I had a parent tell me that she was amazed at all the different methods her grade-schooler was being taught to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division:

“I was taught one very rigid method for each of those things. The methods my son is learning are so much more intuitive—they just clicked. I am laughing now, because I feel so silly that I didn’t know there were other ways, but I am also sad—because by the time I was in high school I didn’t think I could be good at math, and I didn’t pursue my dream career because of it.”

That is a perfect reflection of our education system as a whole. While we may have gotten better at how we teach individual subjects, we are told that there is one path through our school years, with each student on the exact same path, doing the exact same things, in the exact same way, at the exact same time. How many of them fail to pursue their dreams because our educational system fails them?

The California requirements for getting a high school diploma often vary significantly from requirements set by individual school boards, meaning that a student who is thriving in one area may be getting dragged down—in grades, self-confidence, or motivation—by an unnecessary requirement in another.

Our children are individuals, but the system treats them all the same, and some students will fail to follow their dreams because of that.

Helping these students find their path through the high school years and on to academic and personal success is our area of expertise. Whether or not they attend Main Street Scholars, we can help them set a course that inspires them, leverages their strengths and passions, and restores their self-confidence and motivation—without sacrificing an academically rigorous curriculum.

We are here to help answer your questions. Once you call Main Street Scholars for a consultation, we set a time to discuss the roadblocks your student is facing, and whether they see themselves attending university or heading straight into the workforce after high school. Depending on their goals, we may recommend a combination of community college, public high school, and/or MSS classes that will help them get the most out of their time and energy.

There are many possible paths to graduation. Our goal is to help you understand your options to come up with a plan that is a good personal fit.

MSS charges an hourly rate of $ 125/hour. Typically, we will meet for an initial 1-hour discussion session to understand what is going on, spend 1–2 hours to collect data and and then meet again for a 1–2 hour followup session to discuss the options.

Jamie Weintraub