OUR TEAM
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Dan - Owner
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Dan's passion for learning started at age eight when algebra replaced bedtime stories. A high school math champion and perfect ACT scorer, Dan graduated in three years (at the age of 20) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor's in finance. He later traded bonds at the Chicago Board of Trade for five years before moving to New York to focus full-time on tutoring and co-found the company's first office, Pleasantville Prep. In his free time, Dan continues to be an avid learner and hobbyist, with current favorites including photography, woodworking, and travel.
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Matt R. - Owner
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Matt grew up in Armonk. After Byram Hills High School, he graduated from Vassar College with a bachelor's in physics and the University of Pennsylvania with a master's in mechanical engineering. Matt has worked as a project manager for Consolidated Edison Solutions and served as CEO of Third Power, a company developing large-scale energy storage projects for the wholesale electricity sector. He holds two patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for innovative large-scale energy storage technologies. Matt has a passion for building students' confidence and interest in math and science and has an infectious way of sharing his enthusiasm.
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Sam - Owner & Director of College Advising
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Sam holds a bachelor's in philosophy from the University of Southern California and is a published research scientist, having spent four years in neuroscience research at Columbia University. He brings over a decade of experience in test prep and college advising, enabling students to craft the scores, passions, and unique application stories that will set them apart at even the most elite universities. As director of the college advising program, Sam guided students to admission at half of the top-16 schools in the country for the Class of 2025.
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Matt P. - Tutoring Manager
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Matt graduated in the top 1% of his high school class. He earned a B.A. in English from Vassar College, from which he graduated with honors, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in English at Ohio State University. Prior to moving to Westchester, he worked in the nonprofit sector as a grant writer, cumulatively raising more than $4 million in funding. As both a math and verbal tutor, Matt prides himself on creating a friendly and inviting atmosphere during each session, with an attentive and personalized approach for each and every student.
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Paul - Tutoring Manager
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Paul is from Pound Ridge and attended Fox Lane High School. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2008 with a double major in economics and classics. He subsequently spent more than six years living in Busan, South Korea. While teaching ESL to children and adults of all ages, he attended Pusan National University, earning a master's in international business in 2015. After returning to the U.S. in late 2015, Paul opened and ran a test prep tutoring academy in Flushing, Queens, before moving back to Westchester in 2017 to join Pleasantville / Armonk Prep. Paul brings over 10 years of tutoring experience and serves not only as a core tutor but also curriculum developer and operational manager.
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Ed - Director of School-Based Operations
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Ed earned a B.S. from SUNY Geneseo in History with NYS certification to teach social studies (grades 7-12) and stayed in Geneseo to complete his Master's of Education, graduating with a GPA of 4.0. He taught in both the Geneseo and Rye school districts before becoming a school programs director for a technology company in Stamford, CT, servicing a district of more than 4,500 students. Over the past ten years, Ed has successfully tutored hundreds of students for the SAT/ACT verbal sections and social studies. As the company's head of school programming, he also works to facilitate relationships with local schools, bringing high-quality tutoring and test prep to the classroom setting.
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Lauren - Office Manager
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Lauren is a long-time resident of Armonk and Pleasantville and the proud mother of three children who have attended Byram Hills, including one current rising Junior. She graduated Duke University magna cum laude with a double major in economics and art history and later worked as Senior Vice President at Aon Risk Services, designing and marketing global property and casualty insurance programs for Fortune 500 companies. As office manager, Lauren brings not only her organizational and logistical expertise but also the unique and caring perspective of a mother who's helped her own children navigate the pressures of today's ultra-competitive academic climate.
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Jennifer - Assistant Office Manager
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Jennifer is a long-time resident of Scarsdale and has a master’s degree in Journalism from NYU and a master’s in Education from Columbia Teachers College. She taught 1st and 2nd grade in the Bedford School District in the early 1990s. As assistant office manager, Jennifer brings her attention to detail and organization skills as well as an in-depth understanding of the rigors of attending a competitive high school and the subsequent college application process.
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Gabriel - Advisor & Tutor
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Gabriel graduated with honors from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a B.F.A. in acting and English/American Literature, and she possesses over 5 years of experience in college advising, SAT/ACT verbal prep, and writing support. Drawing upon her background as a professional actor, storyteller, and writer, Gabriel helps students create compelling, distinctive narratives that persuasively communicate their passions and academic prowess to schools across the country. Her approach is steeped in empathy and encouragement, designed to empower students to take ownership of their academic journeys so that they can pursue what they love. Working with families from coast to coast, Gabriel has guided students toward top test scores and admission to acclaimed universities like Harvard and Columbia.
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Sam - Advisor & Tutor
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Sam graduated from Princeton University with a degree in physics and has conducted plasma physics research at the Princeton Plasma Physics laboratory and the University of Tokyo. Following graduation, she was awarded a fellowship to teach physics and middle school math at an experimental, project-based-learning school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she worked for three years. She is currently pursuing an MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop—widely considered the best writing program in the country and whose past graduates include seventeen winners of the Pulitzer Prize and six recent U.S. Poets Laureate. As advisor and tutor, Sam balances her knowledge of STEM fields with her published, award-winning creative writing, and together with a laid-back, encouraging personality, she uniquely enables students to achieve academic success and construct outstanding college applications.
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Isabelle - Tutor
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Isabelle graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in behavioral neuroscience and a dual minor in human services and cultural anthropology. She worked as a research assistant in the Neurobiology Department at Harvard Medical School, studying how the various neural networks that support cognition--such as hearing, vision, and memory--acquire their unique properties. In addition, Isabelle spent seven months as an EMT in Boston. In her spare time, she served as an EMS instructor at Boston University, teaching prospective EMTs essential skills and protocols and preparing students to take the state and national exams. These experiences required her to be highly accountable, adaptable, and able to create quick rapport, qualities she likewise brings to each tutoring session.
