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Published: 21 March 2013

Created: 21 March 2013

Last Updated: 22 March 2013

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Preparation for SAT's and ACT's, tutoring for academic subjects and applying to college are key concerns of college-bound students and their parents. Over the years we have received many inquiries from friends and acquaintances about finding the right tutor, test preparation program and college advisor. In order to help you locate local resources, we reached out to a few providers to learn more about what they offer. Here's information from those that responded, as well as a listing of others in our area.

Collegistics provides students and their families with a caring, highly-informed, and personalized college application experience. Drawing on our collective expertise and resources, we guide and support students on their individual journeys to college. Our unique, multilayered team approach ensures unparalleled counseling in all matters relating to the college process. Frequent meetings and communications establish a warm rapport that facilitates the exchange of ideas in a collaborative and comfortable environment. Serving a select number of students each year, our practice delivers strategic and data-driven guidance as we craft a plan tailored to the needs of each applicant. Collegistics provides an individualized framework to manage and streamline the many facets of the application process. We help reduce stress, allowing students to put forth their best work. At Collegistics, every partner is fully familiar with each student's current profile assuring unmatched depth of coverage, backup, and virtual 24/7 accessibility. Good advising makes a difference. Good advising helps students reach their goals. Visit our website at www.collegistics.com to learn more. Collegistics can be reached at info@collegistics.com or 914-282-3820.

JCC Academic Center programs are designed to help high school and middle school students reach their greatest academic potential. We offer a full range of test prep, college admissions, and academic enhancement programs including PSAT/SAT Prep, ACT Prep, SAT Subject Test Prep, Regents Prep, Writing Skills, College Essay Application Workshops, Time/Paper Management and Speed Reading classes. All instructors are expert in their field and offer private tutor quality and results at a fraction of the cost. Classes are small, allowing for individualized attention and are led by dynamic, experienced instructors. In addition, special lectures focused on the college admissions process are offered. "Inside the Admissions Office" (October 2013) brings deans and directors of a number of colleges together for a panel discussion and insight into the process; "The Ins and Outs of Applying to College" (April 28, 2013), is an admissions discussion with Jacques Steinberg, best-selling author of The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College and creator of the New York Times college admissions blog, The Choice, and Steven Singer, former Director of College Counseling at a top independent school and faculty, Harvard Summer Institute for College Admissions. For information on all JCC Academic Center programs visit www.jccmw.org, or contact Lisa Itzkowitz, Director, JCC Academic Center, 914-472-3300, x275, academiccenter@jccmw.org, JCC Academic Center, 999 Wilmot Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583, 914-472-3300, x275

Lee Ciancio (Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, cum laude) offers private one-on-one tutoring in the SAT and ACT, specializing in reading and writing. He teaches SAT test preparation at EF International Academy, a private boarding school located in Tarrytown, where he is solely responsible for program development and course curriculum. Unlike the major tutoring chains which adopt a one-size-fits-all approach and spend virtually all their time teaching strategies, tips, and tricks, he focuses on developing underlying skills and is able to tailor sessions very specifically to each student. This approach has met with great success. Stellar references from families throughout Westchester, Rockland, and Bergen counties are available upon request. Please call for a consultation at 845.596.5323.

Princeton Review: Whether prepping for college or graduate school, all standardized tests (in theory, at least) provide colleges with one common criterion that can be used to compare all applicants. Balancing work from the school you're already in, plus sports, clubs and everything else in life is hard enough. Why not make test prep easy? From regularly scheduled classes to one-on-one personalized tutoring, The Princeton Review offers a variety of ways to help you get to the school and education you deserve. Learn more at www.PrincetonReview.com or call (888) 759-7737.

Landa Lotta, Spanish tutor available to help your child! Tutor with over 15 years experience teaching all levels of Spanish language. Degree plus years of global business experience in Europe and Latin America. Reasonable rates. Call or email today ~ ¡adelante! 914.588.8977, llk925@gmail.com

Teachers-to-Tutors, Inc. offers private in-home tutoring as well as test prep courses in Westchester County. Our goal is to help students reach their full potential by improving study skills, building self-confidence, and raising individual grades and test scores. Our tutors and course instructors are actual teachers, most of whom hold permanent NYS certification in one or more subject areas. Please feel free to check us out online at www.teacherstotutors.com or call us at (845) 268-TEST.

