About Us
Our Philosophy
Superb Tutors was founded with the aim of connecting the most appropriate tutor for each student's unique goals. Justin created a tutoring company that carefully hand picks each tutor so that parents and students could rest assured that they were in good hands and on the right track. He understood that a mastery of the subject was not enough to make a helpful tutor. A tutor must not only know their subject material and know how to explain it, but also must also serve as a mentor and help students improve their general study habits and test-taking abilities. Not only do our tutors enjoy teaching, they know how important it is to help students feel confident in their abilities. They also believe it is important to show students how the subject relates to everyday life and the real world.
How do we ensure we have the best tutors? We believe it is important to treat our tutors well. Many large companies may charge twice our rates, but often they pay the tutor only around 15% of what they are charging. In our opinion this is close to criminal, both for the client and for the tutor. Due to this fact, many of the larger companies are unable to retain their best tutors, as those tutors can often make more per hour elsewhere. At Superb Tutors, the majority of the money we charge goes directly to the tutor. Because of this, you can rest assured knowing that with Superb Tutors you are getting the best tutors for the money. On top of this, the majority of our tutors are professionally involved in the subject they teach. This is especially true of our math and science tutors, many of whom are currently working as researchers and tutor part-time because of how much they enjoy teaching and involving students in the field they are passionate about.
Our Management Team
Justin Smith
Superb Tutors was started by Justin Smith in May of 2007. Justin has been passionate about learning and teaching ever since he was young, especially in the sciences. His family recalls how at age 7, Justin used to give "nature lessons" to the other kids on his street, showing off frogs, lizards, snakes, and other animals and teaching them about biology and ecology. In high school, Justin excelled, becoming the science department award recipient and participating in the UC Davis Young Scholars program. After high school, Justin attended UC San Diego because of their strong molecular biology program. He volunteered in a molecular biology research lab at Scripps Research Institute and started the UCSD snorkel club. In June 2006, Justin graduated first in his major and received the Outstanding Achievement Award in Molecular Biology. In 2010, Justin began PhD studies in Genetics at Stanford University, in addition to growing Superb Tutors.
Despite Justin’s academic record, school has not always come easily for him. In grade school Justin was diagnosed with ADHD, but by learning effective coping mechanisms was able to learn how to do well academically. He knows personally that diagnoses such as ADHD don’t mean a student is less intelligent, but rather that they just learn differently from other students. Tutoring can also help students learn effective study habits to help overcome such challenges.
In addition to his passion for science, Justin loves the outdoors. He is a PADI certified dive-master and has experience leading educational dive tours. When he has time, he also enjoys hiking, snowboarding, traveling, and playing with his dog Ruby.
Christina Velasco
Christina joined Superb Tutors as an English Tutor in May 2008 and became Business Partner in July. Christina's experience working with NUMMI (a joint-venture between GM and Toyota in Fremont, CA) as a paralegal and later a labor representative makes her particularly adept at understanding the necessity of structure and organization to run an efficient and profitable company. Since then, Superb Tutors has expanded to the Monterey Bay Area and Davis, CA. Because of her legal and professional background, Christina was brought on to develop the business into an efficient and expandable company. In addition to working for Superb Tutors, Christina volunteers for non-profit organizations and enjoys midnight bowling, abusing her UC alumni library privileges and traveling anywhere.
