category: High School

Ilanit Helfand

March 26, 2017

Ilanit Helfand has always loved math. She graduated summa cum laude from Barnard College with a degree in math, and then she went on to complete her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Northeastern University.

In graduate school, Ilanit started teaching math and realized that she loved teaching as much as she loved to study math. She taught courses to undergraduate students and started to privately tutor students as well both for course work and test preparation. In 2011, she moved from Boston to Tel Aviv, Israel, and began to teach online courses. After moving back to the United States, she continued to teach online. She currently serves on the online teaching faculty at a number of universities including Northeastern University, Southern New Hampshire University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the University of New Haven. She has also been involved in course design at these schools, creating written and recorded material which has been used by over 10,000 students.

At Northeastern University, Ilanit was nominated for the Excellence in Teaching award. At Southern New Hampshire University, Ilanit was nominated for an award for Commitment to Student Success, and she is the winner of the 2017 Award for Outstanding Instruction in STEM.

Over her years teaching math, Ilanit has focused on improving students’ relationships with mathematics. Many students come in with a fear of math or believing that they are not “math people.” Ilanit’s goal is to give students confidence in their ability to do math by exercising a growth mindset so that the benefits of the tutoring long outlast the time spent with the tutor.

Susannah Greenblatt

March 26, 2017

Susannah Greenblatt is a creative writing professor, writing coach, and private tutor based in Brooklyn. During her years working in the publishing industry, Susannah stayed up late nights and weekends to write her own fiction and essays. In 2021, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in Creative Writing and moved to Madrid to work on her novel. Upon returning to the States, she began an MFA in Fiction at New York University as a Goldwater Fellow. She teaches Introduction to Prose and Poetry to NYU undergraduates and co-facilitates a writing workshop for patients at Coler Hospital. For Susannah, teaching is as much a creative pursuit as writing stories or novels. She brings imaginative thinking and inventiveness to her work with students, so that every reader can find their way into literature and every writer can find their voice.

As a writer herself, Susannah knows how to navigate the writing process on a deadline—from brainstorming to drafting to revision. She works closely with students and adults of all ages to tackle college essays, academic papers, and professional presentations. Throughout the process, her students hone tools and skills to become strong, clear, and confident writers. As a writing coach, Susannah is hands-on: she will open up the hood of a piece of writing to see what’s working and what can be tightened-up so that the prose runs smoothly. (It should be noted that, in typical New Yorker fashion, Susannah knows very little about actual cars.) Years of editorial work for magazines and book publishers sharpened Susannah’s eye for comma splices and dangling modifiers but also for the bigger picture: how a piece of writing can best reach its audience and achieve its purpose.

In addition to writing coaching, Susannah offers private tutoring in English (grammar, writing, literature, SAT, SAT II, AP), Spanish (conversation, reading, writing, SAT II, AP), history, and ELL. She also coaches test preparation for the SAT, ACT, and ISEE and helps students develop and enhance executive function skills.

Susannah is currently working on her first novel. In her free time she enjoys reading international literature in translation and chasing after her two-and-a-half-year-old niece.

Zachary Young

March 26, 2017

Zachary Young grew up in New York City and graduated from the Brooklyn Technical High School. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Professional Writing at S.U.N.Y. Cortland. Then he completed his Master’s degree at Relay Graduate School of Education while simultaneously teaching full time with the New York City Department of Education. Zach also taught 6th grade writing at a charter school. Before teaching in New York City, Zach worked for the New Jersey Department of Education coaching public speaking and debate teams with middle and high school students. He ultimately left the classroom to focus full time on private tutoring and providing individualized support.

Zach is a skilled ELA instructor, having taught Reading and Writing in New York City schools, and can help students build skills to decipher even the most difficult texts in any subject area. In addition to English, Zach has taught Social Studies and can assist students in History, Political Science, and Geography. He has worked closely with parents as a classroom teacher, and understands the importance of constant communication for student success. He has years of experience adjusting learning exercises and lessons to suit the needs of each student and has various ways of differentiating learning materials using Individualized Education Programs. Zach is devoted to meeting each student where he or she is and building upon his/her strengths. In order to ensure his student’s success and independence, Zach will help his students with how they learn in addition to what they learn. He works to help them gain self-awareness, confidence, and the strategies to address their own academic shortcomings. Through executive function coaching, Zach reduces academic stress by helping students tackle problems efficiently and manage the meta-work. Checklists, planners, and organizational instruction are some of the ways he has assisted with the growth of past honor roll students as well as students who struggled to achieve their potential.

