Lemon Tree Learning

One of the best ways to get your 7th and 8th graders invested in the high school placement process is attending open houses and visiting the schools in person.

Congrats to our student S who fell in love with Xaverian after attending an open house this Fall. She quickly shifted gears to the TACHS and wound up scoring in the top 1% nationally and getting an offer to her top choice school!

This is my favorite time of year as we find out about all the high school acceptances!

Brooklyn Tech, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Latin, and Beacon

Horace Mann, Packer, Poly Prep, Trevor, Hewitt, Grace Church, Brooklyn Friends, Berkeley Carroll, Birch, LREI, Friends Seminary, Birch, Columbia Prep, Browning, Dwight, Xavier, Loyola, and Browning.

We're so proud!

More SAT diagnostic results as we circle the famous March testing date!

Thrilled for our student, V.C. who is just 10 points short of the 1500s mark!

Also, huge congrats to C.C. who jumped 200 points in just 3 months!

More diagnostics scores rolling in that are inspiration worthy!

Congrats to J.Z. for your recent 1520 on your College Board practice SAT.

While that is cause for celebration in and of itself, it's important to note that this is a 230 point jump from where we started.

I also want to normalize score fluctuation - JZ's scores fluctuated a bit in the early phases or prep, before seeing steady progress, and this is normal! Pulling the plug and choosing test optional schools at the first sign of struggle is often stopping students before they've had the opportunity to make real breakthroughs. Testing is both an academic and a mental game and requires stamina, thoughtful work, and time spent addressing both sides of the equation.

Of course every student is different, and score fluctuation requires careful attention and good communication, but seeing some stagnancy at the start of prep does not mean your student doesn't have the potential to break through with a little more time!

Private School Acceptances are rolling in! So proud of our kids for getting offers from Packer, Poly Prep, Friends Seminary, Brooklyn Friends, and Berkeley Carroll to name a few.

If you're struggling to know who to say "yes" to, reach out to families for 1st hand accounts, tour schools, and pay attention to the students you see, the values the school speaks about, and don't be afraid of also using your gut to see which *feels* like the best fit!

Registration for Final Winter Group Diagnostic -

Registration for Final Winter Group Diagnostic At this time, this will be our last group test offering until June, so please let us know if you’re interested in additional dates and we’d be happy to organize based on enough demand.

More wins from our recent diagnostic! Clearly chilly NYC temps don't cause brain freeze.

Congrats to M.N. and O.T. on increasing your scaled SHSAT scores almost 70 points! I love seeing that new math content come to the table when it counts.

Just finished a round of particularly strong group diagnostic tests this weekend and the results are warming my heart despite this arctic blast we've been enduring!

Congrats to M.L. for her 100 point leap in ELA on her SATs.

Congrats to D.R. for his 220 point jump in SATs in about 2 months.

Congrats to V.B. for her 133 scaled point leap on her SHSAT work.

Congrats to J.Z. for breaking that 1400s threshold on his SATs this past weekend.

We had a great time connecting with the local community at the Booker T Washington tutor fair last night!

I’m always grateful to add clarity to the SHSAT conversation. So many parents were surprised to learn the test is above grade level and planned on stating prep summer before 8th grade. The test has so much additional content to learn, that this timeline often leads to cramming and stress. If you can, start now!

Congrats to our student, D, on his 3/3 acceptance rate to St. John's, Xavier, and Fordham High School.

This season can feel like a waiting game, and it's always a welcome relief to hear from the Catholic High Schools in January! Next up, public and private admissions results in just 6 weeks.

Hang in there!

Congrats to our SAT student, N, who scored a 1560 on his most recent (and final) SAT!

760 on the ELA and an 800 on the math!

It's been a busy start to 2026, and while we've been celebrating our student's victories behind the scenes, I wanted to share a few highlights!

Congrats to our high school placement student, N, who focused on the TACHS last Spring and just got offers from her top choice schools, Notre Dame and St Vincent Ferrer! And both schools offered her a scholarship!

There's a lot of paths to success, and I really respected this family's clear focus. For some families it makes the most sense to cast a wide net, and for other's to laser focus on their top choice schools. In both situations, we approach test prep with the same thoroughness!