Dr. Stephen H
Dr. Stephen Hackler holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Physics and Bachelors degrees from Rutgers University in Physics and Computer Science. They’ve worked as an instructor at Penn and Swarthmore and know what it takes to excel in the college classroom. They use thoughtful and compassionate teaching strategies to identify each student’s unique skills and specific needs and help them to improve both their performance and their understanding of challenging material. Stephen is attentive to the many stresses that students experience in todays highly competitive academic environment and is passionate about supporting the wellbeing of their students as they work to deepen their understanding and master challenging content.
Leah G.
Leah is a certified Reading Specialist, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a Masters in Reading/Writing/Literacy. For over a decade, Leah has worked with mixed-age and mixed-ability youth across the world including Pennsylvania, Colombia, and India. Whether in the classroom or after school, Leah is seriously silly and loves bringing an artful approach to literacy with her early elementary kiddos. In her spare time, Leah reads way too much fiction, plays way too much with her dog named Zorra, and eats way too much pie.
Dr. Ariel Z.
Connor B.
Connor is a Middle School English Educator and has worked for the School District of Philadelphia since 2023. Connor is passionate about the reading and writing skills of all students and combining student need with interest. They believe in building a solid rapport with students, as it is foundational to create supportive learning environments that challenge and hold students accountable for their learning. Above all, they are dedicated to creating and adapting lessons that will push students out of their comfort zones, resulting in the growth of the whole student.
Nikki J.
Nikki J. is a passionate special education teacher specialized in working
with students with autism and developmental disabilities. A graduate of Saint Joseph’s University, Nikki’s focus in Applied Behavior Analysis gives her a plethora of strategies to foster creative exploration of the curriculum inside the classroom. Within the span of 10 years Nikki has taught High School and Elementary School, and is currently in the
role of K-2 Special Education Teacher. Because of the uniqueness of students with autism and developmental disabilities, Nikki implements various strategies, differentiation, and modification to the lessons to improve skills and make learning fun on each child’s level. Nikki’s current enrollment in the Reading Specialist Program has taught her how to specialize her plans for teaching writing and reading comprehension to her students.
Nikki is heavily involved in her church and is a church leader in the Youth Department. Nikki enjoys game nights with her family, relaxing, and hanging out with her fur baby Diego.
Dr. Philippa C.
Dr. Philippa C. graduated from the University of Oxford with a BA in English Language and Literature, earned her MA in U.S. Literature from the University of Edinburgh, and received her PhD in English Language and Literature from Cornell University. She has taught at Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and, most recently, Rowan University. She also has over a decade of experience tutoring students aged 14 to adult in English, ELA, PSAT/SAT and AP English test prep, college essay writing, college admissions, and executive functioning.
She approaches tutoring holistically, tailoring her lessons to each student’s individual learning style, academic goals, struggles, and interests. She is deeply committed to inclusive teaching and has published academic research in this field. She is trained in trauma-informed pedagogy, has extensive experience working with neurodiverse students, and enjoys helping students to thrive intellectually and personally through close attention to executive functioning issues and strategies.
She loves teaching English. Not only does it benefit students academically, but it also introduces them to new worlds, ideas, and forms of self-expression. It can also be incredibly fun! In her spare time, she enjoys exploring Philadelphia, live music, and fostering shelter dogs until they are ready for their forever home.
Angelica W.
Imagine a compassionate and engaged individual guiding you through coursework to better grades. Meet Angelica: Angelica’s career has centered around Education and English. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and excels in communication. Her specialty is writing and grammar. She has worked for her local school district and has tutored elementary and high school students. Although she has worked from pre-k to university peer level, elementary has been a mainstay in her career. Her success has entailed creative writing awards and being recognized for her journalism. Angelica has eight years of experience teaching and tutoring students in the public and charter school districts of Philadelphia. She is currently working in special education. She enjoys reading about cats making yarn fortresses.
Vania G.
Vania Gulston has more than 20 years of experience in the field of education. She holds Pennsylvania certifications in secondary mathematics and social studies; and has masters degrees in education, history and folklore, performance studies, and technology design from the University of California at Berkeley, Temple University, and New York University, respectively.
Her teaching practice has been shaped by her love of radio. She became a social studies teacher in order to extend the work of helping to broaden people’s understanding of their social world that she did as a community radio broadcaster. She pursued a degree in technology design because she wanted to equip herself with the technical skills necessary to operate the broadcast equipment of a radio station. As well, she pursued graduate studies in tech design because, after experiencing obstacles in her efforts to increase her technical knowledge, she wanted to be able to offer that same technical knowledge to women and people of color who sought it.
She is the founder of WJYN Radio–a low power fm radio station in Philadelphia
Liza R.
Liza earned her BA from Columbia University before earning her MS in Biomedical Sciences from Drexel University. She is currently a medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine. With a strong academic foundation and passion for learning, Liza enjoys helping students build confidence and achieve their academic goals through personalized support and effective study strategies.
Dr. Hannah P.
Dr. Hannah P. has 9 years of post-secondary teaching experience as both a teaching assistant and adjunct professor at Drexel University. She has taught various chemistry courses including General Chemistry, Quantitative Analysis, and Analytical Instrumentation Analysis.
Prior to completing her Ph.D in Analytical Chemistry, she obtained a Master’s degree in Secondary Education, during which she partook in multiple classroom observations and completed a semester of student teaching. Through the student teaching experience she was able to take on the full responsibilities of the classroom, teaching both Chemistry and Earth Science.
Her teaching philosophy is based on presenting material from three different approaches; visual, audio, and hands-on learning styles. Through the understanding that everyone learns differently, she finds it important that students discover how they learn and are able to apply that to every aspect of their education.