Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! I have a teaching credential (you can look me up under Kenneth Prola at https://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/lookup)(https://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/lookup), and I’ve taught at public high schools in San Francisco and Santa Cruz. I’ve taught everything from 6th grade to AP Calculus BC!

I’ve been teaching and tutoring since graduating from UC Berkeley in 2004 (minus a three-year stint in the Peace Corps in Belize). So as of 2025, I’ve been in the game for 18 years!

I was a National Merit Scholar and a Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar at UC Berkeley where I majored in Pure Mathematics (geared towards theory and teaching, as opposed to Applied Mathematics, which is geared towards various industries). I got my teaching credential from San Francisco State in 2012.

For middle and high school students, yes! I tutor physics, chemistry, and biology. I also help students prepare for standardized tests, including the SAT, ACT, GRE, CBEST, CSET, and exams for trade and professional schools. I’ve also helped numerous students with college essay writing. For college students, I generally stick with math. I’ve even tutored people in Rubik's Cube solving and backgammon (I won my bracket of the World Championships of Backgammon in Monaco in 2015!).

Both work well! Online teaching got a bad rap during the pandemic because a lot of teachers didn’t know how to do it well. The majority of the problems of online classroom learning stemmed from virtual classroom management issues and technology issues. One-on-one tutoring avoids classroom management issues by allowing students to get their questions answered and have real time check-ins on understanding. I’ve been utilizing the technology of online tutoring since 2020 and am very comfortable and confident with it. I have a graphic design tablet and use Zoom’s annotated screen sharing feature to pull up anything we need from the internet, pictures of the student’s work, etc. I can then write over the screen while we discuss the material. Having said this, if a student is young or has ADHD, I would still recommend in-person tutoring to help them focus. I tutor all of my in-person students at my sunny garden table during daylight hours.

I tutor Monday through Thursday, 4–9 pm Pacific Time. I offer 50-min sessions starting at 10 minutes after the hour (4:10–5 pm, for example).

Venmo is the most user friendly platform for looking back over our payment history, but PayPal and Zelle also work. I also accept cash for in-person students. When you make a payment, I ask that you put the student’s name and the date of the session in the memo line. So “Audrey, April 10th” for example. I ask for payment at the time of booking for new students, and before the next session for returning weekly students.

I ask students to give me 24 hours notice for a cancellation. I do this so that I have time to set my schedule for the day, offer the spot to other students on my waitlist, and coordinate child care with my wife (we just had a baby boy at the end of 2024!). I require full payment for same-day cancellations.

While the majority of my students are one-on-one, I have tutored small groups of friends (usually 2 or 3) taking the same class. Some find it a great way to save money and form a study group.

Email me at santacruzmathmagician@gmail.com (mailto:santacruzmathmagician@gmail.com)and we will go from there!