Sylvan Learning Reviews

I loved the teachers. They are so nice. They help so much and are so sweet and so much fun to have to help you and keep your kid on track. They allowed me to be a good student. I got my grades up because of the way they help you.

My youngest daughter who has ADHD and has missed school due to other medical conditions has some learning issues. We noticed when she switched from elementary school that scored on a 1-3 level to middle school with the letter grade she was having some difficulty. She passed her classes in 6th grade but Mayh average was a D. She needed more help, even with the 504 plan at school. She started Sylvan in the summer before 7th grade. This year she has made the A/B Honor Roll and has gotten an A in math this entire year. She really enjoys coming. It is great communication between the teachers every month. We have a conference just to let us know (the parents) how the students are doing. It’s been the best thing for my daughter. I love the staff. My daughter loves the staff.

Our grandson struggles in elementary school, he has no confidence he says, so we thought the best for him was get outside tutoring so we looked into Sylvan Learning. We have been very pleased so far. We know with Sylvan's help and support, our grandson will build his confidence up.

It is a good place to learn and very nice to you. It is better than doing work on Zoom or anything else. They teach you math, ELA, and more. They teach you with respect and shows empathy when you need help. So you should go to Sylvan and learn to be better.

The director said that they guaranteed a successful outcome for my student with her Math. I laughed. She asked why do you laugh. I did not believe they could improve her Math and bring my child's math up to her grade level. Well, I should have paid attention to my gut. I was overcharged for services that did not help my 11 year old. After a full year of math tutoring she is still 'bad" at math and not at her grade level. Her sessions are over, but I have a huge bill remaining. I would suggest paying for a month of service before signing thousands of dollars contract. She sold me four hours a week. I realize now that was too much time. Young people have a lot of other things going on in their lives. It soon became 1 hour a week. I overpaid and was underserved.

I am not one to bash a business and usually leave a great review when service has been exceptional. When service is bad, I rarely leave a bad review - I simply never return to the place of business, and, I let everyone in my circle of friends know how bad my experience was. This time, however, the experience has been SO horrible and SO strange, that I feel I have to speak out and warn people not to spend their money or time at this place. The director Afrah is the most unprofessional person I have ever worked with. On 4/11/25, I paid $2,700.00 for my granddaughter's tutoring. After two months of tutoring, my daughter and son-in-law had to move out of state and back home. They spoke with Afrah (the director of this center) to see if they would be able to transfer the remaining money to a Sylvan in their new home town, or get a refund of what was remaining.

I paid $50 for an assessment for my daughter, a third grader. The results showed the opposite of what I believed she needed. That same day, the sales associate—let’s not call them a professional teacher—began pushing their services. He presented two payment options and told me that if I paid in full for 52 sessions, it would be cheaper. Before agreeing, I asked what would happen if my daughter didn’t like it. He assured me she would, saying he would do everything possible to make it work. He never mentioned a refund or return policy.

Parents, beware: Sylvan Learning has failed my family — and we are not alone. I’m one of many families who paid in good faith for tutoring services only to have our local Sylvan franchise shut its doors without notice three weeks ago. We received no communication, no refund, and no plan to support our kids — not from the local franchise, and not from Sylvan’s corporate office. We’ve alerted the Boston Globe and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office. If this happened to you too, speak up. Parents deserve transparency and accountability — especially when our children’s learning is on the line.

I used to be a big supporter of this Sylvan center Brookline because of the amazing director and teachers. Unfortunately, something has seriously changed with the management. For the last three weeks, there have been no classes, despite the fact that I already paid. I’ve received no communication or explanation from the owner. I even tried contacting Sylvan HQ and haven’t heard anything back. At this point, I have no idea where my money went, and I’ve been left in the dark. This is not the level of professionalism or service I expected from a company like Sylvan. Parents deserve better. Transparency and communication matter.

