Award-Winning Middle School Tutors
serving Durham, NC

Between a Dartmouth history degree, a Master's in Education from Boston College, and current JD work at Duke, Jennifer has spent her entire academic life toggling between reading-heavy disciplines and analytical writing — exactly what middle schoolers are learning to do across English, social studies, and science. She's especially sharp on the writing and study skills side, teaching students how to organize their thinking before putting pen to paper, whether it's a persuasive essay or a set of history notes. Rated 5.0 by families.

Growing up with two siblings who have ADHD gave Arial a firsthand understanding of how different brains handle the organizational chaos of middle school — switching between math homework, a reading response, and a science worksheet in one evening. Her English degree from Duke sharpens the language arts side, but she covers the full middle school spread including math, science, social studies, and study skills, and she's especially good at adapting her approach mid-session when a student's usual strategy isn't working.

An English degree and a subject list that spans pre-algebra through creative writing, Spanish, psychology, and history means Sara can sit down with a middle schooler and move fluidly from a math worksheet to an essay draft to vocab review without skipping a beat. Her writing and literature background is the anchor — she's particularly sharp at teaching students how to read a prompt carefully and structure a response — but she carries that same clarity into the analytical subjects. Rated 4.9 by families.

I am an avid rower and bicyclist. I also greatly enjoy growing vegetables and playing basketball.

I am currently doing research on personalized therapies for glioblastoma brain tumors at the Duke Medical Center, before I continue on to medical school. I love to swim, walk my pug dog, and hang out with family and friends in my free time. I hope I can help you in your studies. I look forward to working with you!

I am a Marshall Scholar and will begin graduate studies at the University of Cambridge in the fall.

I am passionate about helping secondary and post-secondary students to read texts carefully, to make arguments cogently, and to tell a story about themselves, the world around them, and the things that are important in their lives. I believe that the humanities really do help us be more human with each other and in our world. I teach and tutor with the assumption that school is a set of practices that anyone can learn and that, when they engage those practices diligently, students gain empathy and critical thinking skills that are transferable to all of their endeavors.

I am a graduate student in the Masters of Interdisciplinary Data Science Program at Duke University. Previously, I worked at Student Support Services in Puerto Rico as a Data Analyst, and, prior to that position, I worked as a Math and English tutor. Throughout my life, I have tutored college kids from less privileged backgrounds, who carry different types of academic and personal struggles, and I empathized a lot with them. I know the feeling of walking in to a classroom and understanding nothing, the void that forms in your head. My goal is for people to understand and learn. Once you learn a concept, nothing can break your foundations.

I am a third-year college student enrolled in a rigorous international program and I will graduate with two bachelor's degrees in 2023. One degree will be from Duke University and one will be from Duke Kunshan University in Kunshan, China. I received a full-tuition scholarship to attend Duke Kunshan University. I spent my freshman year studying in China, and I now live and study on Duke's campus in Durham, North Carolina. I have always been a strong student, with a current 3.94 GPA in college. I earned a 1510 on my SAT and am great at SAT tutoring as well as editing college application essays. I am also proficient in Spanish as a second language, and have experience tutoring Spanish language learners as well as Spanish-speaking English language learners. I have more than 3 years of tutoring experience working with children ages 7 up to adults. As a tutor, I consider myself knowledgable, motivated, and patient.

I am now attending Duke University to pursue a Master of Public Policy, a track studying the quantitative analysis behind policy decisions. I will focus on social policy and international development.

I am passionate about biomedical engineering, and am endlessly amazed by intricacies of the world around us. My degrees are in engineering (BS-General Engineering from Harvey Mudd, MS- Mechanical Engineering, and PhD-Bioengineering from Georgia Tech), but I also love art and literature and linguistics. Outside of academics, I am an avid sports fan (and rugby player) and I love to cook, hike with my dog, and travel.

I am earning dual Bachelors of Science from Duke University and Duke Kunshan University (located in Kunshan, Jiangsu, China) in Behavioral Science-- intended to graduate in 2023. As a former Varsity Tutors student myself, I can confidently say that our services not only allow students to be proud of what they can achieve (for myself it was an SAT score and college admissions essays) but also who they are. Tutoring had a huge impact on my confidence in the classroom and other academic settings (i.e. testing, presentations, etc.) My greatest wish is to pay it forward.

I'm currently a post-doctoral associate at Duke University. My research aims to understand how specialized cells in the brain contribute to synapse formation and function. I previously was a PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis where I used a genomics approach to understand how cells in the brain rapidly communicate at the synapse. I am originally from NJ and received my Bachelor's degree from Rutgers University. I have taught a series of courses for undergraduate students (Neurophysiology, Molecular Biology), graduate students (human anatomy) and a mixture of graduate students and researchers (Techniques in neurobiology). Details on these can be found on my CV which is uploaded. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and hiking with my Australian Shepherd in the mountains of NC. I can't wait to meet students and help them succeed in courses and beyond!

