About

Hi! I’m Jay. I started teaching in elementary school, where multi-grade Montessori classrooms encouraged me to help my classmates while learning myself. I started freelance tutoring in high school and continued to do so while studying math and geology at the College of Charleston. Now that I’ve graduated, I’m excited to reach even more students.

Credentials: 7+ years tutoring experience, B.S. in Mathematics (Pure Math) / Minor in Geology from the College of Charleston, National Merit Scholar, Member of Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Gamma Epsilon, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Recipient of the Ewa Wojcicka Award (“Jay also finds joy in mathematics and is able to convey that to students, which is what makes [them] such a good tutor. [Jay] was an obvious choice to be this year’s recipient.” -Alex Kasman.)

In 2021, I coauthored the paper “The Tyrant Lizard King, Queen and Emperor: Multiple Lines of Morphological and Stratigraphic Evidence Support Subtle Evolution and Probable Speciation Within the North American Genus Tyrannosaurus” with Gregory S. Paul and W. Scott Persons IV, which was published in Evolutionary Biology. The paper posits that the the current designation “T.rex” should really be broken into 3 separate species: T.rex, T. regina, and T.imperator. I did all the statistical analysis for the paper, which was both fun and challenging. It caused quite a stir in the scientific community! Read more about it here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/944606

What I Teach: elementary through grad school Math (course-based and enrichment / exploration), Writing, Study Skills, Test Prep.

Read more about me:

Photo by Mike Ledford.

Testimonials

“Jay is the person you need for expertise in math tutoring. Patient, caring and kind personality comes naturally. Most impressive is the way Jay engages students and develops relationships. The proof is in the results as our son finished with a 93 in math after not doing much better than 85 most semesters. Jay is the Way!!!” -Jim Torykian

“I highly recommend Jay Van Raalte for math tutoring … [Jay] has tutored both my middle school and high school sons in math for over a year … [Jay] is enthusiastic about the subject and has helped them immensely when it comes to understanding math concepts.” -Marianne Fiutem

Robert Mignone has taught mathematics for 50 years, 40 of them at the College of Charleston, and he has this to say about student Jay Van Raalte: “[Jay is] the best mathematics student I have ever had.” – Award-Winning Math Major is a Real Rock Star, The College Today.

Contact/Schedule

Contact me at jvrgrom@gmail.com or 843-442-1808 with any questions, or book a session using the calendar below. If none of the listed times work for you, feel free to reach out directly. The booking calendar closes a day in advance, so if you’re looking for a lesson in the next 24 hours, reach out directly – I can probably fit you in!

I do most of my lessons by Zoom. When you book a session using this calendar, I’ll email you a recurring Zoom link we can use each time we meet. If Zoom doesn’t work for you, reach out directly to discuss in-person or other options.

Cancellation/Late Policy: I usually ask for 24 hours notice when cancelling a session. I charge a 50% cancellation fee for sessions cancelled within 24 hours, and a 100% cancellation fee for no-shows. If some kind of emergency comes up unexpectedly, let me know and we’ll figure it out. Sessions that start late due to student tardiness must be billed as full sessions, as I am unable to refill it.

Please note that in person sessions may be recorded for non-commercial purposes.

www.jayvanraalte.com