Real Stories. Real Growth.
Real Results.

‟I came to Kastner Hill for SAT slash ACT tutoring originally. I knew that I needed to get my score up and so I came here to just improve on.
Everything ACT-SAT. I decided to go with the ACT and my score improved with up five points just using that eight week course. I also came to Kastner Hill to work on my college essays. Had Tom and Nathan just review it and having their approval just made me feel so much better about clicking submit on my college applications. So I’m very thankful for their help. I eventually started coming here just to hang out. They have a cafe. It’s like a party every time in the downstairs lobby. I get to see all my friends from different grades and different schools. And it truly is like our whole community just to this place because they’re just so good at creating a warm and welcoming environment while also really focusing on academics. Everyone brings their A game and they’re high energy. It’s really fun.”

‟Me and four of my friends decided in our sophomore year that we wanted to do English tutoring. So we decided to all come to Kastner Hill together and do a group tutoring session. And it’s really fun because I’m getting to hang out with my friends and also learn and get all my work done. And it’s super fun. It’s just made me really care about school a more.”

‟When I came here as a student, I already felt like I was part of the family here at Kastner Hill. Everyone is so welcoming, so friendly. They want you to achieve all your goals and they have your best interests at heart. It’s not just all about what is happening on the paper in front of you. It’s about how they can help you overall. They’ll adjust to what you need so you feel the most comfortable in what you’re learning and so you feel the most comfortable in your ability to gain more knowledge.”

“I had the privilege of working at Kastner Hill Learning (or “KHL”) for the better part of 8 months as a math and science tutor and it is without a doubt one of my favorite places I have ever worked. As a fairly new company, the management team really values each of its tutors for what they bring to the table and includes tutors in decision-making. Since the tutoring positions are part-time, there is a lot of flexibility in scheduling. You can certainly work more hours to meet students’ demand if your schedule allows, but there is also never any pressure to say yes to commitments if you are unavailable or uninterested. There are other perks worth mentioning (free meals for certain working days, opportunities to go to events, the ability to host interest clubs), but the biggest takeaway is that KHL is truly a FUN work environment. Management is dedicated to their students and the tutors are passionate about their subjects, which in turn, makes it a great learning environment for students. Since students enjoy coming to KHL, they are able to co-create the space and help foster the environment that makes students want to come back and tutors want to stay. If you enjoy tutoring and like working with high schoolers, KHL is the place for you.”

“I never expected working for a tutoring company to be such a warm, positive experience. More than just qualified (and they are more than qualified), everybody working at Kastner Hill contributes to an environment that makes it clear teaching and supporting the students are the utmost priority!”

“At Kastner Hill Learning, I joined a collaborative and supportive team and became a better educator. KHL accommodates a range of teaching styles, and I was able to develop my own teaching philosophy while learning from my peers. More importantly, however, I felt like I was part of a vibrant community of students and tutors: there was nothing more rewarding than getting to really know my students and watch them succeed in and out of the classroom. I highly recommend Kastner Hill Learning to anyone looking for a positive and flexible work environment.”

‟I heard about it from my friends and they all had really good things to say about their results. I came to Kastner Hill to improve my SAT score. I wanted to really work on my math and just get my entire score up. My scores have gone up like about 150 points on the practice test so far. The teachers are really engaging. They always make it fun. It doesn’t get boring and I’m always excited to show up. Just keeps you wanting to come back.”

‟My favorite part of it is just like the relationship you have with the tutors. It feels less of like what school is, like teacher-student type of thing. You know, like the first bit of my tutoring is always just like talking and hanging out. They just teach you in a fun way and it’s easier to learn than I find at school sometimes. It’s usually just like smaller sessions. You can do one-on-one. I do a lot of one-on-ones. I feel like those help me a lot. So it sort of forces me to connect with my tutor because I’m one of the other people that’s in there. So that helps me a lot more than…
being in a class with 30 people. My first time I came here, I took an initial SAT and I got an under a thousand on it, so I wasn’t happy with that. But then after eight sessions, my latest one, I got over a 1400 on. I got a 760 on my math out of 800 and in my first test, I got like in the 500s. You don’t really notice it when you’re doing your session, your tutoring sessions, but you are getting a lot better every time you come here and you don’t even notice it because you just, you have fun and you do problems.
So yeah, that’s my favorite part about this place.”

