The Learning Never Stops

Great teachers beget great teachers. Just ask Todd Crabtree, director of the new Sylvan Learning Center, recently opened in San Marino.

Growing up as the youngest of four in Placentia, Todd lost his mother in the fifth grade, and found himself lost and adrift in school. His teacher swept him up, and set him on the road to an eventual teaching career of his own. Todd was actually the first in his family to even graduate from high school, and he eventually took his love of learning and teaching far beyond his little Orange County town.

He served in the Marines as a gunnery sergeant working in diplomatic security. It was as a Marine where Todd was once again inspired to pursue his education, this time by a senior office in the Corps. Todd enrolled at Cal State Fullerton, and worked as a SAT instructor. He soon realized he was not only good at it, but really enjoyed it. He went on to work for Kaplan, one of the country’s largest Educational companies, running their LA SCORE Educational Centers, for eight years.

In 2006, Todd purchased his first Sylvan learning center, eventually owning four—two in the South Bay, another in Covina and the newest one in San Marino. There are over 800 Sylvan Learning Centers worldwide.

Sylvan learning centers emphasize personalized instruction, with each teacher never having more than three students. There is a program for pre-kindergarten students, all the way up through high school.

“We think of our classes as enrichment programs, for those students wanting to attend schools like Princeton and Stanford,” said Todd. “Often times what public schools offer is simply not enough. Learning should be personal. Those schools can be factories, and we’re not a factory. The students are never in a group situation.”

“Fifty percent of our students are students who require personalized teaching for whatever reason,” he said. “Athletes, for example, who need to keep up with classes, while they’re training.”

The curriculum is constantly updated and adaptive to reflect teaching trends, such as California’s new Common Core standards, for example.

The school also offers a summer camp program as well as intensive SAT courses.

And who knows how many of those students will eventually be teaching other students to become teachers?

Sylvan Learning Center San Marino is at 2920 Huntington Drive, San Marino. (626) 544-5109. www.tutoring.sylvanlearning.com