The Rutledge Learning Academy was founded in 2000 to provide summer mathematics enrichment to the students of Bucks County. The students who were calling for private tutoring were asking for more hours than could be provided in a one-on-one setting. It was after the summer of 1999 that I, Brian Rutledge, decided to offer mathematics enrichment courses in pre-algebra, algebra one, and algebra two. It has long been my belief that while algebra one is not the most difficult of the math courses, it is by far the most important foundational piece to develop in order to promote long-term success in mathematics.

In 2002, a geometry course was added for the first time. This course has been especially popular, largely for two reasons. First, geometry is a subject that accounts for approximately thirty percent of the prompts on the SAT. I tell my students that while geometry might not be especially interesting to them, or their potential future career choice, it is a money class, as their success in that class will contribute directly to their success on the SAT. The other reason this class has been especially popular is due to the different nature of this particular study of mathematics. Several students who are otherwise good math students have struggled over the years. Parents who knew of this tendency have registered their children for the Rutledge Learning Academy geometry course to provide an early advantage in their child’s studies. The pre-calculus class, taught by Laurie Quattrone, was added in the summer of 2005.

The other courses to be added were the test preparation courses – for the SAT and the SSAT. Since my start in the classroom in 1995, students and parents were frequently making requests for test preparation tutoring. The families that I have worked with in this regard have been very pleased with the results that my techniques have provided for their students. The greatest compliment that I have received due to my work with standardized test preparation has been continued referrals to other students. In order to best meet the needs of as many students as possible, I began to offer the test preparation courses through the Rutledge Learning Academy.

Now, these courses are available not only during the summer offerings, but the SAT course has also been offered directly at Archbishop Ryan High School, and the Solebury School. The SSAT course has been offered previously through the summer program, but has also been offered to groups of students each fall from the Buckingham Friends School.