Sylvan is conveniently located to us. The rep was very friendly and I felt like they really know what they're doing. You could tell that they cared about the kids that go there and really are making an effort to improve their academics. For us, we focus on reading. It's usually a three to one ratio with an instructor. It's more tablet-based with the assistant of an instructor.

We’re working with Sylvan and focusing for SAT prep. I'm using them because it's a part of our company benefit. But communication-wise, I like the one I used before. My son just started for summer, so we haven't taken the next testing, but the goal is to take the test by the end of August.

Since going to Sylvan Learning, it has been a great improvement for my child, and it was really fast. At first, my child was much more motivated. But when the school year begins to end, they're tired of everything. But, Sylvan is doing a great job. They get to know each of the kids there and they get involved in what they need. I really enjoyed it. I felt it was a safe place for my child.

We're super satisfied with our experience using Sylvan. They were a great help and they have good people. We decided to go with them because of their name and reputation. I also had used them many years ago for SAT prep. Now, we did language and math at first for our daughter, and then switched to only math when she was caught up with language. We saw massive improvements mostly due to confidence. The added extra attention helped her really get a handle on everything. She did very poorly in 3rd grade in probably both, and scored non-proficient in her EOGs, which was very upsetting to her. So, we sent her there, and this past year, she passed them both.

Since joining Sylvan, there’s been a dramatic improvement with my child. She went from below grade level to right now, she’s pretty close to her grade level, in just a month. What they're doing right now is pretty on point.

I had some friends that recommended Sylvan to me. I chose them because I heard good things about them. My kids are doing reading, writing, and math, and there's a big improvement because the kids' grades went up a lot. It did help them because they weren't understanding some things in class. So, every time they got out of their Sylvan class, I would ask them what they learned then because they would go in the evening. They said it helped them to be more focused in school. Communication with Sylvan is awesome. They have a really great director that runs the one in Tacoma. That's the one we go to, and the people there all have really good communication with me.

Our experience with Sylvan was wonderful. It was hands-over-foot better than the other program that I interviewed with. Regarding their customer service, the way the rep explained the delivery of the program, she was very well versed in it. I liked the way she described the evidence basis of it. The enrollment was really top-notch.

They’re in small groups, so there's more than one kiddo at the table. But it's really good one-on-one when he needs it. They do some tactile as well as some electronic work where they do little things. Then they even have games and things that they do at the table itself. It's just been wonderful. I've seen the improvement in him and his confidence as well.  I would definitely recommend Sylvan. It's another avenue that helps my child out in a different way and from a different person. I also love their staff.

I'm a teacher. One of my students started going to Sylvan, and I thought it would be great for my son. I enrolled him and I've seen his confidence build. He looks forward to going. His teachers have seen an improvement. He's gone up a grade level and a half since he started. I'm really happy with our experience. However, it's expensive. But their services are worth it. They also communicate with us well. Also, my son recently had a CSB meeting, and they came to his meeting and supported that. I don't know if they normally do that, but if they don't, I think that's something great for them to add, or just regular conferences with the actual classroom teacher. It would also be nice if they provided more financial aid for single moms.

I've always heard good things about Sylvan Learning over the years. I reached out to them and was able to get a scholarship for my son to go, so we chose Sylvan. At the end of this month, it'll be three months since my son started going. They are focusing on math and writing. However, I don't hear from them on progress or how things are going or what they're doing. I know my son hates going, but just never had a great experience with learning. I got the short end of the stick when it came to that kind of stuff. Sylvan is still a good option for kids to go and learn certain things that they're struggling in.

Sylvan's tutors are older and more educated on what they're doing. They know different concepts on how to teach children, and they're aware that different children have different learning types. They work around the skills of the children, which I like. After COVID, a lot of people weren't doing in-person tutoring, and I know my son needs in-person. Where I live at, there’s not a lot of other programs. I hire personal people, but it's not a center or a professional atmosphere. Those were the reasons we started with Sylvan. It’s been two months that we've been with them. My son is doing primarily reading and then a little math.