Bio

Danielle Marie Strand graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in English Literature and from Stanford University with an M.A. in education and a single-subject teaching credential in English. While at UCSC, she volunteered at traditional, charter, and continuation high schools in order to better understand the variety of educational contexts and students she would work with.  After Stanford, she began teaching 9th-11th grade English and 11th Grade Advisory at Downtown College Prep High School (DCP). For eight years she absorbed lessons from her colleagues, the lives of her incredible students, and the experience of being allowed to innovate. DCP had no official department heads, but Danielle often acted as the lead of both the English department and 11th Grade Advisory team. The school recognized this when they hired her as the Summer School Principal for their first multi-high school summer program. Danielle continued honing her directorial skills at Adventures in Writing Camp, a writing-focused summer camp, where she started as a writing teacher (3rd-8th grade) and, the following year, lead two large camps as a site administrator. Seeking more balance in her life, Danielle left classroom teaching in 2016 and quickly became a top tutor at Tutor Corps. There, she piloted their Lead Teacher & Educational Manager position, allowing her to mentor other tutors and manage complex cases.

Through these positions, Danielle has had the pleasure of working with students from a wide range of grade levels, backgrounds (cultural, religious, linguistic, socioeconomic), and with a variety of differences (dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, APD/CAPD, autism, emotional sensitivity/HSP). She also has many years of experience working with those students managing mood disorders (anxiety, depression, OCD), and who have experienced trauma. She enjoys the great variety of people with whom she gets to interact and truly loves helping every single one of her students.

Danielle started Strand Tutoring because she saw a need for excellent academic coaching and English tutoring in the South Bay. Since then, she’s had the pleasure of working with students from a variety of schools. She is most familiar with Los Gatos High School, Fisher Middle School, Leigh High School, Westmont High School, Menlo School, and La Entrada Middle School. She also has some familiarity with the rhythms and cultures of Willow Glen Middle School, Rolling Hills Middle School, Hillbrook School, Mitty High School, Bellarmine High School, The Harker School, The King’s Academy, and Junipero Serra High School.

Danielle gratefully continues to call the South Bay her home. In her downtime, she enjoys hanging out with her mini-pig, reading nonfiction, and spending time with friends and family.

Learn about Danielle’s philosophy or view her LinkedIn profile.