Tilden Preparatory School

Tilden Prep is an amazing educational institution, which has transformed our daughter’s life. Our daughter has severe anxiety and OCD. She must get A’s and she does, however the cost of the A’s was increasing depression and anxiety.
Our daughter was in a private High School in Albany. The first year was great, however, during the second year she had a massive breakdown. We stuck it out through sophomore year. At the start of her junior year, we knew that she wasn’t going to make it. A friend of mine suggested Tilden Prep. We did a tour and our daughter was in, within 2 days.
Her therapist and Principal of the private high school warned us that she wouldn’t do well in the 1:1 teaching environment. They told us that she wouldn’t have friends, etc.
Well, that was a myth. Our daughter has more friends than she ever did at the private high school and she is thriving in the 1:1 environment. She still has bad days, however, Tilden understands and has worked with us.
Sallie Bryan, Head of School, is an amazing person. She really gets that some kids really do have special needs. She is passionate about the kids and their education.
I can only say that if you have a child that needs a special more supportive educational environment, Tilden Prep may be just for your family. It is expensive, however, it is worth every penny.
Our daughter is doing well. She is confident and happy. Tilden is not about pressure, they are about mastery. Kids have 1 week to complete a test and if they don’t get the minimum grade (B) they continue on the lesson until they have mastered it. Tests are a real anxiety producer for my daughter. Having the time to take the test has made a huge difference. I think she has taken almost all of her tests in 1 day. The knowledge that she has more time, has helped her to focus and not stress-​out.
I always wanted our daughter to have a fun high school experience. Writing this review, I have tears in my eyes, because she is having a blast at Tilden AND she is getting the A’s that she requires. I wish that traditional schools would look at the Tilden model, so that more kids would have a chance to succeed at school.

Tilden Prep changed our lives – especially our son. We had struggled mightily with the public school system both in Berkeley and in Albany (even selling the house and moving to Albany for the schools – elementary outstanding, middle and high school just not prepared to deal with carrying out a 504 plan – great if your child doesn’t have learning differences).
Tilden is worth every penny. Our son went from being self conscious, lacking confidence, and getting average and below average grades to getting straight A’s in just 1 semester. He was getting C-D’s in Geometry, struggling in Biology and English and had to give up on computer science all together because the teacher just did not get how to follow the 504 plan. He started 2^nd semester of 10^th grade and before the end of the school year, he completed Geometry (with an «A» and by the end of the year he had completed the first semester of Algebra 2 also with an «A».) He also was able to take computer programming in Java, Python, learning Blender and more – long story short, he is transformed. He has greater confidence, and after his first day at Tilden, he said he can see himself loving school again. The one-​on-​one learning is perfect for our son. His lowest grade was an A-​! It is also worth mentioning that Tilden has study hall which with our son, he takes enough study halls to ensure that all of his studying and homework is completed by the time we pick him up from school. We get one shot with our kids – and Tilden has changed all of our lives for the better.