Top Score Education: Your Home for Customized Summer Academics

Whether your child needs to catch up or get ahead, Top Score is your summer home for customized academic and enrichment programs that help students prepare for the coming school year. This summer, we will be offering the following programs both in-home and virtually.

SAT and ACT Test Prep: With two decades of experience clearing the path to optimal SAT and ACT scores and making dream school acceptances a reality, Top Score empowers students to find success on these high-stakes tests.
SSAT Test Prep: Our SSAT program is for students who will be applying to private high schools for a fall 2023 start. The SSAT is a standardized test required for admission to some, but not all, private high schools. The first national SSAT test date is just 5 months away, so the best time to start prep is now!
College Essay Writing: All rising seniors should, ideally, have their college essays completed before the start of the coming school year. The summer after your junior year is the best time to work with our college essay tutors to refine and finalize your Personal Statement and supplemental essays.
Infinity Math: Our Infinity Math program is for students who need to catch up or get ahead for the upcoming academic year. We work with students to remediate any gaps they have and preview concepts they will see next school year. We offer summer Infinity Math for Middle School, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, AP Calculus (AB & BC), and students doing foundational math preparation for the SAT & ACT.
Written Word: Our Written Word program empowers students to strengthen essential reading and writing skills while enhancing personal interest in written language—key components to life-long excellence. In addition to the holistic benefits, precise attention is paid to the way verbal skills are tested on the ACT/SAT (and the GRE/GMAT too!).

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Middle and High School Academic Programs Tailored to Your Student's Summer Schedule

SAT & ACT Prep

Students sit at the high-stakes table when it comes to college admissions. We understand that pressure and alleviate uncertainty with preparation using the Top Score 3 T’s:

Timeline

A realistic schedule tailored to students’ already demanding schedule.

Test

Meeting students where they are means testing to fit their current skills.

Tutor

Deep connection begins with tutor partnerships fit to individual learning styles.

Our Test Preparation promotes mastery of:

CONTENT

SAT and ACT tests challenge students on 4 full years of Math curricula and foundational grammar skills. This material must be reviewed in a way that identifies and strengthens weaknesses.

APPROACH

Each subject requires a unique process fit to the variety of learning styles students bring to the table. Tests have patterns and our students train their minds to reduce, eliminate, and extinguish errors.

RECOGNITION

While other tutors mention patterns and simply review errors, we enhance test pattern recognition in a way that empowers students to understand the types of questions they missed and how to recognize them in a different context come test day.

SSAT Test Prep

Athletes spend their youth building their bodies to compete at the highest level. Musicians sacrifice recreation for dedication to their craft. Younger students who have big dreams plant the seeds of success in perseverance and preparation.

One of the earliest introductions to standardized tests is the SSAT. Confidence around this exam prepares students for the high-stakes tests right around the corner. Early victories are vital components in academic development.

Our mission embraces all levels of learning—that means students who apply to independent or boarding schools will receive structure in the development of critical study skills, vocabulary building, math mastery, and reading comprehension. This is test prep turned life prep.

College Essay Writing

So standardized testing is all wrapped up and your student is looking forward to their next big shift: the college application essay. The idea of summarizing your entire self in 250 to 650 words can be daunting. What’s the best story to tell? Is the moment too big or too small?

Our college essay program offerings are meant to help students find that core narrative – the one that gets them elevated from the application pile. We start first by brainstorming the Personal Statement, covering sensory writing and the proper story arc. From there, we’ll guide your student through researching and developing the shorter supplemental essays like the fundamental “Why our College/University?” to those out-of-the-box topics like “Where in the World is Waldo?”

Our tutors are skilled in grammar and structure, using their prowess to not only Analyze students’ essays but provide Feedback with instruction on the core rules behind punctuation, transitions, and sensory writing. At the end of our program, students will leave with a folder full of drafts and polished essays for those EA, ED, or RD deadlines.

