Building High School Students’ Passion for Learning

Susan Joy Education by Design

Susan Joy College Prep

Offers tutoring services in Woodridge, Illinois and the surrounding areas. Our locally held courses are designed to help high school students succeed in their classes and college admissions exams.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to create an educational environment that inspires students to develop a passion for learning.

Our Teaching Values

As Socrates said, “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” To help our students succeed academically, we respect their unique learning styles and processes. That is why, in all of our sessions, we make sure to follow these values to yield positive results from our students.

Education should spark students' curiosity by being relevant in their lives. For example, connecting chemistry to cooking, or statistics to sports answers the age-old question, "when will I ever use this in my life?".

Students can understand the material on a deeper level when information is taught through different mediums. This includes noisy and messy hands-on activities that are fun and memorable. Once they connect with their education by designing it around their preferred learning styles, they develop commitment.

Students need to be constantly encouraged. They will face complex materials and struggle through new concepts, but these moments are not the end. The trials faced along the way only make the accomplishments more satisfying.

Focusing on progress and growth rather than grades helps students learn to be persistent. In this way, they can see that education is a series of victories to be celebrated. Once the students acknowledge and focus on their achievements, they develop self‑confidence.

Helping students develop their internal motivation allows them to take control of their education. This motivation comes from their desire to learn, simply for the sake of personal growth.

Educational settings that are fun, relevant, and slightly competitive fuel their spirit. Once students' motivation is self-sustaining, they develop drive.

We carefully develop a curriculum that is not too hard nor too easy. This helps us quickly identify a student's current level and build off of their current strengths.

The curriculum should also consistently advance with the student, keeping success within reach, but demanding their very best every step of the way. Once students feel successful, they develop pride.

Educational instructors should be patient and gently guide students towards solutions rather than dictate directions for them. We assist them in understanding that there are many ways to solve a problem.

Students need to be given strategies and skills rather than steps alone so they can apply their knowledge to broader applications. They need to follow the thought process that makes the most sense to them so that they can feel empowered with their own decision. Once students feel self-directed, they develop autonomy.

Identifying the student's unique interests and encouraging them to follow their dreams fuels life-long learning. Education should consistently offer opportunities for creativity, exploration, and experimentation. Once students become excited, they develop passion.

Meet the Founder

Susan Joy has a master’s of education in instructional design, an MBA, is a certified cognitive skills trainer, and working on her PhD in education with an emphasis on cognitive skills. 

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Experience

Susan has five years of experience in designing international live courses, online courses, and enduring materials in the medical education arena. She transfers this hands-on, blended learning format to her students’ individualized programs.

Assessment Test Specialist

Working with high school students across all subjects, Susan is proficient in all areas of the assessment tests. She has repeatedly achieved perfect scores on the ACT and has been teaching the test for fifteen years.

Teaching Technique

To help students comprehend better, Susan relates the materials to what they see in high school. She also nurtures the skills they need to be successful in college.

References

Amy Mackay

Susan Joy’s summer Boot Camp for ACT/SAT and tutoring is beyond awesome. My son participated and not only increased his score 11 points (from the beginning of the class to test date in September) but has learned invaluable skills for studying, retention, and focus. This class has made all the difference and could mean scholarship awards, which makes the cost of the class priceless! I highly recommend it for not only ACT/SAT test preparation, but for life skills as our teens move forward in high school and into college and beyond.

Jennifer Bianucci

My son began his tutoring relationship with Susan as he started his freshman year of high school - and he is now a junior. He struggled with organization, time management, and general study skills. Our hope was that Susan would be able to offer a weekly checkpoint for him and what ensued was so much more! She offered him support in ALL subject areas, including Spanish, Chemistry, and Physics. Susan gave my son confidence, tools, and even resources that allowed him to excel. She has been available to him 24/7 when he needed help on a problem or an extra set of eyes on a written assignment. She taught him memory skills, calculator proficiency, and study tools that he has applied in all areas of his course work. With her help, his grades have been outstanding! It was a no-brainer when Susan offered ACT prep work in addition to the weekly tutoring since Susan already had a wonderful relationship with our son and he trusted her. With Susan's guidance, our son improved by leaps and bounds on the ACT practice exams and went into the exam as confident as could be in his abilities. From his first practice test in June to the official ACT exam in September, he jumped 14 points!! I give Susan the highest recommendation. She has made such a positive impact on our son and his scholastic achievements. She is wonderful!