Zach’s teaching philosophy is that each unique student requires consistent and special focus to have sustained growth. When he isn’t helping his students, Zach can often be found performing sketch comedy around Manhattan and Brooklyn, or doing improv comedy with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Zach is a proud nerd and can’t pass up an opportunity to discuss the latest video games or upcoming Superhero movies.

Charlie Pfaff

March 26, 2017

Charlie Pfaff is a private tutor specializing in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and test preparation, including the ACT, SAT, SAT subject tests, and AP exams. From a young age, Charlie always enjoyed helping his peers succeed. Years of assisting his classmates with their studies culminated in his service both as a tutor as well as a steering committee member for his high school’s extensive student-to-student tutoring service in his native Winnetka, Illinois.

Charlie received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. This field of study afforded him the opportunity to explore his affinity for math and penchant for problem-solving as well as his love for communicating ideas. He spent time in courses that valued both numbers-based thinking as well as clear and concise written essays. As a result, he has vast experience to draw on when helping students in both quantitative and qualitative subjects.

At Brown, Charlie also served as a senior staff member for the school’s satirical newspaper, The Noser. As a senior staff member, he worked one-on-one with writers to improve the planning and execution of their articles. He’s well-versed in the tools and tactics to help writers hone and expand their ideas and vocabulary, catch errors, and eliminate needless verbiage.

Most recently, Charlie worked as a strategist and analyst for award-winning international advertising agency DigitasLBi, followed by a rapidly-growing Brooklyn-based startup called RUNA. In these positions, he used mathematical principles to improve the efficiency of marketing and sales. These roles regularly included breaking down mathematical concepts for easy understanding by his coworkers, in much the same way that he had done as a tutor in high school.

In each role, Charlie continued to teach himself new concepts, both out of necessity as well as a lifelong love of learning. In fact, his fascination with his own learning process led to him taking an online course from UC San Diego entitled Learning How to Learn. This course helped him solidify the intuitions about learning and instruction that he had gained as a tutor and an analyst. He has also spent time in the classroom, participating in an outreach program to teach community principles and business concepts to young students in Manhattan.

When not tutoring, Charlie enjoys watching Jeopardy!, playing guitar, and exploring Brooklyn.

Alex Jacobs

December 26, 2016

Alex Jacobs is a private tutor who specializes in history, elementary math and language arts.

Alex was born and raised in Manhattan where he attended the Horace Mann School from Kindergarten through twelfth grade. While in High School, he tutored elementary school students both privately and through school-run programs. His experience at a rigorous New York preparatory school has given him insight into the unique challenges and pressures that students in that world face.

Alex then attended Oberlin College, where he earned his B.A. in Sociology. During college, he continued to educate elementary and middle school students, first as an assistant teacher at The Grace Church School’s summer program and later as a math and literacy tutor at Goddard Riverside Community’s Star Learning Center.

Alex is now a professional musician and music writer. His music has been covered by SPIN and Interview Magazine and his writing has been featured in the Huffington Post. He also teaches established producers and composers how to use the latest audio production software and gives lessons in percussion and digital synthesis to musicians of all ages. Most recently, Alex has led workshops for 3rd – 7th grade students in environmental education, music and nutrition for Arts in Parts, a nonprofit after-school and summer program in Far Rockaway.

Whether helping young readers navigate their first novel or coaching graduate school hopefuls through their applications and admissions tests, Alex’s spirited demeanor makes seemingly mundane work fun and fulfilling for learners at every level. In his 13 years as a tutor and educator, Alex has helped students excel in a broad range of subjects, including literacy, writing, mathematics, geography, history and the study of religion.

When he is not teaching or tutoring, Alex can be found collecting antique maps, building musical instruments or conducting ad hoc trivia competitions among friends.

category: High School

Ilanit Helfand

Susannah Greenblatt

Zachary Young

Charlie Pfaff

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Private Tutoring

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