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Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > Tutors > Science Tutors


See also: Announcements from Tutors updated weekly, and Math Tutors, many of whom also tutor sciences
Reviews of tutors for:

Biology Tutors

April 2006

AP Biology review session/tutor needed
10th grader would like a couple of review sessions before the AP Biology test. Evenings or weekends.


If you are looking for a Biology Tutor, you should get in touch with Paul Osborne (Paul The Tutor). His undergraduate degree is in Biology, he has a masters in education from Harvard, and he has been tutoring for 15 years. You can learn more about him on his website at www.paulthetutor.com You can send him an email at paulthetutor[at]paulthetutor.com or give him a call at (510) 301-5302. Marta

Chemistry Tutors

Sep 13 2009

I highly recommend Steve Brand. Steve tutored both of my children in AP Chemistry over the last several years with excellent results. He is a former BHS teacher who knows the curriculum and he was able to quickly see where my kids needed additional help. More importantly, as an experienced teacher, he knew how to approach the material in a way that was understandable and even interesting. He clearly knows and loves the subject matter and brings real enthusiasm to his teaching. He is also well organized and kind. He can be reached at stephenbrand@comcast.net Margaret


July 2008

Chemistry tutor: I highly recommend Steve Brand. He is a retired Berkeley high chemistry teacher, so he knows the program and teachers there. We hired him for 5 sessions at the end of the year. He was excellent at helping our son look at his returned labs and tests to see how the answers could have been more complete. In covering upcoming materials for tests he would say ''this is what the teacher will be looking for in your answer''. He was patient and positive. His contact information is stephenbrand at comcast.net, 415-456-4243. M


Nov 2007

Can anyone recommend a tutor for chemistry? My child is failing in her basic chem (not AP) class at BHS. Need someone ASAP at a reasonable rate if possible. Deborah


I would recommend Rosie Ueng at 649-3039 and Classroom Matters in Berkeley 540-8646. Karen
Oct 2006

My son is a junior at BHS and is struggling with chemistry. I am looking for a chem tutor who can help once a week. We live in Berkeley. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated


My son is being tutored by Steve Brand, a wonderful and well-known chemistry teacher who taught for many years at Berkeley High. He is not just a homework help kind of tutor (though he could do that, too), but a true teacher, filled with knowledge and enthusiasm. He can teach all kinds of students, either ones who are struggling or the AP variety. His number is 415-456-4243. He's here in the East Bay tutoring several times a week.
happy with tutor
Fortunately ,I heard about Classroom Matters through another family when our daughter entered her Sophomore year at BHS. She was struggling to organize her time and prioritize subjects in advance of testing. I arranged to have her meet once a week for English, Biology and Spanish help and a review of what was due, when and how much more studying needed to happen. She incorporated the tutoring and study skills into her routine with impressive results and I was incredibly relieved to have her look forward to sharing her concerns regularly with her tutor and getting the help she needed. In her junior year she needed additional tutoring for Math Analysis, Chemistry and the SAT 2s. Her GPA soared as a result of her tutoring at Classroom Matters.
Signed: Karen
Sept 2006

we are seeking a tutor in Chemistry to assist my son on a consistent basis per week during the BHS academic year
ematabele


If you are looking for a chemistry tutor, you ought to get in touch with Paul Osborne (Paul The Tutor). He does some really good work with a lot of students, and has a masters in education from Harvard. He has his website at www.paulthetutor.com and you can send him an email through the website. You can also reach him by phone at (510) 301- 5302. He is quite expensive, though I believe he has other tutors who work for him who are less expensive.
I was so impressed at this tutor's mastery of the subject of chemisty as well as her ability to relate to teenagers and to make the learning up-beat. She is a Cal graduate student and has worked for Ivy West. Her name is Lena and her number is 205-8675. She also tutors in math.
Mary
Aug 10 2006

I am highly recommending Andrew Gordon Kirsch, a current UCLA student, as an excellent Chemistry tutor. We hired him to help with summer Chem. He is practical and patient providing positive reinforcement all along the way. He is courteous and reliable. He motivates. My daughter passed the class with flying colors. He will be around until late Sept. before he leaves for school. You can reach Andrew at: AndrewTheTutor[at]yahoo.com 510-526-7371 Candi


