Here is a blog written by our Manager in the Newport Beach Office named Justine!
Here’s a little blog writeup for what’s going on in Newport:
This week at Study Hut in Newport Beach, many of our students from Newport Harbor High School, Corona del Mar High School, and Sage Hill High School dominated their Final Exams. Erica, who first came to our office with a C in AP Physics, was able to raise her grade to a B+. Go Erica!
Now that Finals are over, don’t relax for too long; SATs are just around the corner.
This Saturday, ten of our students will be riding the SAT wave on March 8th. A shout out goes to our star student Zach, who raised his SAT score by 400 points after February’s test. Fun fact: SAT originally stood for “Scholastic Achievement Test.” Though some students have affectionately nicknamed it the “Stupid A*@ Test,” in 1994, the test was re-named to simply “SAT.”
If the SAT isn’t your cup of tea, please consider the ACT. Almost every college accepts both tests, and many students prefer one over the other. Several more students are gearing up to take the ACT on April 12th. If you haven’t registered for a test date yet, it’s not too late. Don’t fret if you haven’t prepared, just come in for our free diagnostic test on March 8th to find out where you stand.
It’s that time of the year again… that cliche statement.. “the most wonderful time of the year”… Ok, not really… but it is FINALS SEASON.
This month will be one of the busiest weeks for our offices!! PV takes finals this week, followed by Torrance and Manhattan Beach and then Redondo Beach!
We are in communication with RUEF about doing preparation for finals week so e-mail the principal with your support!
This weekend we will be going to both West (Friday 3 to 6pm) and West (Saturday 9am to 12noon) for free Finals Tutoring.
We hope our 7th grade students are having fun at science camp this week.
We were at Peninsula High and at Palos Verdes High for about 5 hours! This past weekend the Study Hut went to both Peninsula High and Palos Verdes High to work with their AVID programs. We had about 10 tutors that volunteered to help out and tutor in all different subjects.
The Study Hut will be open on Monday January 20st – Martin Luther King Jr Day – since schools have off that day.
Please contact the correct branch to schedule appointments with us. Redondo Beach (310)540-5888, Manhattan Beach (310)546-2408, El Segundo, and Newport Beach.
All our students have worked very hard this semester and we are anxious to know how everyone does on finals!
Once finals are over the students in Manhattan can start to prepare for Ski Week the 2nd week of February!
The year is finally over! Congrats to everyone who finished their finals this week and are officially on summer vacation! We have had a great Spring semester and hope to see many of you during the summer here at the Study Hut.
The schools around the neighborhood have all held their commencements and we want to congratulate all the students!! To those going from 8th grade to High School or those going from High School to College, have a wonderful summer and we know you will continue to do well and succeed!
Here are the schools that have held graduation in the area:
Redondo Union High School: Friday June 14th @ 2pm
Mira Costa High School: Thursday June 20th @ 5-6pm at Waller Stadium
Palos Verdes High School: 2pm Graduation on Wednesday June 5th
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School: Wednesday June 12th
Manhattan Beach Middle School: Wednesday June 19th @6:30pm-9pm at the Gym/MPR
For those starting summer school – Keep in mind:
Besides our normal $45/hr tutoring and our SAT tutoring… we have 4 different programs you can sign up for. We have an Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry and summer reading class!
We have many great summer programs that we are offering this summer so here is all the important information you need to know! If you don’t need to sign up for a class – we also have normal one-on-one tutoring for summer school.
The summer courses all take place between July 8th and August 8th – it’s a 5 week program – 20 hours a week – and it costs $495.
We are going to cap the classes at 10 students each so sign up now to make sure you get a spot!
The Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry classes are prep classes to help students prepare for the course that they’re taking in the fall. These classes will be taught by our same tutors that work here, and will either take place on Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday.
For the summer reading, get ahead this summer! We have experienced tutors for all the reading levels and for every book on the summer reading lists! Learn to annotate and analyze literature and practice quizzes included!!
If you are interested, you can call the Study Hut!
For Manhattan Beach Location:
Manhattan Beach: (310)546-2408 or you can e-mail: Samantha@studyhut.com
For Redondo Beach Location:
Redondo Beach: (310)540-5888 or you can e-mail: Justin@studyhut.com
Finals are Over! Some Things to Keep in Mind for the New Semester!
We here at the Hut are proud of all of our students for conquering the recent wave of finals. It was a wild week for all of us, but we made it!
