At Emerson Education we believe in the transformative power of literacy and the immense potential within every learner. Our Literacy Tutoring Services are designed to ignite a love for reading, enhance critical thinking skills, and activate empathy. Reading is the single greatest factor in empowering students to excel academically. Helping your student become a better reader is a gift that will last a lifetime.

The elementary years often focus on getting kids to love reading. As such, much of the focus in elementary education focuses on fiction. The transition to high school brings with it a transition to reading non-fiction. Many students struggle through this transition and could benefit from some guided practice. 

Steph is a trained in adolescent reading strategies that help build more confidence, comprehension and content retention for academic texts at the high school level. Help your teen level up their reading through a literacy workshop or ongoing apprenticeship.

Coming soon: Steph is currently working towards her certification as Wilson trained reading specialist.

Reading Apprenticeship

• Adolescent reading strategies

• SAT and AP reading preparation

• How to read a textbook efficiently and well

• Scaffolded reading guides

• How to read faster

Our Reading Apprenticeship Tutor: 

Ms. Downey spent 20 years teaching high school history at both Los Altos High School and Sacred Heart Prep. She was Los Altos Mason's teacher of the year in 2018 and Wholistic Teacher of the Year at LAHS in 2017. Her students regularly outperform the global averages on their AP test results: her most frequent score results are 4's and 5's (over 80%). Ms. Downey is trained in adolescent literacy and is currently working towards her reading specialist certificate. Ms. Downey is currently working towards her Reading Specialist Credential and Wilson Reading Credential.