‟The thing I would say I like most about Kastner Hill is how engaging the tutors are here. Tutoring a lot of times or even just classes in general can feel like kind of a chore. When you’re at KHL, you really feel like you’re in like a conversation or a dialogue with the tutors. It’s like more like two friends talking about a subject and you’re just having a good time together, which I feel like really made me to actually like want to come in and do my tutoring. I came to KHL.

After hearing about it from a friend at the school I go to, they said they really helped with the SAT. I’m in my junior year, so I was stressing about that a lot. KHL, they really put me on this course where I was focused on attaining that score, and that focus is really what I think gets you those extra points, and that’s what KHL does really well. I started off with a pretty good score. I got a 1490, which was pretty high already, but I just wanted those extra points, and now on my latest practice test, I’ve gotten…

all the way up to a 1570. They really want to make sure that you don’t just get good grades or do good on a test, but actually understand the subjects, which is, I feel like, different from lot of other places. Because of the environment and how cool the people are here, I definitely want to come back for other tests and other subjects.”

‟And even though didn’t want to do it, my mom said she had found this cool company and talked to some nice guys, so I just did it. And it was probably one of the most rewarding experiences that I’ve had so far. I learned so many new skills and just life experiences that I’ve carried on with me throughout my time in college so far. I’m sure other people have said this, but the welcoming and fun environment is something so different than I’ve experienced from any other tutoring center in Austin or virtual tutoring. It’s something about being in person.

With fun tutors, like peers that you just want to be around, group tutoring, individual tutoring, classes, if they really have it all, and it’s all a fun experience.”

Owen is a great teacher who explains concepts in easy to understand ways. His lessons were different from others…he didn’t reiterate the math we learned in school but taught us how to apply the math we already knew for the SAT. He told us the quickest and easiest short cuts to problems that students generally use advanced formulas for. He taught me “smart” math, and it allowed me to get a 790 on the math section for my first try! Even after the SAT, I find myself using his tips and lessons in my day to day math classes in school!

I’m so glad I had Owen as a teacher for my SAT prep!  I improved so much on my math skills, fortified my foundations, and learned valuable tips for solving problems quickly.  My math score improved by 100 points and landed me in the 99th percentile, and Owen was great at addressing my weaknesses and had a really great teaching style.  Thanks for everything!

Nathan and Owen are not any ordinary SAT tutors. When one thinks of SAT prep, most likely, one does not envision an incredibly fun and enjoyable classroom environment. However, Nathan and Owen do just that. I always looked forward to class because I knew I would gain invaluable insight to improve my SAT score, but I also would have a great time participating in class competitions and discussions. By the end of the 8 week class, my score rose 140 points! Both Nathan and Owen are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about English and mathematics respectively. Not only were they great SAT tutors, but they will serve as great mentors for me in the future. I am very grateful for my experience with them.

Owen is a fantastic tutor and helped me improve my SAT skills a ton! His class has an extremely fun environment that fosters learning in all his students. I was able to get an 800 in the math section of the SAT because of his helpful tips, strategies, and general math skills.

Owen is a phenomenal tutor. I was never confident when it came to math; it was a constant struggle for me. With his help, my ACT scores not only improved, but I found myself becoming increasingly confident in my math skills in the classroom as well. On top of that, he is an incredibly friendly and open person, and will teach you so much more than just how to solve matrices.

To say that I enjoyed Nathan’s English class would be an understatement. My confidence in taking the SAT itself increased dramatically, and by the end of the eight weeks I saw not only a significant increase in my SAT score, but personal growth as well. No student wants to spend their time taking an SAT prep course, but attending Nathan’s class was one of the highlights of my summer. He kept us laughing, made the topics fun to learn, and taught us about more than subject-verb agreement and comma splices. After my time as a student was over and I began working at the same prep company with Nathan, I saw from a different perspective the impact he had on students there. He is dedicated to making a meaningful connection with each person he teaches, and has an amazing ability to see and bring out the best in all of his students. I can confidently say that he is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had.

I was one of the lucky students that had Owen and Nathan as my math and English tutors. They both were able to incorporate interactive learning and a lot of fun into subjects that are far from interesting. Through the 8 week session, my SAT scores rose by nearly 200 points, and I am more than happy to say it was all thanks to them. Both are enthusiastic, informative, care about tutoring, and are devoted to helping their students achieve the best of their abilities. Even after finishing the sessions, I am still confident to say I can turn to them whenever I need to ask for help. From Nathan’s jokes and guitar skills, to Owen’s charisma and personality, the memories and knowledge I will have from the classes will stick with me for my lifetime.