I am constantly looking for opportunities to learn new things. Additionally, in my spare time I enjoy reading, board games, and rock climbing. I am excited to work as a tutor once again in order to give students a chance to learn one-on-one to get a deeper and more clear understanding of their study material. By having the ability to clear up confusion with material every week via a tutor, the student will find it easier in the future to build on these concepts and to keep up with work as it gets more challenging.

I am a graduate of Emory University, where I was an Emory Faculty Scholar and academics tutor who double-majored in Economics and Psychology, and am also a current MBA graduate student at Duke University (on academic scholarship). I have several years experience tutoring across a variety of subjects and also 6+ years of experience as a recruiter (and 2+ years as Director of Recruitment). I also provide freelance career coaching and resume services when I am not tutoring or immersing myself in learning. Ultimately, I am passionate about helping my students find sustainable ways to learn from, succeed in, and get the most from their classes....even the ones that are most frustrating and that challenge them the most. Let's work together to achieve your/your child's academic goals and have some fun in the process! (Learning and fun should go hand in hand, after all).

I am currently a grad student in NC State's School of Education. I love education and working with folks of all ages to learn. I've been tutoring in some capacity for over 15 years. At first, I primarily taught swim lessons, and then, overtime, I branched out to a myriad of subjects from rock climbing to essay writing and test prep. These days I focus on literacy, organization/executive function skills, test prep, and writing.

I am a 7-12 certified middle school History teacher. I also am on the premedical track. I have a major in History and minors in Biology/Chemistry from Duke University.

I'm a masters student at Johns Hopkins University and continuing my work as a tutor.

I am a current student at the University of Pennsylvania studying cognitive science. I value education and strongly believe that every student has different methods of learning. My goal as a tutor is to find what methods work best for each student.

I am a senior at Duke University, expecting to graduate in May 2020. I have experience tutoring college students in Spanish and biology.

I am most suited to tutor science courses such as Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Science but also have a strong background in Mathematics through the Calculus level.

I am dedicated to meeting students where they are in order to find the best path forward.

I am inclusive and accepting of students from all walks of life, regardless of identity (race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, citizenship status, etc). Instruction is only available in Spanish, however.

I'm passionate about. I also believe in the value of education, more than as a means to an end (career and income), but as an end in itself. Education is its own reward!

I am persuasive and capable of developing rapport and trust, as well as experienced in influencing the attitudes and ideas of others.

Between his biology coursework at Wofford and his EMT certification, Daiven spends most of his time absorbing information fast and applying it under pressure — a combination that translates well to helping a sixth grader bounce from a pre-algebra assignment to a science worksheet to an essay outline in one sitting. His science background anchors the STEM side, but three years of tutoring across a wide range of subjects means the reading and writing portions of the homework pile don't throw him off either.

Paige covers the full spread of middle school academics — from pre-algebra and basic physics to essay structure and grammar — so students dealing with multiple tough classes can work with one tutor who keeps everything connected. Her approach is to break intimidating problems into smaller, concrete steps that build real confidence. She holds a 5.0 rating across her sessions.

Between UNC Chapel Hill honors coursework and a Columbia graduate program in international affairs, Maha has spent years rapidly context-switching across reading-heavy, writing-heavy, and analytical disciplines — which is essentially the middle school experience compressed into every homework night. She covers math, reading, writing, science, and history at this level, and her own background in visual arts and creative writing gives her a way into subjects that feels less like drilling and more like actual thinking. Rated 4.7 by families.

Four years of working directly with K-8 students taught Ashley that middle school is where kids either build real academic confidence or start falling behind. She covers everything from organizing a five-paragraph essay to breaking down pre-algebra word problems, tailoring each session to what a student actually needs that week. Rated 5.0 by students and families.

A statistics degree means Taylor thinks in systems — how variables connect, how one weak link throws off the whole chain — which is exactly the lens that catches why a middle schooler's science grade is actually a reading problem, or why their math homework falls apart at the word-problem step. She covers math, science, English, writing, and history at this level, and her analytical training makes her especially sharp at diagnosing where things are breaking down and restructuring a student's approach on the spot. Rated 4.9 by families.

As a high school math teacher who has also worked extensively with special needs students in one-on-one settings, Brianna knows how to adjust her explanations on the fly when a middle schooler's confidence starts to wobble — especially in math, where gaps from earlier grades tend to surface all at once. Her University of Richmond math minor and marketing analytics concentration mean she can connect pre-algebra and data concepts to real-world examples that actually land with a twelve-year-old. Rated 4.9 by families.

