History of Blue Ridge Boost

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I spent a significant amount of time teaching and helping my children learn and discovered that I greatly enjoy teaching young students. As a result, I quit my Ph.D. program in Computer Science to pursue a degree in teaching at the University of Virginia and launched Blue Ridge Boost.

During the lockdown, Maxwell and Dorina tried a variety of challenging and exciting classes from the Center for Talented Youth at John Hopkins and The Art Of Problem Solving. Still, however good the instructors were, they could not compensate for the lack of face-to-face interaction.

I founded Blue Ridge Boost in 2021 as an affordable in-person alternative to online, expensive courses for advanced students ready for challenging content. I started Blue Ridge Boost with math and coding tutoring online and in person from my home for advanced high school and college students. After graduation, in 2022, I expanded Blue Ridge Boost to offer in-person coding classes for elementary and middle school students at the Downtown office. In June 2023, after a year as an Algebra teacher at the Peabody School, I decided to focus all my attention and energy on Blue Ridge Boost. I plan to expand our course offerings in the Fall 2023 to unplugged coding for preschoolers and additional tutoring hours for college students.

Mission

Blue Ridge Boost is unique in offering affordable year-round, high-quality coding and individual math and coding education.

Coding classes teach core coding concepts and are developed and selected by experienced educators and engineers. Math classes focus on understanding and helping students become independent learners.

I envision Blue Ridge Boost as a place for bright students to thrive and achieve their potential.