I believe that all children are capable of excelling academically in the right learning environment – an environment in which they must push themselves beyond what they thought they were capable of. Students will stretch their minds and abilities only as far as they are asked to. That is why I challenge students to do complex and sophisticated work. In my small classes and in private coaching sessions, I give students the space to grow and develop as far as their potential will take them. I strive to inspire each student to perform at the highest possible level.

Good teaching is not lecturing or spoon-feeding. Good teaching is asking students the right questions and getting them to think hard and work out the answers for themselves. The best way for students to prepare for college and the real world is to think more deeply and critically, to engage intensively with the course material and the world around them, and to learn how to ask the right questions. Thinking for oneself is the hallmark of intellectual maturity. 

When teaching writing, I stress the importance of clear logic and precise thinking. As Neil Rudenstine, the former president of Harvard University, has observed, “Nothing is harder than writing, because the process forces you to confront and articulate what (and how) you think.” If you cannot think well, you cannot write well. Writing is a critical life skill, necessary for success in college, graduate school, and the real world. I help students become better writers and thinkers – skills that will serve them well in all their future endeavors.

I understand the importance of being taught well because I was lucky enough to be taught by excellent teachers and professors, starting when I was very young. I excelled not because I was talented, but because I was fortunate enough to take courses with the best teachers. As a result, I succeeded in advanced courses at an early age: Honors Algebra I in fifth grade (at age 8); Latin I and Precalculus in sixth grade (at age 9); Latin III, Honors Biology, and Honors Geometry in seventh grade (at age 10); and Greek I, Honors Algebra II-Trigonometry, and AP Biology in eighth grade (at age 11). These achievements highlight the importance of studying with the best teachers.