Test Prep

Great Expectations offers test preparation services that are customized to your student. Our tutors are experienced in working with a variety of students including those who have ADHD, executive functioning needs and who receive extra time on tests.

College Admission Tests

  • SAT
  • ACT

SAT Subject Tests

  • Literature/English
  • Math
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • French

Independent School Exams

  • ISEE
  • SSAT
  • HSPT (Catholic High School Entrance Exam)
  • ERB

Subject Tutoring

Great Expectations offers subject tutoring in a variety of subjects. Our tutors have worked with students as young as 8 years old through graduating high school seniors. We currently offer subject tutoring in the following disciplines:

English (all levels)

  • Reading/Literature
  • Writing

Math

  • Elementary and Middle School
  • Algebra I
  • Geometry
  • Algebra II

History (all levels)

  • World History
  • U.S. History

French (all levels)

  • French 1
  • French 2
  • French 3
  • AP French

Remote/Hybrid Learning Assistance

This year, and practically overnight, our children’s lives (and ours along with them) were upended as students were sent home to engage in remote learning. With many school systems contemplating remote learning for the upcoming school year, and with most others having students return to in-person classes only a few days each week, many parents again find themselves trying to balance their own work-from-home needs with trying to remember things like the Pythagorean theorem as they help their children learn from home. By assisting your students with their studies on those days that they are learning from home, Great Expectations can help you concentrate on your work. Leave the teaching to us. You do your job and let us do ours. Remote/hybrid learning assistance is currently available for the following subjects seen above.

Application Essays/Personal Statements

Writing an application essay, whether for admission to an independent lower school or to the college of your dreams, can be a daunting task. Great Expectations has worked with students at all levels - - from Grades 5 through 12 - - to assist them in brainstorming and painstakingly revising their application essays/personal statements.

About Us

Founder Allison Walsh

Allison Walsh is the co-founder of Great Expectations. Allison brings more than 20 years of tutoring and test prep experience to Great Expectations, having begun her career as a subject tutor at her alma mater, The College of William and Mary. After graduating from William and Mary, Allison began working as an SAT prep classroom instructor for a local test prep company, teaching SAT prep classes at high schools throughout the South Shore. From there, she expanded into in-home tutoring for SATs, ACTs, and independent school entrance exams like the ISEE, SSAT and HSPT (also known as the Catholic High School Entrance Exam). Allison also frequently helps her test prep clients with their application essays/personal statements. With the advent of remote learning this year, Allison has also assisted students with academic subjects including middle and high school math, English, and social studies/history.


Allison understands the South Shore, its local schools and its students well, having worked with students from almost every town and middle school/high school (public and private) over the years. Allison grew up in South Weymouth and graduated from Notre Dame Academy in Hingham. She holds a B.A. from The College of William and Mary and an M.A./J.D. from Syracuse University. She is currently enrolled in the College Counseling certificate program at Rice University.


In her spare time, Allison enjoys spending time with her husband and business partner Gabe, two step-children, their dog and two cats. She is also actively involved in the community as a member of the Board Nominating and Development Committee of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts and as a sustaining member of The Junior League of Boston.

Allison Walsh & Gabe Parker

Gabe Parker brings a plethora of tutoring and teaching experiences to Great Expectations. A graduate of The College of William and Mary, Gabe has been licensed to teach in Massachusetts since 2003. During that time, he has tutored students from the third through tenth grades both at Sylvan Learning Centers in Rhode Island and privately. Gabe is a self professed “history nerd,” and history and social studies are his favorite subjects to tutor. That said, Gabe is also experienced tutoring reading, English, math and sciences through the tenth-grade level.


Gabe is currently finishing up his executive MBA through William and Mary, and uses his knowledge to handle the day-to-day business of running Great Expectations. He loves working with kids even outside of tutoring, and served for a number of years as a Little League coach. He is presently on the Board of Advisors of the South Boston Neighborhood House. Gabe resides locally with his wife and business partner, two children and their many pets. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing (especially off of Chatham, where he spent all of his childhood summers), and touring Civil War battlefields (underscoring the nerd in history nerd).

Rates & Conditions

Our rates vary depending on the length and content of the sessions and the number of students. Family discounts available for multiple students. Please call to discuss rates and scheduling a complimentary first session.

Types of Tutoring

Great Expectations is pleased to offer both in-person and remote tutoring options for our students.

In Person

Our tutors have met with students in the comfort of their own homes, at local libraries, at their boarding schools and at other mutually convenient locations for years. For in-home tutoring, we are a completely dog and cat friendly organization and would love to meet your furry companions.

Our dog Jewel

We understand that the pets sometimes want to be in the room with their student for tutoring and that’s ok too. We’re flexible like that.

We also continue to offer these in-person services during the Covid-19 pandemic with the following caveats:

  • We ask that there be a table to work at where the tutor and student can remain 6 feet apart
  • Tutors will wear masks. Students should wear a mask during the session as well.
  • Students should bring their own laptop or other device to the session. We don’t want to share devices during this unprecedented time!
  • If a student is exhibiting any Covid-19 symptoms, we ask that the session be either rescheduled or converted to a remote learning session. We will do the same if the tutor is exhibiting any symptoms.

Remote

We have all become experts at interacting remotely over the past few months. The tutors at Great Expectations are no different, and we are happy to bring our tutoring services to your student remotely through videoconferencing technologies.

Session Lengths

Our initial tutoring sessions are 60 minutes in length and are always complimentary so you can meet us, ask questions and see if we are the right fit for your student before making a commitment. Thereafter, sessions are available in 60- or 90-minute increments. Please call or email for information about rates and packages.

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