About Us

Our Philosophy
Superb Tutors was founded first in San Diego with the aim of connecting the best tutors with students. Justin wanted to create a tutoring company that would carefully hand pick each tutor so that parents and students could rest assured that their tutor would know how to teach. 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. In kindergarten, when his teacher asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said a botanist which she said was the most unique response she ever heard from a student. Even at this age, Justin loved teaching. 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. In high school, Justin excelled, becoming the science department award recipient. His Junior year of high school he participated in the UC Davis Young Scholars program. Upon graduation from high school, Justin was admitted to several top universities, but he decided on UCSD due to their strong program in in molecular biology. While a student at UCSD, he volunteered in a molecular biology research lab at Scripps Research Institute and started the UCSD snorkel club, among other things. In June 2006, Justin graduated from UCSD's Revelle College and was also awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award in Molecular Biology for being the top student in the major. In May of 2009 Justin moved to Monterey and started Superb Tutors, Monterey and soon will start Superb Tutors, Santa Cruz.

In addition to his passion for science, Justin loves the outdoors. He is a PADI certified divemaster and has experience leading educational dive and kayak tours. He also enjoys surfing, hiking, 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 2009. 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. 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 library privileges and traveling anywhere.