Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne Yount.
Boston Tutoring Center (BTC) was founded in 2002 by Anne Yount (Ms. Anne) when working with her 11 year old son to prepare for the ISEE (Independent Schools Entrance Exam) for the Boston exam school and independent school admissions tests.
BTC started offering small group ISEE prep classes in 2004 in Ms. Anne’s home. Ms. Anne developed and taught the verbal test prep curriculum, and Ms. Anne’s husband, Mr. Bob, developed the math test prep curriculum and taught the math classes for the first several years (Mr. Bob has a degree from MIT).
BTC moved to its first office in 2006, and Ms. Anne hired a staff to offer academic tutoring for students in grades K-12, SSAT and HSPT prep (for independent and Catholic high school admission) and SAT and ACT prep. The business outgrew its first office in 2010 and moved to its second location and expanded to offer admission consulting services for independent middle and high school admission.
BTC outgrew its second office in 2013 and moved to its current location, and expanded to offer Skype tutoring for clients outside the Boston area. In 2017 BTC will launch a charity to aid disadvantaged students in gaining admission to exam and independent schools. Also in 2017, Ms. Anne will publish a book entitled: “Private School Admission – Mistakes Parents Make”, to share with readers her 15 years of experience on the dos and don’ts of private school admission.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There are always challenges when running a business: attracting new clients, hiring and retaining staff, managing growth, dealing with customer service issues, managing cash flow and receivables, and providing all of our clients with a personalized, high quality program. We have weathered many storms over the years: floods in the office, a flying squirrel trapped in the closet, an oil spill in the basement of one of our offices, and many other mishaps, but we have always managed to keep the doors open, a smile on our faces, and we always try to provide support and words of encouragement to all of our students!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Boston Tutoring Center story. Tell us more about the business.
What makes us different?
• We are independently owned, not a franchise.
• We offer personal attention, Ms. Anne screens all new clients and is selective about the students we serve (if she does not feel BTC can help a family she will not take the business).
• All tutoring is done on-site or via Skype – tutors are not sent out to students’ homes or locations outside the office; this allows us to supervise the work of the tutors, and provide them with guidance and feedback.
• Tutors have access to a vast collection of materials, lesson plans and resources, as well as other teachers and staff for mentoring and feedback.
• We do not have a prescribed, gimmicky program that is a one-size-fits-all approach; we meet students where they are and design work to address their areas of weakness, while building on their strengths.
• The staff are rigorously screened before they are hired and they undergo a background check. Currently over 90% of our staff have a master’s degree, and all our tutors have teaching experience prior to joining our team.
• We do not hire high school students, we do not hire college students, and all our tutors have a minimum of a college degree.
• The average age of our tutors is mid to late 30s – they are adults with maturity and many years of experience.
• The average tenure of our staff is over 3 years, we have some tutors who have been with us for 7-8 years.
• We like to say that our tutors are a combination of cheerleaders and drill sergeants, we encourage students while also holding them accountable.
• BTC has developed proprietary lesson plans for test preparation that are constantly being updated and refined and have been proven to get results for students.
• We offer some of the most competitive rates for one-on-one tutoring in the Boston area; we want our services to be affordable for a wide variety of families.
• Regular written reports are provided to parents to keep them apprised of their student’s progress.
• We get results – our SAT students raise their scores on average over 200 points and have received merit scholarship money based on their high SAT scores.
• Students improve their grades and their attitudes about school when working with our tutors.
• Our private school admission statistics are very impressive – most years we fill a minimum of 10% of the seats at the top private schools in the area.
• We have relationships with the admission staff at the top private schools in Boston, and we regularly speak with them about what they are looking for in applicants.
• Ms. Anne has visited over 50 schools in the Boston area and is an expert on the private schools in the area, from elementary school through high school.
• Every week we have students coming to BTC for tutoring and SAT/ACT prep from the top schools in Boston, and we talk with them and their parents about the schools on a regular basis; this gives us unique insight that no other program can match.
• We are the only center based, privately owned business in the Boston area that offers both test preparation, academic tutoring and admission consulting services all under one roof.
• We have grown through word-of-mouth, we do not do any advertising.
BTC services offered:
• One-on-one private tutoring for students in grades K-12 for academic subject tutoring (math, English, reading comprehension, writing, biology, chemistry, physics, Latin, Spanish and French)
• Test preparation for independent, Catholic and exam school middle and high school assessments (ISEE, SSAT and HSPT)
• College entrance exam test preparation (SAT and ACT)
• Admission consulting for private middle and high school applicants (school selection, mock interviews, assistance with applications and essays, etc.)
• Tutoring for college students in math and writing (mostly remedial tutoring)
• Skype tutoring for clients across the US, Europe and in Central and South America
• Educational consulting services for parents looking for help with education issues and school placement decisions
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck has played a small role in the success of the business. The business has grown over the years with a lot of hard work, many late nights and long weekends, and a lot of blood, sweat and (sometimes) tears. We are fortunate in that many of the families we work with value education and understand how important a good education is for success in life. Our families return to us year after year, and they trust us to educate their children year in and year out. We also get many word-of-mouth referrals from our clients, which is the highest compliment we can ever receive; when someone respects the work you do enough to recommend you to their family, friends and colleagues, it acknowledges of the special bond you have formed with them and their family. We are always honored to serve our clients.
Pricing:
- Our lowest rate for one-on-one tutoring is $85 an hour, for a minimum of 12 consecutive weeks.
- Our lowest rate for admission consulting service is $250 an hour, or an all inclusive package price of $7,500.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bostontutoringcenter.com
- Phone: 617-553-8083
- Email: bostontutoringcenter@rcn.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Boston-Tutoring-Center-520894684729323/
- Other: http://privateschoolguru.com/blog/
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