Mike is a graduate from Macalester College. He took math classes at Wesleyan University when he was in elementary school. He was ranked 15th in the nation in math in the tenth grade. Despite having more math in his little pinky that most people have in their entire beings, Mike was a down-to-earth football player in college, who also happens to be a champion scrabble player with a terrific sense of humor. He has worked with us – as Zac Rosensohn has – to help us provide the easiest and most straightforward forms of instruction for high school students. He has come up with alternative ways to solve problems that many students immediately grasp. He has helped us to develop curriculum, spot quizzes, and math assessments to determine if students learned enough Algebra I, Geometry or Algebra II in school to do well on the SAT. Mike was originally a student here (he taught us a lot) and has worked with us for over three years. When Mike speaks, we listen.
Zac is a graduate from Wesleyan University. A football player, an English major, a lover of music, Zac continues to help us to find faster and more efficient ways to bring the lessons home to students. Nearly all of our tutors are old enough to be our students’ parents so it’s essential that we gain a young person’s perspective on how we instruct. Zac was essential in creating PowerPoint Presentations for the math that allow us to cover more ground in math in each class. Prior to this innovation there was not enough time to diagram every problem on the board. Zac was also instrumental in helping create The Essay Clinic. His sense of design and pace is impeccable. That, combined with his self-taught computer skills and longtime interest in teaching and business, makes for a perfect fit at CPP, and we are thrilled that he has joined us full time.
Sam Rosensohn is the founder of College Planning Partnerships, a college prep company that is known for its extraordinary results and the care and attention it gives to each and every student.
Sam has written educational material for the New York Times Learning Network, Prentice Hall, Peregrine Publishers, and the Hartford Courant. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Boston University. He was a newspaper reporter for The New York Post for 10 years, taught for five years at John Winthrop Jr. High in Deep River, served as the executive editor for five Shoreline Newspapers, and was the academic director for an educational program started by Paul Newman.
Gary Burgard has been an educator for nearly fifty years. After graduating from Yale in 1959, he taught high school English, worked as an assistant high school principal, became Principal of Wethersfield High School, and finished his school career as Assistant Superintendent of New London Schools. More recently he has worked as a Special Education tutor at Waterford High School and as an SAT and LSAT tutor. He joined College Planning Partnerships in 2004.