Skip to main content
The Study Loft Tutoring & test prep · Downtown Evanston
04 The tutors

Nine of us, and you get one — the same one, every week

No marketplace, no rotating cast. Your student is matched to one tutor on subject depth first and temperament second — and if the chemistry isn't there by session three, we re-match free.

The hiring bar

We hired 9 of the 214 people who applied to tutor here since 2018. Every tutor passed a subject exam at the level they teach, a paid trial session observed by Dana, and a background check. No contractors, no marketplace.

All nine tutors

Dana Whitfield

Director of learning · reading specialist

Founded the Loft after eleven years in elementary classrooms. Runs every assessment personally or trains the person who does. Believes phonics is not a debate.

Credential
M.Ed. reading & literacy · Orton-Gillingham trained
Subjects
Reading & writing, Early literacy
Grades
K – 8 · at the Loft since 2018

Marcus Oyelaran

High-school math & physics

Left circuit design because explaining things turned out to be the favorite part. Speaks fluent calculus, AP Physics, and 'wait, I actually get it now.'

Credential
B.S. electrical engineering
Subjects
Math, Science
Grades
8 – 12 · at the Loft since 2019

Priya Raman

Test-prep lead (SAT & ACT)

Builds every prep plan from a full diagnostic, not a brochure. Will tell you when a retake isn't worth your Saturday — and has, often.

Credential
B.A. applied math · 7 years of test-prep coaching
Subjects
SAT / ACT prep, Math
Grades
10 – 12 · at the Loft since 2019

Elena Kovacs

Elementary reading & writing

The tutor whose students ask to read the next chapter. Keeps a shelf of decodable books that don't feel like decodable books.

Credential
B.S. elementary education · reading endorsement
Subjects
Reading & writing
Grades
K – 5 · at the Loft since 2020

Sam Delgado

Middle-school math

Specialist in the grade-6-to-8 canyon where fractions, negatives, and x all arrive at once. Draws a mean number line.

Credential
B.A. mathematics · former MS classroom teacher (6 yrs)
Subjects
Math
Grades
5 – 9 · at the Loft since 2020

Grace Liu

Chemistry & biology

Turns stoichiometry into recipes and Punnett squares into puzzles. Honors and AP sections are the home turf.

Credential
B.S. biochemistry
Subjects
Science
Grades
8 – 12 · at the Loft since 2021

Tom Becker

Executive-function coach

Works on the how of school: planners, starting, finishing, handing in. Parents call his sessions 'the ones that fixed the other subjects.'

Credential
M.A. education · 11 years classroom teaching
Subjects
Study skills & executive function
Grades
2 – 12 · at the Loft since 2021

Aisha Karim

Writing coach · AP English

Edits like an editor, not a red pen: three things to fix, one thing done well, every draft. College essays are the busy season.

Credential
M.F.A. creative writing
Subjects
Reading & writing
Grades
8 – 12 · at the Loft since 2022

Jordan Mireles

ACT math & science

Data person. Tracks every practice-test item a student misses and rebuilds the plan around the pattern, not the vibe.

Credential
B.S. statistics
Subjects
SAT / ACT prep, Math, Science
Grades
10 – 12 · at the Loft since 2023
A tutor explaining a concept to a teenage student across a study table stacked with notebooks
A How matching works

Subject depth first, temperament second

  • The assessment names the skills; the skills shortlist the tutors who teach that level as home turf.
  • Then the human part: the kid who needs deadpan calm gets Tom; the one who needs sparkle gets Elena. Dana makes the call and owns it.
  • Sessions 1–3 are the trial window. Re-matching is free, normal, and nobody's feelings run the schedule.
The next step

Meet your match at the free assessment

Book the free 60-minute assessment and the written plan names the tutor we'd match — with their credential and the published rate — before you spend a dollar.

Sample site by SearchPod