Diana Aispuro

Working with Susan has changed forever the way my daughter learns and thinks. She is so brilliant and can teach any mind that she comes across. Highest Recommendations.

Heidi and Dale

We are so happy that we had our daughter sign up for the summer boot camp program with Susan. Our daughter was not thrilled at first to spend her summer “in school”, but Susan made it a fun experience. Susan kept Katie engaged and motivated all summer. She was able to work with Katie’s weaknesses and improve her scores. Katie increased her ACT score by 8 points! We highly recommend Susan and have already signed up our other daughter for next summer’s boot camp with her!

Bill and Lisa Klinowski

Our daughters have worked with Susan multiple times over the past six years, ranging from the CogAT standardized test, to high school courses, to ACT prep, to college application essay writing. I can’t express how much she helped each daughter. The amount of knowledge, tips and skills she teaches them is amazing. She makes things fun and engaging. Perhaps what makes her most special is that she speaks to the kids and connects with them in such a way that many adults can’t. Both daughters not only enjoyed going to her, but actually truly looked forward to working with her. She is extremely supportive and positive. I have referred Susan to many friends and neighbors, all of whom have also had great success with their kids. I cannot say enough good things about Susan and how much she tremendously helped each of our daughters. Susan is a true asset to her profession. Be sure you sign your teen up with her today!!

I also would like to add that the best person to speak about Susan is my daughter, who writes about Susan perfectly in her own words. See her testimony.

Bella Klinowski

I started working with Susan when I was in 7th grade and over the course of 6 years, Susan has been such a positive influence in my academic career. I have worked with Susan with just about everything: CogAT, geometry, honors chemistry, ACT, SAT, and college essays. I’m convinced there is nothing she can’t teach. Susan always kept learning engaging with fun, stimulating brain games and relevant examples and references. She always pushed me to do the best I could do and never doubted me in the lofty goals she set for me. When I was studying for the ACT, she found my specific weaknesses and gave me all the tools and skills I needed to improve them. Susan always made me feel comfortable and accepted. Despite how many students she works with, she never neglects to form a relationship with each student. The skills Susan taught me I apply constantly, and she has truly made me to be a better student and overall smarter individual.

Tracy Buccola

We are forever thankful for finding Susan Joy. She is not only an excellent teacher but a wonderful, caring person. Susan is able to customize her teaching skills to connect with each individual child to help them succeed. My daughter struggled in school last year and was beginning to lack self-confidence in her own abilities. Kaylie started with Susan's boot camp over the summer of 2017 and Susan was able to identify the areas my daughter needed to focus on, and this has helped her immensely. Kaylie's grades have greatly improved, and her confidence continues to grow. Susan has instilled in my daughter that a positive mind will outperform the brain any day of the week, so not only has my daughter improved academically, but her outlook on school is extremely positive. Our journey with Susan has only just begun, and I can't wait to see what Kaylie can accomplish in the next year. Susan is able to keep kids engaged while helping them learn and develop lifelong skills for the future. Susan has been an excellent instructor, a mentor, and an overall positive influence in my daughter's life. Highest recommendations!

Judy Brooks

My son has been tutoring with Susan and took her Summer Boot Camp for his ACT prep. She has helped him meet his testing score goal and so much more. He is very confident with his schoolwork now and has gotten into all the colleges he applied to with huge academic scholarships that we didn’t expect. His sister goes to Susan for tutoring and I already have my other son signed up for next summer’s Boot Camp and will have my daughter do it the summer of 2019. I HIGHLY recommend Susan! She is awesome!!!

