Cecily Jones Tutoring

I'm a teacher, a tutor, and a mom. I love working one on one with students because I can teach to their specific learning style and strengths- an entirely different experience than teaching in a classroom! I take my students' feedback seriously, and in reviewing my testimonials, I keep seeing 'Cecily made it fun' or 'very pleasant to work with.'

I am certainly proud that I can provide an enjoyable learning experience, but I'm also aware that ACT/SAT prep is an inherently bottom-line endeavor. So I'm equally proud to say that my 2017 SAT students achieved an average score improvement of 120 points, and my 2017 ACT students achieved an average score improvement of 3.7 points. Their success inspires me!

I truly love what I do. I consider it an honor to work with so many bright and promising young people.

Education- I hold a B.S in. Child and Adolescent Development, minor in Psychology, and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. I graduated Summa cum Laude (top honors- top 0.5% of my class) at Cal State Fullerton. I did all of the undergraduate work to enter a graduate level clinical counseling program while earning my bachelor’s degree, and I feel that my counseling background is equally important to my scholarly background in my tutoring.

Experience- I started tutoring at a very large and well known test prep company in May of 2005. Working freelance now, however, allows me to pick and choose from the very best materials available, not to mention offer lower rates. I have a comprehensive understanding of the test: how to approach it, how to capitalize on my students' strengths, what works and what doesn't.

Materials- I am an educator, not a “brand.”I only use real, previously administered tests for diagnostic scores. I primarily use materials published by the testmakers themselves: College Board and ACT, Inc. I use Barron’s for content review.

My scores on the tests- I take the tests once a year, both to stay current on the content and to never lose sight of the whole test-taking experience. My students love the fact that I take the tests!! I got a 1530 on the October SAT and a 34 on the December 2017 ACT. That's well into the top 2%. Some companies make a big point of marketing their tutors as uber-scorers, so if that's important to you, rest assured I know my stuff. Mostly, though, I just like to check in with the actual tests to see if anything changes.

Chances are, if you're reading this, you were referred to me by someone I worked with who was very happy with his or her test results and tutoring experience! I look forward to making a test prep plan that fits your needs. Please contact me as early as possible- I maintain a small roster and it fills up quickly.