“Math had become a lesson in frustration for my son and I, and it often left us both in tears. Alicia swept in with her giant, joyful, lighthearted energy, and her equally massive math education knowhow. She was completely undeterred by the significant level of my son’s learning disabilities and met him right where he was at – both in math and as a person. What a relief it was for me to finally have an ally in my son’s education! It was not long after working with her that he began telling me that math was his favorite subject. We’ve had the privilege of working with Alicia for many years and it has been transformative. She receives our highest recommendation and then some.” ~Parent of high school student that was homeschooled
“We are enormously appreciative of all that Alicia has done to help our daughter achieve! Most importantly is the change we have witnessed in her self concept as a learner. Math was something she had come to understand as something that she just “wasn’t good at”. She now understands that her way of learning often differs from others and has a sense of how to approach challenges in a way that works for her….as well as countless practical tools at her disposal. This is an invaluable gift that she will carry with her as a life-long learner! Thank you Alicia!” ~Parent of a 5th grade student
“Alicia is the tutor who is consistently sought as a top preference by teachers, parents, and students alike. Her work is highly regarded by professionals in mainstream education, as well. Each year, Alicia’s students meet, or exceed, their service plan goals and make noteworthy gains on standardized measures. Even more significantly, Alicia’s students make gains in life skills- gaining in overall confidence, self-awareness of their learning style needs, and developing a skill set for self-advocacy.
Alicia is able to work successfully with students in a variety of instructional models. For some, she delivers a remedial scope and sequence of skills, independent of the classroom learning. Sometimes this model is necessary to bring up a student’s basic skill when lacking a solid foundation. Alicia keeps administrators, teachers and parents informed of the work and student progress with informal and formal reporting that is always timely and professional. Alicia has also pioneered working with teachers in a more coordinated partnership. She helps students to maximize their classroom learning with pre-teaching sessions, repeated practice, and guided 1-1 instruction to meet the unique learning style needs. Alicia meets regularly with a class teacher and initiates contact with all interested parties, as needed. In this way, Alicia is an invaluable assist in making sure that students make consistent progress and that a concept is well understood, or a foundation skill is mastered.” ~Educational Support and Resource Coordinator, Private School
“Our family worked with Alicia for more than four years. We began one summer, as a way to keep math concepts fresh during the break, but quickly realized that year-round tutoring would be beneficial for our kids. Alicia always made math interesting and do-able for our kids. She met them wherever they were mentally and emotionally that day, and helped them explore concepts which they could apply to different math challenges. She showed them tricks and tips to ease the problem-solving and gave them confidence to explore different ways to solve similar and related problems. For us as parents, Alicia gave us insights into how our children view and solve math problems and took the agony of math homework out of our family dynamic. Alicia is confidential, flexible, and kind, in addition to being a highly skilled math educator.” ~Parent of 6th and 8th grade students
“Alicia has tutored my homeschooled son through all four years of his high school education. Our son has mild learning disabilities, and needed help with math and study skill strategies. Prior to Alicia working with him, he struggled with math, and each day was met with much frustration. Within two weeks of beginning tutoring, all of his frustrations disappeared. She has taught my son how to use a “strategy notebook” which contains examples of the various math concepts covered, breaking them down into simple steps. He uses this notebook as a reference guide while completing work independently. We feel blessed to have had Alicia as a tutor. Her gentle spirit is sensitive to the emotional issues that arise when a student needs extra help with their studies. She wants her students to realize that they are not “stupid” or “slow”, but rather that they learn in a different way than others. She has always exhibited a great deal of care and genuine interest in working with us which we are very appreciative of.” ~Parent of a 12th grade student
“Alicia Burris has made a tremendous impact on my daughter’s life! Without a doubt, Alicia’s tutoring work has been the most important factor in Eliza’s understanding of numbers and their related math processes. Alicia’s warm and engaging teaching style, coupled with her wide array of tools and strategies has been the perfect recipe for success and growth for my daughter. Alicia always works hard to find the right approach for my daughter to learn new concepts and consistently makes practicing and homework a positive experience. Alicia cares about my daughter and her larger school experience, taking time to share stories and ask questions. Her dedication to my daughter’s growing math success is evident as she collaborates weekly with the classroom teacher. I always feel as though Alicia has my daughter’s sense of success and excitement for math as her priority. My daughter considers Alicia one of her “important people” and always looks forward to their tutoring sessions together. I wholeheartedly recommend Alicia- she is a treasure!” ~Parent of a 7th grade student
“Students thrive under Alicia’s skillful guidance and care, and I have been enormously fortunate to work with her on behalf of my students needing math support. Alicia not only presents mathematical concepts in a way that makes the material accessible to the student, but also she takes time to get her know her students personally, so that she can support them on the emotional level, as well. Alicia realizes how important a healthy self-esteem in working with math, and she provides her students with encouragement to have faith in themselves when they are discouraged. Alicia has worked in close partnership with me over the years, and I have been able to use many of her approaches in my own classroom, and Alicia always checks in with me to make sure that we are working in partnership on behalf of my students whom she serves. Alicia is kind, warm and professional, and any student in her care is a lucky student.” ~5th grade private school teacher
As a homeschooled student, I’ve enjoyed having Alicia as my math teacher from 9th grade through my senior year of high school. Her impact upon my learning has been substantial. She’s been able to identify my learning strengths and then tailor the lessons to my advantage. As a visual learner, I’ve been encouraged to use a graphing calculator as well as other learning aids which play to my strengths. I’ve always enjoyed working with Alicia. She has a great sense of humor and a great attitude towards teaching others. ~High school student