July 2006

Paul Osborne, Paul The Tutor, is doing his School Readiness classes again this August. I have seen these classes do a wonderful job of getting students ready for math and science classes. Courses last one week, and he does a different course for each math level from pre- algebra to algebra 2 and for chemistry. He should have information about these classes on his website www.paulthetutor.com You can also reach him by email at paulthetutor[at]paulthetutor.com or by phone at 510.301.5302
Marta


March 2006

I am currently looking for a chemistry tutor for my 14 yr old son who is enrolled at BHS. He has fallen behind and we are looking for someone to help him catch-up and perhaps continue through out the balance of the school year. Denise


I highly recommend Paul D. Osborne. He can be reached at (510) 301-5302. His website is www.paulthetutor.com and his work email is paulthetutor[at]post.harvard.edu. anon
Feb 2006

Can anyone recommend a good Chemistry tutor for a BHS freshman who's in over his head with Advanced Chemistry? anon


Both of my kids took AP Chemistry at Berkeley High, and both eventually needed the assistance of a private tutor to get through the class. My son had a wonderful tutor last year named Steve Brand -- I believe Mr. Brand taught AP and Advanced Chemistry at BHS for years before he retired. His phone number is 415-819-4243 (cell). My daughter had a tutor named Rosie whom she loved, but unfortunately this was two years ago and I no longer have her phone number. Jessica Seaton
I am a teacher, and I have seen Paul Osborne, Paul The Tutor, do excellent work as a chemistry tutor. He helps students understand chemistry hollistically as opposed to giving them formulas to memorize. The students I have referred to him all say they understand more thanks to his help, and their grades go up accordingly. You can see more about what he does at his website, which is www.paulthetutor.com His phone number is (510) 301-5302 Good Luck Concerned Teacher
Jan 06 2006

Warner Freeman, former King Middle School Science Dept. Chair, was a fantastic tutor for my daughter in science and chemistry. He was able to get her excited about learning and to answer her questions by explaining them within a conceptual framework so that she retained the material because it became meaningful to her life. He gave her a strong foundaton. He is particularly interested in helping students overcome their own insecurities about their ability to master science and other subjects. He relates to young people in a way that makes them excited about learning. Reasonable rates. His phone is 524-0452. pauline


Feb. 2004

AP CHEMISTRY TUTOR STEVE BRAND

My daughter began AP Chemistry at El Cerrito High School this fall and it soon became apparent that she was not going to do well in this rigorous class without help. In my desperate search for a chemistry tutor, I found Steve Brand, in the Parents of Teen Newsletter. Steve Brand is a recently retired AP Chemistry teacher from Berkeley High School with 30 years of experience. He is an incredible tutor. With so much material to cover in ECHS's block schedule, it is almost too much to master for their weekly tests. Each week, Steve would meet with my daughter, he would answer all her questions and then point out the chapter's key concepts and help her understand how these concepts relate. Steve brought models to help explain some of the more difficult concepts. Even without models, Steve had the ability to make the subject concrete and accessible. Building confidence was an added benefit for which I am grateful. My daughter's success in AP Chemistry is largely due to Steve's help. Steve Brand can be reached at: stephenbrand AT comcast.net Irene


August 2003

Steve Brand is the most phenomenal teacher my son has ever experienced. Mr. Brand presents a difficult subject in an accessible and enjoyable (sometimes even hilarious) way. My son is not greatly interested in scientific matters, but talked frequently about topics presented in chemistry class during the year he took AP chem from Mr. Brand. He also got a 5 on the AP exam, something I'm sure wouldn't have happened without Mr. Brand's guidance and encouragement. I can't imagine a better chemistry tutor (or stand-up comedy coach, for that matter). I believe contact information is available from the archives. stephenbrand AT comcast.net
impressed BHS parent


My son got some tutoring for AP Chem from Paul Osborne last year - (510) 301-5302. We started too late in the year (April) for it to make a huge difference, but it did help some, and they got along well. My son was feeling really overwhelmed--once you get a bit hehind, it gets harder and harder to catch up. The tutoring helped him understand some of the concepts he'd missed, so he could move on. I wished we'd started sooner. Linda (11/99)
This past spring we used a tutor named Paul Osborne to help our son with Chemistry. Our son (a sophomore) liked him quite a bit, and said he explained things well. I know he tutors math in addition to science, and he seems to work with quite an age range--elementary through high school. We pulled him in late in the year, when chemistry suddenly got MUCH harder; in retrospect, I wished I had heeded the trouble-signs earlier, and gotten him some help in February, instead of April! He came to our home. You can reach him at (510) 301-5302.

