Frequently Asked Questions

The hourly rate for tutoring depends on the package you buy and ranges from $45-$65/hour. The more you buy, the cheaper it gets. Visit the Pricing Page for details.

We accept all major credit and debit cards, as well as Affirm, a leading payment plan solution which allows you to buy a larger tutoring hour package and split it into monthly payments. We do not any other form of payment, including cash, checks, Paypal, Venmo, Zelle etc.

We do not offer a free trial session. However, we do have a small three hour package which is meant to be a low-cost way to try Brightfox a few times and see how you like it.

At Brightfox, you buy a package of tutoring hours. You can use those hours – or credits – on anything we offer: schoolwork tutoring in more than 30 subjects, SAT/ACT Prep, AP exams, college essay and counseling. They can also be used across siblings. Families love it because you can get help in multiple subjects, and because you can always use the hours on something (nothing will go to waste). There’s a four year expiration date.

Affirm is a popular “buy now, pay later” service you may have seen when online shopping elsewhere. We have an integration with them as well. Let’s pretend you want to buy a 60 hour package. You’ll submit some basic information to Affirm,  who will do a soft credit check – which does not affect your credit – and then will offer you three options: something like a six month, twelve month and twenty-four month payback option. We offer up to six months of 0% APR (no interest).

The scheduling is very flexible. Most subjects are available online or in-person for any of the time slots we’re open. For example, you could book Algebra 1 for 4-5, 5-6 or 6-7 on the typical Monday night. You can book the same schedule each week. Leading up to an important exam, you might book more sessions. You could do Chemistry on Saturday morning one week, and then not the next week. On vacation? Don’t book anything at all.

Sessions are either an hour or 1.5 hours long, depending on the day and time of year. During the school year, weeknights are an hour long, and weekends are 1.5. During the summer, all sessions are 1.5 hours long. You aren’t able to modify the length of a session. The last 5-10 minutes are reserved for the instructor to write a note, summarizing what happened during the session, which is sent to you instantly afterwards.

Brightfox works extremely well online. We have students from all over the country using Brightfox fully online. Our instructors use the largest tablets available to draw on the screen, and utilize our integrated curriculum to make learning easy. Your student has access to thousands of practice problems which are integrated within the session.

Generally, if you’re booking 2-3 days in advance you’ll be able to get any time you want for any subject. For many subjects, the night before, sessions are still available, although you might not get your preferred slot. In many cases, you can book the same day. If possible, book a weekly recurring session to lock in your preferred slot!

All tutoring sessions are a 2:1 ratio with the instructor alternating. It’s not a group class, it’s 1:1 with the instructor alternating back and forth between two students. For example, your student might be doing SAT Math. The instructor will work with your student for 15 minutes, teaching them 1:1. Then, we need to understand whether they truly learned the concept, so we assign them about 15 minutes of practice to measure their knowledge. During this time, the instructor rotates over to the other student, who is working on another subject entirely, like Geometry. Then the instructor will rotate back to your student. If they did well on the independent practice, we can move on to another concept. If they struggled, we can stay on that topic.

Around 20% of the time, you’ll get a 1:1 session for the same price. This is due to the unpredictable nature of scheduling, where not every seat is always full (like an airplane, sometimes there’s an empty seat next to you). We don’t offer group classes or guaranteed 1:1 sessions at this time. Our college counseling strategy meetings, where we help you apply to college, is our only 1:1 service.

You must log in to your Brightfox account and cancel by 7PM the night before the session to avoid being charged for the session.