I am a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Duke University. I received my Bachelor's degree in History and my Master's degree in Religious Studies. Since graduation I have tutored students in American History and Biblical Hebrew, which were exceedingly rewarding experiences. I am especially passionate in helping students learn to think critically, and enjoy the process of learning. While I tutor a variety of subjects, I am most enthusiastic about tutoring in History and Writing because these subjects utilize skills that students will use and cultivate throughout their lives and are applicable for many careers. I would describe my teaching philosophy as hands on and project-based learning. I strive to include fun and relevant videos, songs, and activities into my curriculum to ensure the engagement of my students. Outside of academia I like painting, baking, hiking, photography, and having game nights with friends.

I am a rising sophomore at Harvard College and I am studying social studies with a focus on Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. I have lived my whole life until college in the incredible countries of Rwanda and Kenya (with one year in Egypt). Since education wasn't easily accessible to me through elementary school, very early on I had to learn how to love learning and teach myself. Even after many years of more formal education I haven't lost that spark and that ownership of my education yet! I love tutoring because it allows me to bring people into that same kind of ownership of their knowledge. I love tutoring all sorts of different subjects, but I have the most experience (and maybe the most love) for tutoring in calculus, French, Arabic, English as a second language, and test prep!

I am a recent graduate of Duke University, where I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 2014. I am primarily a math tutor but I also enjoy teaching chemistry and physics. Math was always my favorite subject in high school and I continued my love of math at Duke. I have also been a middle school and high school tutor throughout my time at Duke through the Program in Education. One of my crowning achievements at Duke was winning the DT Stallings Award, which is awarded to a Duke senior who has shown sustained and dedicated service to tutoring local school children. When I am tutoring a student, I prefer a very hands-on approach. I love working out problems with my students after working through an example problem completely. By working problems out with my students, I am able to help them if and when they get stuck. I hope to convey to every student the ability to think logically and persevere when things seem difficult.

I am a PhD student in Literature at Duke University. I have been tutoring (and directing tutoring programs) for years and am looking forward to working with you to meet your goals! I have spent nearly every year since college tutoring in some capacity, including as a volunteer through my current church. I enjoy the challenge of discerning the best way for each particular student to understand and absorb information, and am always thrilled to see when they regain their confidence in their own abilities.

I am currently a graduate student at Texas State University, pursuing a specialist degree in School Psychology. A major deciding factor in my career choice was the field's emphasis on helping all students do their best at school and at home, which directly applies to my approach to tutoring. I love to learn and I love helping others feel successful in their classes. I have been informally tutoring peers and my younger siblings from a young age, and continue to do so today.

I am open to helping any student of any age with nearly any subject (math, reading, writing, biology, chemistry, economics, civics, Spanish etc). I'm also happy to help with test prep (hello SAT and ACT takers), as well as college application assistance. I'm a strong believer in a patient, non-judgmental, non-intimidating approach to tutoring, and I really try to prioritize the comfort of my students. As someone who has used tutoring myself in some of my harder classes in college, I understand that not everything comes easily to everyone, so I want all of my students to feel comfortable asking any and all questions they might have, or going over a topic as many times as needed to understand it. I'm all about friendly, humble service!

I am willing to help a student reach higher grades, but more important to me than the grade is that the student is actually getting something out of what we are doing, and truly learning, not just retaining information, but engaging with the material and enjoying what they are learning. I firmly believe that hard work pays off, and with the right encouragement and help, a student can achieve anything they set their mind to. You're never to old to learn something new, and the doorways opened by education are endless.

I'm hoping to help my students get as excited about learning as I always have been! My most recent teaching experience has been with a local marine biology summer camp, where I do my best to get the kids stoked about biology, ecology, environmental science, and conservation. While I feel most passionate about marine biology, I am also qualified to tutor a variety of different subjects. I have taken the SAT 11 different times, and feel very confident teaching standardized test subjects! For me, tutoring is about breaking down difficult subjects into bite-sized pieces for my students to understand. My motto is "baby steps," and I love finding new and personalized ways to make learning fun for my students. Outside of academia I can be found exercising, singing, playing the ukulele, lounging on the beach, or finding new and exciting ways to annoy my cat Mozart.

I am Professor Florence. I teach at USC, UCSB, Pepperdine University, CSUN, Cal Tech, and other Universities. I received my bachelor's in Math and Psychology at UCLA, Ph.D. work in Engineering at Virginia Tech, and MBA in Marketing and New Venture Management at USC. I graduated at the top of my class, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, Highest Honors, full fellowships, and more. I am an expert on: