Meet Aaron Cua of Accendo Learning Center in San Gabriel Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Cua.

Aaron is an experienced multi-subject teacher and tutor who established Accendo Learning Center in 2008 with the vision that quality education happens with small classes and well qualified teachers.

Much like the learning process, his journey into tutoring was filled with much trial and error before arriving at its current state. Aaron graduated from UC Irvine in 2001 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, which led him to a job at MSC Software. While at UCI, he was bitten by the tutoring bug when he took a summer job at a learning center. It was there that he realized teaching was his true calling- when MSC laid him off, he saw it as an opportunity to pursue what he truly wanted to do.

After earning his coveted California Teaching Credential at Cal State LA, Aaron took his first teaching job as a Secondary Level Math Teacher with the LA Unified School District. Later, he took positions at West High School in Torrance and Alhambra High School. All in all, he spent 5 years in the public school system where he became frustrated with the flawed teaching structure- too many students were enrolled per class and the teachers were extremely underpaid even while the quality of their instruction could not be held accountable. But instead of becoming fully discouraged from teaching, Aaron sought a different avenue- tutoring.

For six to eight months, Aaron went from house to house as a private tutor with students he found by placing an ad in a local newspaper. The number of his students rapidly grew until he realized he gained enough to open his own tutoring center. And thus, Accendo Learning Center was born.

The mission of Accendo is to provide a first-rate education through small class sizes and quality teachers. It has lived up to that standard still today. Accendo is now a full-service learning center catering not only to students in the public and private school system but also to homeschooled students seeking academic enrichment. Its students consistently see improvement in their grades and test scores, proving that small classes and quality teachers are the key to maximizing student potential and equipping them for the skills they need for college and beyond.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth ride. The first couple of years was a struggle just to stay afloat. Competition is heavy in our area when it comes to the tutoring business. We are, however, very different from our competition. They generally attract A-students who are already doing well, but want to get ahead in subjects they will take the following year or want to do test preparation. This allows them to hold larger classes (between 12 – 20 students) and use their own curriculum. We work with students on what they are doing at school and really do tutoring by definition and keep our group sessions small (3 students). This allows for a lower price point than 1-on-1 tutoring, which can get expensive, usually upwards of $50 per hour. Consequently, we generally attract students who are struggling in school and need to raise their grades. It took parents and students a while to catch on to what we were doing. From 2010 to 2015, we experienced significant growth, averaging approximately a 35% increase in revenue from year to year. In 2016, we experienced a substantial dip in business. We still don’t know what the reasons are exactly. One possibility is the emergence of websites such as Wyzant.com, which connects freelance tutors to students or parents looking for tutoring. The way we would differentiate ourselves from these websites is the quality of our tutors and the screening process we take them through to ensure that they are teachers who are knowledgeable in their subject content and who have a heart and passion for education.

We are also different in that we can offer tutoring in small group settings (online or at our facility) where students and parents can still get a quality tutoring service at a more affordable rate. This year, we are opening up our services to offer online tutoring, in-home tutoring, and reaching out to service the Homeschool Community. 2017 is already looking much better than 2016, but we are going to continue to work and innovate to get back and stay on that upward trend.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Accendo Learning Center – what should we know?
Accendo Learning Center is a quality education facility located in Alhambra, CA providing tutoring services for public and private school students, as well as homeschool students, from Elementary School through High School and up. We cover a variety of core subjects through one-on-one and small group tutoring, and provide Test Prep for the SAT, ACT, ISEE, and more. Our tutoring services are available online, in-home, or at Accendo Learning Center. Specifically, for homeschool students, we also offer Subject Courses which are held at Accendo Learning Center and carry a maximum of 8 students per class. An accredited on-line curriculum is used in conjunction with live teacher instruction, resulting in students receiving more comprehensive lessons and gaining a deeper understanding of concepts. Our specialty is in the higher level high school math subjects, AP Sciences, and SAT Preparation, though we have gotten rave reviews about our humanities subjects as well. As a service oriented business, we are most proud of the students we have been able to help bring academic improvement and self confidence to and the parents and families we have been able to bring hope and satisfaction to. We have helped students raise their grade from an F to as high as an A by the end of the school year. We have helped students in danger of repeating a Math class to excelling in it. We have helped students raise their SAT scores significantly enough to help them get accepted to a prestigious university. We have helped high school seniors in danger of failing a class, not graduating, and having their college acceptance revoked to having a B by the end of their final semester. What sets us apart from others is our conviction that the best learning environment is in small class settings with well qualified instructors who have a heart and passion for teaching. And with that same spirit, we compensate our staff very well, significantly better than most tutoring centers, because we believe that people who feel they are properly compensated also produce their best work. Even in an industry where the turnover rate is very high, our part time staff will stay with us for multiple years.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Business/Marketing Consultant: Robert Fukui – i61 Business Development Network

Contact Info:

• Address: 425 S. Garfield Ave.,
  Alhambra, CA 91801
• Website: www.accendolearning.com
• Phone: 626-673-5456
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accendolearningcenter/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AccendoLearning/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/accendolearning
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/accendo-learning-center-alhambra

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.