Linda (7/99)


Physics


Oct 2009: Tutor for both Physics and Calculus

My son is taking Physics and Calculus this year and is having a really hard time keeping up. He is usually a very good student, but this year has just been very difficult for him. Does anyone have recent experience with a tutor who is very ''professional'' and can teach both subjects? Concerned parent


Lizette Greybe (not sure of the spelling!) teaches both Calculus and Physics. She started helping our son with Calculus this year, but is now also doing Physics with him. She is excellent! Her number is 510-338-0103.
Had the same experience
My son, a senior in high school, loves the Bay Area Tutoring Center on Shattuck and Rose. http://www.bayareatutoringcenters.com/ Currently he is being tutored in physics and AP Stats. In previous years he has gone for Honors English, chemistry, and pre-calculus. He speaks highly of all of the tutors, and has referred many of his classmates there. I am a teacher myself, and have been really happy with his experience there.
Happy with Bay Area Tutoring Center
We used Connexion Tutoring last year for my son. He only needed a tutor for calculus but they also had tutors for physics. I don't know if Patrick McKenna is still available but he was excellent, patient, great at explaining, helped raised my son's grade from a C to an A. I think he could also tutor physics. The entire Connexion Tutoring operation was really efficient and we received a session report each week via email, something we had never had from a tutor before. Their website is http://connexiontutoring.com
chiliconmom
Chat Hull, Astronomy Department, UC Berkeley chat.hull@gmail.com
He's amazing! He's a former high school teacher, has great rapport with teens, makes good use of the hour, and is encouraging and clear in his explanations. We used him as a physics tutor (AP Physics at BHS for my daughter after she got behind 2nd Semester and stopped understanding what was taught) -- he brought her up to speed in no time! I'm sure he can also tutor calculus. He came to our house in North Berkeley but was willing to meet at a coffee shop or wherever was convenient for us.
Mom of BHS Grad who did well on AP Exam
Paul Gee did an excellent job tutoring my daughter in Calculus and Physics. He was very good at explaining the material and was very patient in his approach. He encouraged my daughter to ask lots of questions and motivated her to work hard on understanding the concepts. I found it particularly helpful that he previewed upcoming topics for my daughter so that she was able to follow the teacher's lectures more easily. My daughter would not have done as well without his help. You can reach Paul at 510-502-8465. Good luck!
Thankful Mom
My child had the opportunity to work with a great tutor, Karen Street, who helped him to catch up and pass his AP Physics class. We were already into the second semester when we discovered that he had fallen behind and was receiving failing grades. She worked with him weekly to help him catch up with late homework, exams and extra credit projects. She evaluated his situation and developed a plan that helped him progress as quickly as possible with flexibility and lots of encouragement built in. My son, in turn, became motivated to catch up, learn and pass his class. I highly recommend Karen, who is also a former Berkeley High physics teacher. Her email: karen_street@sbcglobal.net
Pam
Dec 2006

AP Physics tutor needed (now) that knows the Berkeley High course. BPN has only 1 listing so I need more referrals. Thank you


If you are looking for a great physics tutor, you should get in touch with Paul Osborne, ''Paul The Tutor''. He has a Bachelor of Science from U.C. Santa Barbara, a Master of Education from Harvard, and has been tutoring for years. I am a teacher, and I have seen him do some great work with students of every level. Try giving him a call at (510) 301-5302 or check out his website at www.paulthetutor.com which you can also use to send him an e-mail anon
August 2006

My daughter needed extensive help to understand her college physics course. She had an excellent tutor, Warner Freeman, who broke the material down to her in a simplified fashion step by step so that she was able to grasp the concepts and make them her own in a way she never understood them in class. The tutor is a former Berkeley science teacher. Reasonable rates, 524-0452 pauline


Multiple Sciences


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Last updated: Nov 20, 2009
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