And also consider:

Advantage Testing: One-on-one tutoring: Rigorous long-term Test Preparation: Tutoring with outstanding results. www.advantagetesting.com. 914 921-6700.

Allan Schneider Tutoring: Teaching students to teach themselves. www.allanschneidertutoring.com. 914 261-2986.

Bespoke Education: Working closely with families to craft customized tutoring programs for individual students' needs. www.bespokeeducation.com, 914 231-7309.

Carol Gill Associates: Educational consultants who have been serving families with extraordinary success for over twenty years. www.collegeplus.com, 914 693-8200.

College Advice 101: Jane C. Hoffman, MBA, College Admissions Advisor and Educational Consultant,with proven track record of providing personalized guidance to help students identify, apply and gain admission to the best colleges for them. www.CollegeAdvice-101.com, 914 833-1573

Craig Aronson: Offering SAT Test Prep. Formerly of Princeton SAT Review. www.td.edu/sat.html

Ivy Global: SAT Prep, private academic tutoring, assistance with writing college essays: www.ivyglobal.com, 1-888-588-7955

Kaplan Test Prep: SAT Tutoring for 1:1 support. www.kaptest.com, 1-800 527-8378.

TestTakers: The Smart Choice for Test Preparation. www.ttprep.com., 914 723-4448

Zoffness SAT Prep: to maximize your academic performance on the SAT, www.zoffnesssatprep.com, 914-462-7797

Varsity Tutors: Award winning academic tutoring and test prep. www.varsitytutors.com, 917-215-4373

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Published: 27 March 2013

Created: 27 March 2013

Last Updated: 27 March 2013

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The Scarsdale Middle School Science Olympiad Team participated in the 2012-13 Lower Hudson Valley Regional Tournament on Saturday, March 2, 2013. The 38 members of the team have been practicing their individual events since last October, and neither super storm Sandy nor the ensuing blizzard could deter their progress. This year there were 32 teams from 22 middle schools participating at the tournament, which was hosted by the Scarsdale Middle School. The competition was composed of 20 events, some where the students had to build and bring a device to operate, some where students studied techniques (like laboratory skills) and then were asked to use these skills in the event and some where the students studied information and took a written exam. Two of Scarsdale's 3 teams placed in the top 5, with one team taking 4th place and one taking 1st. As a result of the showing at the regional level, the Scarsdale team will now go on to represent the region at the state tournament on April 12 and 13 in Syracuse. SMS has participated in Science Olympiad since the 2001-2002 school year and every year since then has earned the privilege to represent the region at the state level. This year the SMS team will be joined at the state competition by Ardsley Middle School, H.C. Crittenden Middle School, Pearls Middle School and South Orangetown Middle School.

The team is coached by Jay Gandelman, Cristine Gilliland, Ken Raff, Laurie Ciccone and Jeff Tuttle. Additional coaching support was provided this year by Jeff Williams and Travis Richards.

This year's team consisted of the following students:
Anika Agarwal, Joie Liew, Daniel Beitler, Jonathan Lin, Maya Bharara, Ben Mayer, Mois Bourla, Alex Mayer, Derek Chi, Adina Mistry, Conde Philip, Milena Nutrobkina, Dey Sneha, Megumi Ohara, Dhuri Shamika, Keshav Rastogi, Claire Gillespie, Zara Ridgway, Michelle Glantz, Riina Nola, Daniel Goldstein, Arvind Sindhwani, Eric Hansen, Nakul Srinivas, Ben Hezi, Isabella Stewart, Sara Hezi, Omar Thenmalai, Sally Ho, Ken Tomita, Mel Holmes, Ambika Venkatakrishnan, Ryan Jacobowitz, Joe Weintraub, Jonathan Koenig, Yaseen Grant, Robert Koenig, Zhao Maxwell and Rhea Kothari.

