Featured Review:
Efficient, enthusiastic tutor
Eileen, 17 lessons with JamesMy son, a high school senior, needed work on his writing skills, primarily for the SAT but also in general. I wanted to prepare him for college level writing and a private tutor is very helpful to develop these skills. Jim was great working with him and his vast experience as an English teacher really shows. Jim began the first lesson with a solid assessment of my son's skills. Jim's lessons were quick paced (high school boys can be easily bored) and he gave solid techniques to my son...
With the 2010-2011 school year, Mr. P celebrated his twentieth year as a teacher with the Alameda Unified School District and twenty-two years in the profession, having taught in both high school and middle school. A former Teacher of the Year, now retired from the Alameda Unified School District, he is so glad to be able to continue working with students as a private tutor.
He currently holds four valid California Single-Subject Teaching Credentials in French, History, English, and Latin,...
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Efficient, enthusiastic tutor
My son, a high school senior, needed work on his writing skills, primarily for the SAT but also in general. I wanted to prepare him for college level writing and a private tutor is very helpful to develop these skills. Jim was great working with him and his vast experience as an English teacher really shows. Jim began the first lesson with a solid assessment of my son's skills. Jim's lessons were quick paced (high school boys can be easily bored) and he gave solid techniques to my son for thinking his way through writing prompts to come up with appropriate content for the essay. He had a very organized, step by step approach for improving writing style as well. I highly recommend Jim to anyone who wants an experienced, engaging and perceptive writing tutor!
Eileen, 17 lessons with James
Excellent English ACT tutor
My daughter feels James is excellent for the Reading part of the ACT. she has worked with him already 2-3 times and feels he know how to teach it well as well as focus on her weaknesses. He is great at post- lesson remarks as well!. highly recommend! Hope to see drastic ACT score improvement over time!
Yael, 2 lessons with James
An exceptional English teacher who inspires deeper reading and thinking
My son has been working with Mr. P. for over 18 months, and he always looks forward to his lessons. Mr. P. is a very experienced and versatile teacher who connects exceptionally well with his students. I especially appreciate that he tailors his teaching to my son's needs rather than following a fixed curriculum. Depending on what would benefit him most, they may work on writing, close reading, literary analysis, or discussion. My son is now a 7th grader and has always been an advanced reader. However, after reading Oliver Twist with Mr. P., he told me that he learned how to read much more deeply—not just understanding the story, but analyzing the language, ideas, and meaning behind the text. I think this speaks to Mr. P.'s ability to challenge even a strong reader and help him develop more mature analytical skills. Mr. P. also helped my older son with his private high school applications. Having taught at private high schools for more than 20 years, he has valuable insight into the admissions process, including how students can choose essay topics that are authentic while also helping admissions officers understand who they are. Most importantly, my son genuinely enjoys learning with Mr. P. We have been very pleased with both the quality of his teaching and the relationship he has built with our son. I highly recommend him to families looking for an experienced, thoughtful, and engaging English teacher.
Tao, 83 lessons with James
An Amazing Tutor
Goetsch, Robert Thu, Aug 20, 9:11 PM (23 hours ago) to me Mr. Peters has been working with my two boys, Ethan, who is 10, and Benjamin, who is 12. He has been meeting with them once a week for the past six months. Their reading and writing skills have greatly improved over this time. He is patient and polite when he corrects their writing. As a result of his training, my boys both received high scores on the ISEE test for their grade level. Their high scores made it possible for them both to be accepted at a prestigious private school in the Houston area. Benjamin was also accepted into the Junor National Honor Society. They love working with Mr. Peters and enjoy the reading and writing assignments that he gives them. My boys were also inspired to collaborate and write their own adventure narrative story. My wife and I are very pleased with his teaching style. I would like to say Mr. Peters is the real deal and that he did wonders for my two boys.
Eve, 25 lessons with James
Very knowledgeable and experienced
James P has been helping my son prepare for his SATs and its very clear James is a very experienced English teacher. My son was struggling with grammar constructs in particular and James has been able to help him understand certain constructs and improve his scores. James also has a good sense of humor and that always helps with the kids.
Nam, 9 lessons with James
Excellent tutor
James has given me a such strong foundation in Latin since us starting in September 2025. He is intuitive in how each student learns to help tailor certain methods to help you succeed and form skills. I am 27 years old and am going back to school where Latin will be taught and I know with the teaching already and the future of our lessons, that I will be more than ready. He is willing to work around Job scheduling and time zones to help out those who are in that position. He makes the learning of Latin feel exciting and rewarding. Whether you're a high school student, or in adulthood looking to learn Latin, I highly recommend James to be your choice.
Jacob, 35 lessons with James
Excellent Tutor
James has been a wonderful English tutor for our teenager. He knows how to challenge just the right amount, and we’ve really seen the progress. We’re grateful for his support and highly recommend him.
Alesia, 14 lessons with James
knowledgeable and well prepared tutor
Jim always prepares before tutoring my two kids on SSAT verbal and reading comprehension. After each session, he would write summary of each's kid's progress. That's really helpful for kid's assessment of their readiness for SSAT! Jim also assigns reasonable amount of homework after each session. That helps my two kids to retain the new words learned from tutoring sessions. Excellent tutor!
Fred, 12 lessons with James
absolutely unacceptable attitude
Shocked to see all the positive reviews. This isn't about his teaching style rather it's about the way James handled scheduling a first lesson. Apparently he only works through zoom and doesn't use Wyzant, the very platform we found him on. In the email, he said I will send you zoom link without mentioning that make sure you only log in through zoom. I guess he doesn't realize that when we schedule a tutoring session through wyzant, they also send a link to join the session and daily reminders with the same link to log in. So my son logged in through email link and apparently James logges in through his private zoom. After 3 min James wrote that he is going to wait another 5 min and charge me cancellation fee, to which I told him that my kid logged in a minute earlier and waiting for the session. Instead of logging in, he cancelled the session and charged a cancellation fee! No where in his emails it said he must log in through my private zoom link, I actually checked all his emails. So instead of actually admitting that there was clearly a misunderstanding, he very rudely told me that I should take it up with Wyzant and never contact him again! Hmmm, wonder if he really thought after all the miscommunication, I would actually find him a good match? Also he went ahead and scheduled my son for many many lessons even before we had a first lesson with him. I founded it very unprofessional, odd and desperate? I never gave him a permission to book follow up lessons without having a first lesson and seeing if he is a good match. With that rude and unprofessional attitude absolutely shocked about his positive reviews. Quite shocked to see he also doesn't have a background check on file.
Christina , 1 lesson with JamesTutor responded:Sour grapes for misunderstanding clear instructions. I waited for her, sent an email to remind her about my using Zoom, and then waited some more. She even acknowledged with a "Thank you" receipt of the Zoom link? What more could I have done? J. Peters
Best Tutor
A great tutor for a high schooler struggling with writing would provide the proper guidance and practice to build their confidence and help them develop into a skilled writer.
Madhavi, 38 lessons with James