While all of you students have earned the right to relax a bit, we wanted to remind you of the academic opportunities a fresh semester brings about. Remember that time you had to scramble before a final exam to land that awesome grade you wanted? With your grades resetting, now is the perfect time to make your next finals a breeze. A clean slate means you can quickly grab and hang on to that ‘A’ you want. The work at the beginning of the semester is much easier than at the end. If you keep yourself diligent with homework and early assignments, you’ll have a much easier time come finals. Just think: wouldn’t it be nice to go into your math final knowing that the grade you get on it couldn’t drop you to a ‘B’ even if you lit it on fire?
The passing of finals also offers us the opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses we had the semester before. Even if you didn’t get that grade you wanted in that tough class, you’ll be able to learn from the experience. Now, you can adjust your study habits to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
All of this is the perfect opportunity to make sure that you keep those stress levels low by the time finals pop back around. It’s about always learning, even from our shortcomings. As always, we’re here to help.
We did it! We made it through finals season!! Last week was a long week here at the Study Hut.
Last week we went to different schools and helped them study after school for a few hours.
We went to Peninsula High for 3 hours and at Palos Verdes High for 5 hours and the weekend of the 19th/20th – we went to West on Friday afternoon, West again on Saturday morning and then to South on Sunday for free Finals Tutoring in the library.
We had such a great turn out at each session.
I tutored in Spanish on Friday afternoon from 3 to 6 in the library at West. There were over 100 students who came and another 100+ on the waiting list to participate in the free tutoring.
When the students came into the library, there were signs hung up on both the 1st and 2nd floor of the library, with the names of all the different subjects that we helped tutor in. The High School also sent some of their students to help tutor as well with us which was greatly appreciated.
We tutored in multiple subjects – Algebra 1 & 2, Trig, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, Spanish – just to name a few.
Each student chose to either be tutored in one subject for all three hours – or be tutored in three subjects, one subject per hour.
For my first hour I had about 6 students – 2 in Spanish 1, 2 in Spanish 2, and 2 in Spanish 3. Then for my 2nd hour – 5 of the 6 students went to a different subject so I tutored a student one-on-one. Lastly, for my final hour, a few more students showed up and I finished with 5 kids. My subject was one of the smallest groups. I enjoyed having a small group since I was able to help each student individually.
Both the Science and Math subjects had about 30+ students in their group.
We always enjoy going to other schools before finals to help them study and we also helped many AVID classes study for their finals – including Newport and PV High.
This finals season went really well and we are proud of all the students!!
Finals week is coming quick and you might start feeling that uneasy shadow lingering over your shoulders, but luckily there are several tips, tricks, and techniques to make the next few weeks bearable. First of all, you need to make the trade and remember that drowsiness, exhaustion, and brain drain will all pass, but your GPA is forever. Accepting the climb ahead of you will set you on the right path for success. Regardless of the subject matter, people all learn the same which is why you know that cramming doesn’t work, taking long exaggerated breaks, and side tracking yourself is all sure ways to fail your finals. Thus, find an absolutely quite and if necessary (desolate) place to buckle down and really hit the books; this is a great time to turn off your cell phone and get away from your social notifications. Make goals for yourself and set time limits on how long you will study before you take a scheduled break. Don’t feel the urge to work in study groups if you know they will distract you, instead work on as much material as you can and save all your questions for your teacher, tutor, or friends for later. It’s important to build on what you know rather than give yourself test anxiety on what you need to know. Evaluate how your teacher or professor has given previous tests and quizzes and determine a study strategy that will most likely reflect you’re finals, midterm, test, or even future quiz. Then chunk the material into pieces and absolutely take your time learning the material – It takes more than an hour to digest a century of history! Finally, you need to make it interesting. Take pride in what you’re learning and mentally dazzle yourself.
It’s that time of the year again… that cliche statement.. “the most wonderful time of the year”… Ok, not really… but it is FINALS SEASON.
Today is one of the busiest days for the RB Study Hut since PV high are taking their first two final exams today! Good luck to all the students today!!
This past weekend the Study Hut went to both Peninsula High and Palos Verdes High to work with their AVID programs.
We were at Peninsula High for 3 hours and at Palos Verdes High for 5 hours.
This weekend we will be going to both South (Saturday) and West (Sunday) for free Finals Tutoring.
The Study Hut will be open on Monday January 21st – Martin Luther King Jr Day – since schools have off that day.
All our students have worked very hard this semester and we are hyped up for what next semester is going to bring!