College Essay Essentials Program Student Deliverables

Polished Personal Statement
“Why Us” formula and sample draft

College Essay Extended Program Student Deliverables

Polished Personal Statement
“Why Us” formula and sample draft
5 school supplementary essay sets (this means they will do all the supplementary essays for 5 schools of student/family’s choice)
Organization and tracking of their 5 schools and all their supplements. Blueprint for student to complete the rest of their essays for schools not in that top 5.
Access to their Top Score Essay Tracker for keeping to deadlines and adding schools beyond the top 5.

The Written Word

Whether you’re a future lawyer, a lacrosse pro, or computer analyst, you need to know not only how to write, but how to write well. From standardized testing to academic research papers to college admissions essays, we interact with words every minute. In order to write effectively, we need to not only learn and master key mechanical rules but read both fiction and nonfiction texts thoroughly with deep analysis. Our Written Word program strengthens writing and reading foundations by breaking the English language down into its central components. We begin with a deep dive on Voice, exploring what a student’s existing writing style sounds, looks, and reads like. Then we break apart a sentence, focusing on vocabulary & context clues, grammar & punctuation, and passages from all genres of writing. Our program then tackles the steps to put those pieces together, from outline to deadline. Your student will use the latest in online learning platforms combined with traditional learning practices to grow their writing style to something more efficient, elevated, and confident. This course can be adjusted to feature a “Test Focus” with extra attention given to ACT & SAT format Reading & Writing passages.

Academic Growth

Improvement in vocabulary, grammar proficiency, essay writing, active reading, and note-taking.

Test Mastery

Tutors will cover high priority grammar rules, common question types, reading comprehension, and multiple-choice techniques for standardized tests.

Voice

Every writer has a voice and we teach students how to recognize this in literature while developing their personal, persuasive, purposeful, and presentable voices for their own writing.

Curiosity in Words

Students learn to love the Written Word by finding literature that speaks specifically to them while exploring excerpts from all genres—beyond classroom classics.

Infinity Math

Course Focus

Particularly helpful for students who experienced reduced Math retention or acquisition during the pandemic, or perhaps students looking to stretch themselves in an upcoming honors or AP math class, this 1:1 program focuses on 2 conceptual pillars: review & preview. Diagnostic testing is done to see what was (and wasn’t) learned during the previous school year(s): we will use that diagnostic testing to expose and support faulty foundation. Next focus is previewing the first quarter of the upcoming curriculum, offering enough coverage of terminology and core concepts to facilitate a fast start to an important school year. Students who have a basic understanding of concepts in a fast moving class will enter a positive feedback loop and demonstrate heightened motivation on homework, engagement in class, and scores on assessments. Infinity Math students show agency by reaching out to their incoming teachers to dig deeper into the skills they want to refine. This course can continue into the school year if desired, with effort both to spiral back to earlier concepts and look ahead to stay on top of upcoming class material and assessments.

SAT & ACT Focus

Particularly helpful for students who struggled to learn Math during the pandemic and are facing an SAT/ACT in the upcoming 2 years and want a primer in advance of their official test preparation. This class focuses on 2 pillars: review and apply. Diagnostic testing is done to see what was (and wasn’t) learned in the core math subjects tested on these exams (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2), and testing is done to see where they are on SAT & ACT Math: we will use Khan Academy adaptive software and official SAT/ACT exams for diagnostic purposes. Focus of the summer is support of those foundations. The 2nd pillar is application of those math skills to the SAT & ACT style questions. Our focus is on showing students how the word problems “hide” the math skills needed. We are working very specifically on tying each math question to a math skill, thus application. Review the math, recognize the core of each problem, then apply the proper skill.

Infinity Math Building Blocks

Foundation

We review and cement fundamental skills to build upon.

Competence

Breaking ceilings requires confidence gained through victories in school, and we focus on achieving higher grades in current coursework.

Application

This is not an SSAT, SAT, or GMAT math prep class, but rather the cultivation of skills to use on all standardized math tests.

Mastery

For advance students, this accelerated course enables advancement to and achievement in honors level courses.

Summer learning is enhanced through:

In-home and 1:1 learning structures with remote tutoring options.

Proven and motivational career tutors who serve as advocates.

Flexible scheduling and customized programs designed to accommodate your student's summer plans and other commitments.

Transparency with no hidden or extra fees since partnership extends beyond an hourly rate.