The Story Behind PLEASED

This year, my grandmother, Misia, would have turned 108. PLEASED, the name of this tutoring company, was inspired by her. Over her 100 years of life, Grandma’s optimism never wavered, and her smile heartened everyone she touched.
Growing up, I would dial my grandmother’s phone number, 753-2733, any time I needed to hear a cheerful “Hello Larushka”. That was the landline which my mother, as a young teenager, decoded to spell P-L-E-A-S-E-D. When Grandma passed away peacefully, seven years ago, Mom couldn’t bear to give up that magical number. She kept it hovering in the Cloud, just in case one of her kids ever wanted a landline. As I was setting up my own business, Mom suggested that I tap it for the company’s phone. That's when the whole concept crystallized: the phone number, company name and inner soul of my venture all wrapped up in one word: PLEASED! Well, six words, once I extended it to Private Learning-- Excel and SucceED. A teacher always likes to clarify and elaborate.
My grandmother was so proud of my work as a teacher and literacy coach. Somehow, somewhere, I know she is beyond PLEASED, on the other end of the line, knowing that I am channeling both her love and her wisdom to teach children with joy and rigor.
Lara Pinto Stein | Founder & Educator
Our Philosophy
Considering the whole child is the cornerstone of our approach to learning. Whether your objective is reinforcement, enrichment, test prep, specialized instruction utilizing the Orton Gillingham Approach, the ultimate goal is to inspire independent learners. This can be achieved through in-person or virtual tutoring. We start with a thorough academic assessment and then plan individual lessons to meet your child's specific needs and academic goals. Lessons are designed to engage children by integrating an element of fun into a rigorous session. True success can only be achieved when children are excited to learn. As a result, your child will gain self-confidence as well as the ability to persevere through challenges. Collaboration between teachers and families is critical to your child's success; therefore, parents will receive periodic progress updates and when appropriate, we are happy to communicate directly with teachers.
Meet Our Tutors
All tutors at PLEASED are experienced educators with extensive classroom experience and have obtained at least one master's degree. Each child is thoughtfully matched with a tutor based on area of expertise and personality. As a teaching community, we take our own professional development seriously. We collaborate with each other to share particularly effective approaches, and at least monthly we meet formally to brainstorm and learn about the newest teaching techniques and technologies.