SHS Science Research Students Take Home Awards at Upstate Symposium

On Wednesday March 13, 2013 two Scarsdale Research Students advanced to the 28th annual Upstate Junior Science and Humanities Symposium hosted by the University at Albany. Students from 33 schools from all over upstate New York attended this event. In the Speaker Sessions, Kathryn Evans placed 2nd in Biology and in the Poster session, Jamie Tanzer took 2nd place overall in her group. Congratulations to the students for participating in this very exciting day.

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Published: 11 March 2013

Created: 11 March 2013

Last Updated: 11 March 2013

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"The word is actually pronounced cuh-lide. You said koh-lide"
"Okay, collide."

Within two hours of arriving in Aix-en-Provence, France, my American friends and I had already witnessed the first major difference. It just so happened that the first class we were there to observe was a biology class conducted in English. That day, groups of kids were to present their topics to the class. Immediately after the first presentation finished, the teacher began to directly address the individual who had mispronounced the word "collide." She then made her way down the line of students, correcting every minor slip-up in front of the entire class. We Americans were quite surprised to be witnessing this level of public criticism, a practice one would be hard-pressed to find within the Scarsdale Schools.

Probably the part of the Exchange that we were most nervous about --but also very excited for-- was meeting our hosts' families. While Florie lived at my house in October, she had shown me pictures of her father, mother, brother, sister, and dog. Actually, on second thought, the dog may have been my biggest concern, considering I have no pets at home and generally do not love large dogs. In the end, however, both the family and the dog Curly proved to be amazing and nothing to fear. To my pleasant surprise, Florie's mother Corinne picked up a few Americans and me from the airport even though we had been told that there would be a bus taking us to the school. On the way, a friend of mine in the car, though verging on falling asleep, tried her best to find the words to tell Corinne that Florie looks just like her.

That night, I met both Florie's eighteen-year old sister Pauline and her father Bernard. During my first dinner with my new family the following night, I learned that Bernard could speak a little English. But, whenever he tried to say a word in English, Florie called him out on it, telling him that this was not his Exchange, just like I had to reign my dad in when he tried to speak French to Florie this past fall.

On Friday, I finally met Florie's nineteen-year old brother who attends school in Avignon but returns home every weekend. He provided me with a much-needed dose of "guy-time;" his first night home, we sat on the couch for hours playing FIFA, a soccer video game. During those games, I quickly picked up on many common French words, none of which are taught in school! The following day, while Florie and her sister went shopping in Aix, I ventured around the area with her brother and his friends. There were two main things I mentioned that his friends really latched onto: 1. I could drive starting at 16 and 2. I do not yet know what I want to do when I graduate. In France, the students are required to decide what academic path they would like to continue on when they are only fourteen-years old. Many of the French guys told me they hope to become engineers but that they envy how I have not yet been forced to make any sort of major decision regarding my future.

Thinking back to that first day in Aix, which was an endurance test for all of us, since we had gone straight from the airport to Lycée Paul Cézanne High School, I remember a lot despite my overwhelming fatigue. As we pulled up to the school, we spotted our French friends who were eagerly awaiting our arrival following three months of separation since their stay in New York. After stepping out of various cars, we did the traditional "La Bise" double-cheek kiss with all the French kids, walked passed the groups of students smoking cigarettes in front of the school's entrance, and made our way to our very first French class. Following the somewhat shocking biology class, Florie and I went to her Spanish class where she had a "pop test." The teacher kindly gave the Americans the precious opportunity to take desperately needed naps. Aside from my snoring, which may have distracted a few kids in my area of the class, my first couple of French classes had gone smoothly.

Although our flight to France was delayed from Friday, February 8th to Sunday, February 11th due to the Nor'easter, cutting our trip short two days, there remains no shortage of stories to be told. (Oddly enough, when the French kids came to Scarsdale in October, they were here during Hurricane Sandy, so their perceptions regarding the severity of weather in New York may be slightly skewed.) My first lunch in the school's cafeteria, I sat with Florie and a group of both French and American students. When the hour-long lunch period had almost ended, the kids at my table began to head over to where the trays get collected. I was the last one to stand up, and before I could start to walk over, a lunch lady approached me. Because she spoke rapidly to me, I simply nodded, smiled, and walked away. But, then, I heard her yelling after me. It turned out that she had wanted me to clear a pitcher from the table. After handing her the pitcher, I glanced around to make sure that nobody else had witnessed the incident but realized there was a whole table of kids who had watched the whole scene play out. I felt a little bit less embarrassed than I might have knowing that all the other Scarsdale High School kids would soon surely be subject to similar misunderstandings during the next eleven days.