Rylie Phillips

Having Susan during a one-on-one tutor session was the best decision I've made for ACT prep. The tutoring was engaging and taught me not only memorization and cognitive skills for the ACT, but also for studying in general. She will give you the motivation and enthusiasm to practice otherwise dull ACT prep. I was able to move my score from a 29 to a 35 in just a couple months. Susan's methods helped me receive numerous scholarships for college and ultimately get into Cornell University. If I were to do it all over again, I would take these sessions in a heartbeat.

Susan Joy Education by Design

Student Testimonials

  • My favorite thing about boot camp is that Susan gave us a bunch of food. If I was being serious, I definitely think the little tips and tricks she gave me helped me the most. For example, I think I would've done much worse on my reading if she didn't tell me to write the paragraph topics, and as easy as it sounds it helped me complete the test way quicker. Another thing she did was have little activities to help with punctuation. This is something I struggled with because I have a hard time remembering grammar rules. She had us get up and get involved. She had us memorize the first 45 presidents and compete with the other people in class. As a person I am very competitive, so I think that really encouraged me to try harder. Even today I can list all of the first 45 presidents and I think that will be something that sticks with me.

 

  • I loved all of the games that we played to help us learn. I especially liked all of the memory work that we did. I feel like that helped me so much in so many different aspects of my life, not just the ACT. I also liked how we never did the same thing for a very long time. It made me feel like the sessions were really productive and went by faster.

 

  • One of my favorite things was the games we played to help us learn new concepts or just to warm up before getting into the work. Another favorite was learning all of the calculator skills and programming it to be prepared for the test.

 

  • While it is led by Susan, there are points where it's up to you to decide what to do. The breaks also have really good food.

 

  • My favorite thing was the games we got to play that taught us thinking and solving strategies.

 

  • My fav things about boot camp were playing different games and having the freedom to do what we wanted relating to ACT.

 

  • My favorite parts were the brain games and seeing a visible difference in my scores through the work we were doing.
  • My least favorite thing about boot camp was probably doing the many reading passages in a row, but as much as I didn't like doing it, I know it benefited me.

 

  • I didn’t like how long the sessions were because it took a lot of time out of the middle of my day. It usually went by really fast though, and it was never boring, so I eventually got used to it and didn’t mind it.

 

  • One of my least favorite aspects was the homework, though I understand it is necessary to improve scores.

 

  • Taking the 3-hour practice tests, even though, they were good for us to take.

 

  • I don’t have a least favorite. The work was a lot, but it is all worth it and needed.
  • I study a lot differently because I learned that if you don't use it you lose it. I also have found myself taking little side notes during my classes and asking questions if I don't understand the material.

 

  • I feel like I retain information better and know how to study efficiently for tests.

 

  • I use the memory tricks Susan taught me and the study tips.

 

  • I take more notes now because it helps with memorizing. Also, I’ve learned to visually think of ways to remember information. I’m also able to complete things faster.

 

  • I take better notes and refer to some of the materials given in this course. I also know how to use my calculator better.
  • I think I improved a lot of things during the boot camp, but I would say I improved my skills the most. My skills improved the most in my opinion because we would go in more depth into grammar, and I was learning things I never knew before. Another thing I built up was my background knowledge because we were reading and doing science and the passages we were doing had a lot of facts that I don't think I would learn anywhere else.

 

  • My memory has improved significantly as well as my study habits and skills in each subject.

 

  • I learned how to strengthen my memory, how to read and comprehend much faster, and use my calculator to help me excel in math.

 

  • My confidence went up a lot, and a lot of my skills in memorization and grammar/ English improved drastically.

 

  • Skills and memory are two very big things for me. I definitely feel as though I can retain more information, and I learned a lot too.
  • It helped me prepare more because when I went back to school a lot of other people weren't learning anything over summer and it took them longer to adjust back into the school setting and that gave me an advantage.

