Sylvan Learning of San Francisco

My son entered school young. A September child. We thought it would be ok, but we were wrong. The age difference had a huge impact on his reading skills. By the time he left first grade reading level was below average. My wife and I knew that something needs to be done right away. We started interviewing different organizations. Finally settling with Sylvan.
To add more context, our son was frustrated was stressed out to tears. Its not that we didn’t try to teach him or that we didn’t spend time reading with him. We just didn’t know how. And coming from a family of avid «readers» we didn’t know how to deal with this situation.
The summer of 2015, we did not have a family vacation but concentrated on our sons tutoring. We had him attending 4 hours a week with two of the hours on Saturday. And during this time Sylvan did its magic.
Our son truly likes to attend his classes. There is something very special about how they teach. And darn it, there was a huge difference in our son.
He entered 2^nd grade at Alice Fong Yu on par with the other students. And now it’s January 2016 and I will find him sitting in his room reading on his own. Quietly and self motivated. It’s unbelievable.
He is currently age 7 and trying to read the Magic Tree house Series of books. Amazing!
Thank you Sylvan

My son has gone from being told be would have to repeat 1^st grade, to being promoted after 16 hours of tutoring. Only an hour a day for 2 days a week. He loves it! This was an incredible improvement given that he attends a charter school, so 1^st grade teachers 2^nd grade curriculum. He couldn’t have done it without Sylvan. This particular location, is safe and they make sure each child leaves with a parent. They also schedule regular parent touch bases and keep in contact with his teachers.

the negative reviews are phony. Those people «heard» about the service. Give me a break. This is a great investment. My kid went in during the last trimester 2 years in a row and raised his grade from a B to A in Geometry and Algebra 2. It works.

I interviewed a few different after school programs for my 11 year old daughter last Fall. She was struggling in math and after trying to remember math from 20 years ago, I knew I had to hire a pro to help her. Every single person I met in the Sylvan office in West Portal was patient, knowledgeable, and genuinely interested in seeing my daughter catch up, succeed, and thrive. Thanks Diana, Jenny, Kelly, Celeste and the rest of the staff :)
Some may have had a different experience, but all I know is my daughter regularly brings home A’s in math. That’s her hard work, coupled with Sylvan and support at home.
As far as being overpriced, it’s not inexpensive. But I found a place close to my home, that provided a necessary service that will pay dividends in my daughters life, for the rest of her life. There’s no such thing as a bad investment in education!
If your kid needs some help, this is the place you want to be.

I took the SAT prep here in 2009 and it didn’t help at all. The class was very small, about 5 girls and we were in there for about 30 hours in total. Prettty much everyone got low scores on the diagnostic test that we took in the beginning and no one’s score improved by that much at all… maybe only about less than a hundred. Also, when i took the real SAT test, it was much harder than the Sylvan’s version of the SATs and a lot of the stuff on it i hadn’t learned at Sylvan. Their course was over a thousand dollars and hadn’t helped anyone in my class, i suggest you find SAT prep elsewhere such as Elite.

Sylvan is way overpriced for what they offer. I also have heard that they treat their staff poorly and that they are way underpaid. I think for the money you could find your own private tutor.

WAYYY too overpriced :(

A great place to bring your child to because the environment is safe and the teachers are excellent. I know first hand because when I needed help in high school for math, I would go there every week and my grades improved and more importantly my self-​esteem improved the most! The teachers who work here encourage you to always try your best and never put you down when you don’t understand something! They are helpful and always smiling. It’s pricey but worth every penny!