Linguistically, we, of course, encountered many amusing situations. Some of the differences stemmed from the fact that we are accustomed to learning more formal French while the French students are taught proper English. Other slip-ups simply derived from differences in pronunciation. When Florie took me to her friend's house one afternoon, the girl's father asked me what I thought of "Meet Romeknee." After he repeated the name a couple more times, I finally picked up on the political question he was trying to ask. The linguistic misunderstandings continued even after I got back from the trip. A couple days after returning home from France, I received a Facebook message from someone who was in my host's class but not directly involved with the Exchange. (In France, the students have the same kids with them for all of their courses.) The French boy asked me if I was back in the USA, so I told him that I was in fact back home. He then asked, "Did you enjoy your sojourn in Aix (en Provence)?" At first, I thought that he must have used Google Translator to come up with the word "sojourn." Rather, it was simply one of the words taught in school. We Americans also had plenty of chances to speak too formally and became accustomed to being corrected or playfully mocked.

Every other weekday during our first week in France, the Scarsdale students would embark on excursions while our French friends attended school. From the moment we would get on the bus to the instant the bus reached the desired destination, everybody would exchange stories about the previous night's adventures with the host families. We arrived in France on Monday, February 11th, and our first day of excursions was that Tuesday. The main topic of discussion on the bus that Tuesday: The Bathroom Situation. Even though we all had known what to expect, we were nonetheless taken aback by the French way of having a separate room simply for washing hands. In my house, I actually had the privilege of having three different bathrooms: One for the toilet, another for washing hands, and a third for showering.

At almost every destination we visited, there would be a few kids who would proclaim their love for the area and announce their plans to live there sometime down the road. If I had to choose, my favorite spot would be Cassis. It was so beautiful there, and it immediately appealed to both present and future Noah. Eating great food, hanging around by the beach, and having amazing views never can be outgrown. Also, many adults there play Bocce Ball near the beach, a game involving so little movement that I could definitely see myself taking it up later in life. Our group also took a forty-five minute boat ride around the spectacular region to get a better feel for the area. I fortunately even had a second opportunity to visit my future home Cassis when my French family took me on the hour-drive one afternoon to eat lunch by the water.

We were only in France for a grand total of twelve days, but we managed to visit and explore so many different places. Our first week abroad, the voyages included Arles, Le Pont du Gard, Nîmes, Avignon, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Gordes, and Roussillon. Then, our second week, the sightseeing trips included Marseille, Cassis, Nice, and lastly Monaco, another one of my top picks. In Nice, we went to the famous Flower Carnival, where it is traditional to try to catch blossoms as they are thrown off the floats. The outlandish costumes worn in Nice were memorable to say the least; a few kids on the Exchange joined in by purchasing colorful masks. I think everyone at the carnival really had a great time that day, except maybe the few girls who got Silly String stuck in their hair. It is also possible that the parents of the child who got knocked over by a man who was taking the flower-catching challenge a little too seriously may not have had a flawless experience. But, excluding those few, everyone had fun and will never forget the amazing costumes and interesting assortment of people present that day.

Ultimately, although the touring was incredible, there is no doubt in my mind that the greatest part of what we all have taken away from the experience is the relationships that were formed in Scarsdale back in October and then continued to develop this past month in Aix. As one French boy on the Exchange accurately posted in our French Exchange Facebook group, it is now the responsibility of us students to both continue to keep in touch with one another and to hopefully one day soon all get together again. We Americans will surely never forget our wonderful sojourn with our French friends in Aix.

On behalf of all the students in the French Exchange, "merci beaucoup" to the French teachers from Scarsdale who came with us and organized our events, Madame Corten and Madame Chan and also to the French teachers involved, Madame Sahut and Madame Swift.

This article was contributed by Noah Klayman, a student at Scarsdale High School.