My head is still spinning from everything that has gone on the last few weeks.

March 13th – March SATs cancelled; schools closed for 2 weeks. March 16th – April ACT rescheduled; May SAT cancelled. We have been rescheduling classes and tutorials and communicating with parents and students.

I’ve seen amazing patience from clients and coaches, especially when I realize I have missed more details than I can keep track of.

If I am exhausted by all this, I can only imagine what it’s like for the high school Juniors and their parents.

More questions than answers

There’s still a lot we don’t know. Will there be an SAT or ACT in June? Will they offer additional test dates? How will this affect college admissions next Fall? Will Tom Brady get any weapons to help him in Tampa Bay?

Some questions seem more important than others.

One of the first things I did was make our video Boot Camp free to anyone who needed it. I’m proud to say that over 60 kids have signed up for the class and are watching the videos.

To continue helping the students we’ve been working with, I also created a series of “drop-in” sessions. Some of these are strategy sessions focused on specific sections of the SAT. Some of them are practice sessions using extra material that we can go over. I wanted to offer something students could do during this time that school is closed.

We want to do more

Until tonight, I was offering the “drop-in” sessions at no additional cost to our current students and asking a fraction of my regular rate for students we hadn’t worked with before.

However, it doesn’t seem right just now. Parents and students across the country are looking for meaningful work for students to be able to do right now. Businesses are closing and people are looking at having to make hard choices about what to cut back on. Providing a better future for their kids doesn’t seem like it should be one of those things.

I’ve been amazed by what some of the teachers have put together in a short period of time, but I’ve been offering online tutorials for almost a year now. I’ve been helpings students prepare for the SAT for about a decade. I’m at a much different place in my learning curve than a teacher who is adapting lesson plans from a traditional classroom environment.

For my program, the curriculum is done. The scope and sequence is done. The automation is done. The only thing left is emailing everyone at the start of the week to be sure they have the test we’re going to work on. At a time of crisis, it doesn’t seem right to ask people whose businesses are closed to pay for something that isn’t costing me anything extra.

So I’m making the drop-in sessions free. If you want quality prep for the SAT, you can sign up for the sessions. Check out the page for more information. It’s a way for you to work with a test prep expert and learn what you’re going to need for the test. If you’re planning on the ACT instead of the SAT, all of the strategies and concepts I’ll show you will help there, too.

What you should know

The sessions are set up for the rest of this week and next. I’ll have to take a look at the schedule after that to see what I can fit in where. But I’ll add them in where I can and update this post.

We’re going to get back to normal soon enough, and we’ll be able to work with students in our offices again. We’re looking forward to a great summer of College App Camp. We’re even looking forward to helping parents figure out how to navigate this mess as it untangles itself.

As always, what we’re most looking forward to is working with the kids.

Space is somewhat limited. I’ll be using Zoom to video conference, and we’re only allowed 100 students in a room. Somehow I feel like that will be plenty. These are largely “sit-and-get” sessions. I’m always available for questions, but the last decade has taught me that students don’t generally ask any. With 25-30 students in a room, that will probably be a good thing.

Sign up for the sessions. I’ll send out the material we’re using on Sunday evenings and update students as needed.

I’m just a teacher. I won’t be able to help on the front line with people dealing with the worst part of the crisis. But I can help with this for now.