 

  • It made me much more disciplined and showed me that I don’t always have to do all of my work at once and can spread it out into smaller chunks throughout my week.

 

  • While doing the homework, I could mark questions that I was unfamiliar with or confused on. That way I could ask about them in the class and learn how to do them for the future.

 

  • It was very self-directed and helped show me what could come up on the ACT.

 

  • By practicing our skills we were able to memorize and learn how to solve problems easier and faster.

 

  • It made me a better problem solver and helped me think more creatively.
  • I think it really helped me with my schoolwork and classes because I see everything a little differently. And I notice that my reading has sped up greatly and I understand more than I would have before the class.

 

  • All of the memory work that we did. I also became a much faster reader, and I am able to understand the things that I am reading the first time instead of having to go back.

 

  • I feel like I already know most of the subjects we are working on in Algebra 2 thanks to the boot camp. I noticed that the reading portion of the district assessments in English is nearly identical to the reading test on the ACT, so that really helped. I believe my writing has improved as well by learning all of my grammar rules for the ACT.

 

  • I learned a lot of tricks and how to use my calculator, which helped me excel so much in math. It also helped me pick up my reading speed and comprehension a lot!

 

  • I learned really good memorizing skills for memorizing textbook readings and passages I have to do in class. I also learned grammar skills for when we write in school.

 

  • My memory increased, and I do better on tests.
  • I'm so glad I actively participated when I was in class, and I wish I made more time for homework so I could really grasp some key ideas.

 

  • Break your work into smaller chunks from the get-go; it helps so much to get your work done, and you feel so accomplished when you finish everything. It is just constant positive reinforcement.

 

  • Everyone knows the homework sucks, but staying fresh with the material and doing some every day is what will get you a good score on the test. Just like any other skill, you won't get much better if you aren't practicing the material.

 

  • Space out your homework - it's not a lot, but if you save it for the last minute, it can get overwhelming.

 

  • Do all the homework because it helps improve your overall score by a lot. Also, just be confident in yourself because believing in yourself will make you do better.

 

  • The work may be a lot, but it’s worth it. Use your time wisely and do not procrastinate. Also, if you go on a vacation, make sure to keep up with your work in a time‑efficient manner.
  • My favorite thing about boot camp is that Susan gave us a bunch of food. If I was being serious, I definitely think the little tips and tricks she gave me helped me the most. For example, I think I would've done much worse on my reading if she didn't tell me to write the paragraph topics, and as easy as it sounds it helped me complete the test way quicker. Another thing she did was have little activities to help with punctuation. This is something I struggled with because I have a hard time remembering grammar rules. She had us get up and get involved. She had us memorize the first 45 presidents and compete with the other people in class. As a person I am very competitive, so I think that really encouraged me to try harder. Even today I can list all of the first 45 presidents and I think that will be something that sticks with me.

 

  • I loved all of the games that we played to help us learn. I especially liked all of the memory work that we did. I feel like that helped me so much in so many different aspects of my life, not just the ACT. I also liked how we never did the same thing for a very long time. It made me feel like the sessions were really productive and went by faster.

 

  • One of my favorite things was the games we played to help us learn new concepts or just to warm up before getting into the work. Another favorite was learning all of the calculator skills and programming it to be prepared for the test.

 

  • While it is led by Susan, there are points where it's up to you to decide what to do. The breaks also have really good food.

 

  • My favorite thing was the games we got to play that taught us thinking and solving strategies.

 

  • My fav things about boot camp were playing different games and having the freedom to do what we wanted relating to ACT.

 

  • My favorite parts were the brain games and seeing a visible difference in my scores through the work we were doing.
  • My least favorite thing about boot camp was probably doing the many reading passages in a row, but as much as I didn't like doing it, I know it benefited me.

