We understand that there's nothing more important than your or your child's education, and that means you may have a lot of questions about who we are and how we run things. We're always here to address your questions, comments, and concerns when you contact us, but if you want immediate answers, here are some common questions we've heard along with answers that may be able to help you decide whether or not we're a good fit for your needs.
North Mountain Institute is an education facility designed to assist students of all ages in the community in achieving their educational goals. We offer after-school tutoring for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, test prep courses for the PSAT, SAT, ACT, and GED, adult education courses, and educational workshops several times a month to promote learning new skills and improve outcomes for students of all ages.
North Mountain Institute began as an after-school tutoring project for Madeline Brandt to help her son and his elementary classmates thrive. However, it wasn't until Jerry Saunders stepped in to help her tackle the ever-growing group of students looking for help that North Mountain Institute truly began. The actual facility that we're in now was originally opened in March 2003 and has been growing and thriving ever since.
Our educators do their best to make note of how every student they work with is progressing. You can speak to them yourself to get a verbal confirmation of what skills they've noticed your student improving in. While we recognize that having a digital record of these achievements can also be beneficial, we have so many students who come through our doors with that it would be difficult for our educators to keep detailed records for every single person. It's a step we'd like to take one day but aren't able to take at the moment.
We strive to keep our programs affordable for the community at large so everybody has a chance to sharpen their learning skills. We offer payment plans for our courses, so the payments aren't always due completely up front, but we do expect 100% attendance rates (unless you have a valid doctor's note).
* Unless otherwise specified. Sometimes, we bring in special guests who charge a higher rate. In those cases, we will make a note of the updated price well in advance.
There are no additional fees for any of our courses, tutoring sessions, workshops, or college prep meetings. You should never hear from us that you need to pay any additional fees other than the initial payment and any monthly payments you make.
Some students learn better alongside other people, where they can all work through and practice new skills together, while others prefer to learn on their own. Our small groups meet immediately after school for an hour, while our one-on-one sessions are scheduled in advance at varying times. These tutoring sessions are also an hour long, but they are staggered out and may not be directly after the school day ends, which ensures that your tutor can handle every student looking for specialized attention.
We operate on the same schedule as the local school district. This means that if they're closed, we're also closed, and if they have a weather-related delay, so do we. We also have courses and tutoring sessions spread out throughout the day, so there are always people coming in and out.
Most of our educators and tutors have a bachelor's degree in education, and quite a few have teaching certifications. But some of our tutors are still working toward their bachelor's degree and use their time as tutors as skill-building for their college courses. Regardless, all of our educators are dedicated to learning and teaching others and have learned many skills about teaching. We also require our educators to take courses about new teaching skills so they always stay sharp!