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Angelina - Tutor
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Angelina graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in Economics and a BA in Legal Studies. She discovered her love for teaching while tutoring at an academy during her time in university, helping more than half of her students enrolled in community college transfer to her alma mater. Angelina now works primarily with high school students on various school subjects, such as AP Macroeconomics and AP Statistics, SAT/ACT prep, and college advising and essays. She hopes not only to guide students toward academic success but also instill a true love for education, as her teachers did for her.
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Scarlet-Marie - Tutor
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Scarlet-Marie graduated with distinction in Chemical Engineering from Yale University. Having won the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, she is currently pursuing her PhD in Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley. She has worked in various capacities in college admissions consulting and as a Math and Chemistry tutor. In her free time, she is most often found rock climbing - applying her problem solving skills to the great outdoors. She is an enthusiastic teacher and a firm believer in the importance of science communication. She loves spreading her passion for STEM innovation and leadership to her students.
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Miles - Tutor
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Miles grew up in Manhattan and attended The Lawrenceville School before graduating from Trinity College with a bachelor’s in philosophy. His passion for education developed early on in college, where he found a true love of learning and passion for sharing it with his peers. Miles brings a strong foundation in human psychology, which he utilizes in his tutoring sessions, and always maintains a patient, soft-spoken, and understanding persona. He works with students on SAT/ACT prep and across a wide range of academic subjects from elementary through high school.
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Lizzie - Tutor
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Lizzie graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Human Biology, Health and Society and currently conducts prostate cancer research at Weill Cornell Medical College. She brings 6 years of tutoring and teaching experience in a variety of settings, including private tutoring, student-athlete academic support, and serving as teaching assistant for Cornell courses in biochemistry and educational psychology. Lizzie specializes in all math and science-based school support through college level. Her approach centers on providing an encouraging educational environment for students—ensuring they feel confident and supported as they master challenging concepts,
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Geneva - Tutor
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Geneva graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in public policy and currently splits her time between working in political campaigns and tutoring. She specializes in ACT preparation as well as statistics and calculus. Geneva is exceptionally good at building close, supportive relationships with students to develop confident, successful learners.
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Anahita - Tutor
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Anahita, a former high school valedictorian, graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a B.S. in Biology and currently conducts vascular and cancer research at Columbia University Medical Center. While in college, Anahita served as a private tutor, study group leader, and teaching assistant for courses such as cell biology, biochemistry, and physics, and has scored in the 96th percentile on the MCAT. Anahita now specializes in tutoring for math and science and enjoys sharing with every student her passion for learning and her organized approach to academic success.
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Ryan - Tutor
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Ryan is a current law student at Cornell University. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami, where he graduated cum laude. Ryan’s expertise is in government, international relations, world studies, and writing composition. He loves to help students develop mastery in their course work for AP World, AP Government, AP Comparative Politics, AP Language and Composition, and other related courses. Ryan prides himself on being dependable and approachable as a tutor, and he enjoys helping students find their own passion for the class themes they cover together.
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Colin - Tutor
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Colin graduated from Williams College in 2016 with a B.A. in Economics. While at Williams, he played four years of football as a wide receiver and held several leadership roles in residential life. Since graduation, Colin has taught geometry, algebra, precalculus, and statistics at several schools in the tri-state area. He most recently moved to Philadelphia to join the University of Pennsylvania's football coaching staff for one year and now teaches algebra and statistics and coaches varsity football at William Penn Charter School. Colin loves working with students to build confidence in their math and analytical skills and has worked individually with students across many grade levels and subject areas in his time as a teacher.
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Tomasina - Tutor
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Tomasina graduated from Cornell University in 2019 with a B.S. in Human Biology, Health and Society, and a dual minor in Health Policy and Inequality Studies while also competing on the varsity lacrosse team. Throughout her time at Cornell, she served as a teaching assistant and private tutor for biochemistry and biology and worked as an assistant teacher for middle school students in Ithaca. Tomasina is currently working as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia while applying to medical school and has published research in Sports Medicine. She specializes in science and math support and enjoys participating in the growth of her students while sharing her passion for learning.
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Natalie - Tutor
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Natalie graduated from Clemson University where she received a B.S. in Biosystems Engineering and a minor in Sustainability. In addition to studying renewable energy systems at school, Natalie developed a passion for education. After rapidly becoming an adept and experienced tutor for the ACT, SAT, and a variety of math subjects, Natalie returned to Pleasantville after graduation and joined the team at Pleasantville, Armonk & Scarsdale Prep. Her creativity and enthusiasm working with students has quickly made her a favorite among our clients.
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Julie - Tutor
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Julie is a beloved and highly sought-after tutor with over a decade of tutoring and test prep experience. A native of Connecticut, Julie moved to New York City to pursue her passions for music and theater at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned her BFA in Drama and, more recently, her MFA in Acting. She has performed on Broadway in such musicals as Fiddler on the Roof and Les Miserables, and continues to maintain an active theatrical career as an actor, singer, and writer. Julie’s students have gained admission to some of the nation’s most competitive schools, and her creative, empathetic, and energetic approach has made the process—dare we say—fun.
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"I want to sincerely thank the both of you for everything. Thank you for helping me, pushing me and for never giving up. If you told me back in April that I would have gotten a 30 in September I would have laughed but look at us, we actually did it." |