 

  • I didn’t like how long the sessions were because it took a lot of time out of the middle of my day. It usually went by really fast though, and it was never boring, so I eventually got used to it and didn’t mind it.

 

  • One of my least favorite aspects was the homework, though I understand it is necessary to improve scores.

 

  • Taking the 3-hour practice tests, even though, they were good for us to take.

 

  • I don’t have a least favorite. The work was a lot, but it is all worth it and needed.
  • I study a lot differently because I learned that if you don't use it you lose it. I also have found myself taking little side notes during my classes and asking questions if I don't understand the material.

 

  • I feel like I retain information better and know how to study efficiently for tests.

 

  • I use the memory tricks Susan taught me and the study tips.

 

  • I take more notes now because it helps with memorizing. Also, I’ve learned to visually think of ways to remember information. I’m also able to complete things faster.

 

  • I take better notes and refer to some of the materials given in this course. I also know how to use my calculator better.
  • I think I improved a lot of things during the boot camp, but I would say I improved my skills the most. My skills improved the most in my opinion because we would go in more depth into grammar, and I was learning things I never knew before. Another thing I built up was my background knowledge because we were reading and doing science and the passages we were doing had a lot of facts that I don't think I would learn anywhere else.

 

  • My memory has improved significantly as well as my study habits and skills in each subject.

 

  • I learned how to strengthen my memory, how to read and comprehend much faster, and use my calculator to help me excel in math.

 

  • My confidence went up a lot, and a lot of my skills in memorization and grammar/ English improved drastically.

 

  • Skills and memory are two very big things for me. I definitely feel as though I can retain more information, and I learned a lot too.
  • It helped me prepare more because when I went back to school a lot of other people weren't learning anything over summer and it took them longer to adjust back into the school setting and that gave me an advantage.

 

  • It made me much more disciplined and showed me that I don’t always have to do all of my work at once and can spread it out into smaller chunks throughout my week.

 

  • While doing the homework, I could mark questions that I was unfamiliar with or confused on. That way I could ask about them in the class and learn how to do them for the future.

 

  • It was very self-directed and helped show me what could come up on the ACT.

 

  • By practicing our skills we were able to memorize and learn how to solve problems easier and faster.

 

  • It made me a better problem solver and helped me think more creatively.
  • I think it really helped me with my schoolwork and classes because I see everything a little differently. And I notice that my reading has sped up greatly and I understand more than I would have before the class.

 

  • All of the memory work that we did. I also became a much faster reader, and I am able to understand the things that I am reading the first time instead of having to go back.

 

  • I feel like I already know most of the subjects we are working on in Algebra 2 thanks to the boot camp. I noticed that the reading portion of the district assessments in English is nearly identical to the reading test on the ACT, so that really helped. I believe my writing has improved as well by learning all of my grammar rules for the ACT.

 

  • I learned a lot of tricks and how to use my calculator, which helped me excel so much in math. It also helped me pick up my reading speed and comprehension a lot!

 

  • I learned really good memorizing skills for memorizing textbook readings and passages I have to do in class. I also learned grammar skills for when we write in school.

 

  • My memory increased, and I do better on tests.
  • I'm so glad I actively participated when I was in class, and I wish I made more time for homework so I could really grasp some key ideas.

 

  • Break your work into smaller chunks from the get-go; it helps so much to get your work done, and you feel so accomplished when you finish everything. It is just constant positive reinforcement.

 

  • Everyone knows the homework sucks, but staying fresh with the material and doing some every day is what will get you a good score on the test. Just like any other skill, you won't get much better if you aren't practicing the material.

 

  • Space out your homework - it's not a lot, but if you save it for the last minute, it can get overwhelming.

 

  • Do all the homework because it helps improve your overall score by a lot. Also, just be confident in yourself because believing in yourself will make you do better.

 

  • The work may be a lot, but it’s worth it. Use your time wisely and do not procrastinate. Also, if you go on a vacation, make sure to keep up with your work in a time‑efficient manner.