to larger themes and character development. Through guided practice with mentor texts, students learn to support interpretations with specific textual evidence, moving from surface-level observations to deeper, more sophisticated analysis that earns strong grades on essays and exams.

A strong thesis goes beyond stating a topic—it makes a specific, arguable claim about a text that the essay will prove. Tutors help students craft thesis statements that are narrow enough to support in 3-5 pages but broad enough to allow for meaningful analysis. They then guide students in organizing evidence logically, teaching them to structure body paragraphs around topic sentences that connect back to the thesis, use topic sentences to transition between ideas, and save the strongest evidence for last to build persuasive momentum.

Tutors provide targeted feedback that goes beyond surface-level grammar corrections to address the underlying issues affecting clarity and persuasiveness—like weak topic sentences, unsupported claims, or logical gaps in reasoning. Rather than simply marking errors, they ask guiding questions that help students identify problems themselves and develop revision strategies. This personalized approach to revision teaches students to self-edit more effectively, build stronger arguments, and develop their unique writing voice over time.

Tutors teach students the mechanics of MLA and APA formatting while also helping them understand the purpose behind citations—to give credit, establish credibility, and allow readers to verify sources. They guide students in smoothly integrating quotes and paraphrases into their own writing, showing how to introduce sources with signal phrases and explain their relevance rather than dropping quotes into paragraphs unexpectedly. Tutors also help students distinguish between paraphrasing and plagiarism, teaching them to synthesize sources in their own words while maintaining academic integrity.

Rather than memorizing isolated word lists, tutors teach students to use context clues, word roots, and prefixes to decode unfamiliar words while reading—a skill that builds independence and retention. They help students recognize how authors use vocabulary strategically for tone and effect, and they encourage spaced repetition by incorporating new words into discussions and writing assignments. This approach connects vocabulary development directly to reading comprehension and writing quality, making word learning feel purposeful rather than rote.

Standardized reading sections and AP Literature exams require students to analyze unfamiliar texts under time pressure, which demands both strong comprehension skills and test-specific strategies. Tutors teach students how to skim effectively, identify what a question is really asking, and manage time across multiple passages. They also help students practice with released exams and similar passages, building confidence and speed while reinforcing the close-reading and analytical skills that earn high scores on both timed tests and classroom essays.

Each text type requires different analytical lenses. With novels, tutors focus on character development, plot structure, and thematic analysis. Poetry demands attention to sound devices, line breaks, and compressed language where every word carries weight. Non-fiction requires students to identify author purpose, evaluate arguments, and distinguish between fact and opinion. Tutors help students adapt their reading approach based on genre, teaching them what to look for in each text type and how to write analyses that match the specific demands of novels, poetry, essays, and speeches.

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