We are halfway through another school year, and for some of you that means that High school is right around the corner. Since there are 4 years of High School, many students don’t ever think that your Freshman year really is an important year… so I am here to tell you that freshman year really is an important year !!
Freshman year is a new start for a lot of students…new school, new friends, new teachers/classes.. and every student wants to make a good first impression. For most students, going to a new school can be a big adjustment. Even if you have older brothers or sisters, naturally students will want to pave their own path and create their own reputation. Freshman year will be a chance to find new friends, join interesting extracurricular activities, and adapt to new teachers and their different teaching strategies.
New School: What you decide to do in High School will impact your future… and if you start off on the right track, hopefully your future will turn out bright.
When applying to colleges, they look for not only good grades but also consistency with sports, clubs, and organizations… so when you’re a Freshman, you should try to join either a club or extracurricular that you are passionate about and that you will stick with throughout your 4 years of High School.
New Friends: Usually when you attend High School you will be mixed with new people which is always fun and exciting. These new students could turn out to become some of your closest friends, and Freshman Year is a great way to break the ice and meet new people since you’re all going through the same experience.
New teachers/classes: In terms of new classes and teachers: each year, the learning curriculum will become more vigorous and the work load will become longer and more strenuous. The grades your receive your Freshman year are as important as the grades you receive the most of the years, though Sophomore and Junior year grades are weighted more on your GPA.
Learning to study for Finals will be new to all Freshman, since for most Freshman this will be their first time taking Final exams. Final exams are usually cumulative and there are good strategies to help you when taking the exams. Since grades are always important, the study habits that you use or learn from others will hopefully improve over time and can help you not only through High School but college as well.
As you can see, Freshman year is very important and can make a good or bad impact on you, depending on your experience. Here’s to a great first year!
As the year comes to an end, and the holidays are just around the corner, students and tutors alike spend more and more time wishing for the holidays and less and less time burrowing into books and texts. Unfortunately, Mira Costa’s finals are set just after the winter break. The combination of a prolonged break and the holiday festivities predictably will result in temporary “senioritis” in all grade levels. This manifests itself in last minute cram sessions in the days, hours, and minute’s right before finals. Not only that, many teachers will assign lengthy projects to be done over the break. And, just like studying for finals get crammed in at the last minute. This can be avoided with good time management and staying on top of your kids class work. Be aware that finals are coming up and what projects will be assigned for the break.
To accommodate this relaxed state of being carried over from Thanksgiving and the upcoming winter, Study Hut is now brimming with a plethora of new tutors, all ready to make sure our students stay on top of their academics, even through the winter season. We will make sure that your kids are still working and finishing those pesky winter break projects and upcoming finals. Come in and check out our magnificent Douglas fir and our vibrantly crimson poinsettias, the festive Christmas decorations and lights, and the array of stockings representing each and every tutor in the Hut. Study and still enjoy the holiday spirit!
As the holidays quickly approach us, so do the wonderful bounties of winter breaks. While we at Study Hut would love to keep you students buried in books (not really), we can appreciate that, whether you’ll be travelling or not, you may want to enjoy your well-deserved breaks. After all, you’ve been hitting the books for months! We’d love to hear that our students are spending their vacations preemptively studying for future schoolwork, but we can’t say it’s a realistic possibility.
With that in mind, we’re here to offer some tips for keeping those wonderful minds sharp, so you can jump right back into the swing of things when you’re back.
1. Organization – Keep the work you’re supposed to do over the break and the work you will be doing upon returning (tests, etc.) in mind while you vacation. Don’t stress and obsess, but keep these tasks organized. If you keep a planner, you can lay out all of these obligations on paper and you won’t have to think about them constantly.
2. Moderation – As much as we love stuffing our faces with stuffing and other holiday grub, we want to encourage our students to not fall too deep into the bliss of the holiday season. How will you keep your grades up if you eat yourself into a coma? As with everything, enjoy the time off, but don’t let your school mentality slip completely away. It’s important to be able to transition back. Hit the floor running!
3. Have Fun – We know some of our students, being academic all-stars, will have trouble letting go over the break. If you have work to do while on break, take a specific day or two to get it done. This way, you’ll be able to celebrate the important holiday festivities with the ones you love, without having to excuse yourself to study.
As we, ourselves, prepare to enjoy the holiday season, we too much keep our heads in the game. We’ll be eating enough to inspire crippling dietary guilt, but we’re fully prepared to jump back into the swing of things. So whenever you find yourself back at the Hut, we’ll be ready! And don’t forget we are open over break. This is an excellent time to gear up for finals that are just around the corner!
