Students throughout the Bay Area have a new resource for help catching up — or getting ahead — on their studies, right in Scotts Valley.
Beginning in the fall, veteran educator and Scotts Valley resident Collin Jesberger took his experience as an elementary school teacher and founded The Smart Cookies, a private tutoring business for students looking for help with everything from learning to read to brushing up for the SAT exam.
“Every day, I’m getting busier and busier,” he said. “I haven’t even really advertised.”
Jesberger, a Pennsylvania native with a master’s degree in education from Temple University, said the business represents the fruition of a longtime dream.
He started out moonlighting as a part-time tutor while teaching at private schools in Hawaii and throughout the Silicon Valley, and his passion grew, he said, as he watched the dramatic improvements in his students’ grades.
“I noticed I was reaching those kids who were struggling,” he said.
One student in particular, Jesberger recalled, was having a rough time with her reading and had fallen far behind her classmates. In three months’ time, he said, her grade had gone from a D to a B, and she had improved 10 reading levels.
“I figured I must have been doing something right,” he said with a laugh.
Since opening The Smart Cookies, Jesberger has developed an individualized approach — what he calls a secret recipe — for each of his clients, focusing on students’ strengths.
“Every child’s needs are different,” he said. “What works for one may not work for another.”
In the months since opening his business, Jesberger has hired four educators and trained them in his mantra of customized learning. The five tutors have expanded to cover cities all over the Bay Area.
The Smart Cookies central office is in the Kings Village Shopping Center, above and behind the former Scotts Valley library. It’s a perfect learning environment, Jesberger said.
“The best part about being here — it’s a quiet place to learn,” he said. “My job is to teach (students) to the point where they become independent learners.”
As word of the business spreads, customers have proven willing to drive a distance for his tutoring.
Davenport resident Colin Young regularly makes the trek to Scotts Valley, where Jesberger works with his daughter Kamila on her writing skills.
“I’m very pleased,” he said. “(Jesberger) is very positive and brings that enthusiasm to his tutoring.”
Over the winter break, Jesberger hosted a writing workshop for students seeking to improve their skills and get an early jump on essays, as well as explore other writing styles.
After-school homework help is offered at the Kings Village office for a drop-in fee of $10 per session.
At a glance
What: The Smart Cookies
Where: 230 Mount Hermon Road, Ste. 203, in Scotts Valley
Info: 288-5698 or http://thesmartcookies.com/
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