Founded in 1994 by our original Artful Tutor Art Edwards, Artful Tutoring is a family business that has routinely provided the flat-out best ACT and SAT prep in the area, in addition to academic tutoring and preparation for other tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.
Art Edwards
Founder & CEO
Art studied Chemical Engineering at Penn, on a National Merit Scholarship, and then later received his MBA from the University of Maryland. He has been tutoring since 1991, and decided to make it a full-time professional career in 1994. He loves classical jazz: John Coltrane, Mile Davis, and Herbie Hancock. He also enjoy science fiction, everything from the novels of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, to movies like Star Wars and Star Trek.
CERTIFICATION: Certified Tutor and Member of the National Tutoring Association. This is the oldest, the largest, and the most prestigious organization in the country dedicated to the tutoring profession.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING: ACT Certified Educator. Very few tutors have met the rigorous standards of knowledge, experience, and professionalism necessary for certification as an Educator by the ACT.
Our Mission
Our mission is to put our students’ interests and successes above everything else. We’re brainy perfectionists with years of experience both with students and with the test, and our consistent results are the evidence.
Our Business
It's important to us to be sensitive to what students and families need in a tutor. We work hard for and take pride in our results. We continue to thrive because families are happy with our work and recommend us to their neighbors and friends. We're extremely flexible-we don't ask for a commitment or a contract, and we'll meet a student just about anytime and anywhere.
Our Testimonials
We take pride in delivering world-class service to all of our students.
A Father in Oak Hill,
Virginia
"My son is an athlete and was being recruited by several Ivy League schools and needed to get a really high SAT score to be considered for admissions. I spent about 2 months calling and interviewing as many tutors as possible, both locally and nationally, and ended up selecting Artful Tutoring. I selected Artful Tutoring because Art, the owner and sole tutor, had a tremendous track record of dramatically increasing SATs and I felt his disposition and experience would work well with my son. I felt my son needed at least a 1400 SAT to ensure he got recruited by the Ivy schools. In addition, I called 2 of Art's references, who previously attended my son's school, and they both gave the strongest recommendation I've ever seen.
Art was very easy to work with and charged a very fair rate given his experience. In the end my son's score increased by over 200 pts in less than 2 months and my son's SAT score surpassed even my high expectation.
I strongly recommend Art Tutoring. He sets goals up front with parents, is very flexible, and relates very well with students. He'll motivate your child to do his/her very best!!!"
A Mother in Falls Church,
Virginia
"Thank you so very much for working with [our daughter] in June prior to her ACT retakes. You were super in being willing to do “crash” prep for her in the 10 days prior to the June test. We really appreciated you attempting to do the impossible, but you helped her improve her scores significantly!
She had a nice boost on everything that you had worked on with her! This has made the Fall much less stressful and uncertain.
Thank you again for helping in a horrible crunch situation and being flexible with some of the school end of year activities as you tried to prep her for her June ACT testing. I shared with [her guidance counselor] that you had helped her and she said we were so lucky to get you! Much Appreciation."
A Mother in Alexandria
Virginia
"Art prepped our children for the SATs and his guidance and advice helped both of them hone the skills they needed to significantly improve their SAT scores. Art also helped with some occasional subject matter tutoring and was quite effective! Both my children enjoyed working with him and appreciated how he strove to make test prep as enjoyable as possible. I would highly recommend Art to anyone looking for a tutor, SAT or otherwise, and continue to refer others to him."
A Mother in Arlington
Virginia
"Art was recommended to our family by a couple friends who had used his services for their kids. We were initially very hesitant because of the price, but after researching, we realized that Art's prices were a great value- especially since he offers one-on-one tutoring and not a classroom experience. Art spent time talking with my son about goals and went over my son's "cold" ACT and SAT scores. From there, my son decided to focus his efforts on the SAT. Art was VERY accommodating when it came to scheduling tutoring sessions. We eventually decided on a schedule where he came every two weeks for five months. He came to our house each time and spent a full two hours with my son. They went over subject material, test strategies, practice tests, homework and strategized which test dates to sign up for. In the end, my son went up 150 pts and met his score goal. We were thrilled! He really connected with my son, knew his material thoroughly, and was VERY well versed in the SAT. I highly recommend hiring Art!"
A Mother in Fairfax Station
Virginia
"One-on-one tutoring is the way to go for ACT and SAT preparation. Art comes with solid references and the experience to accurately predict what he can do for your student's scores.
Initially our daughter attended a classroom style ACT prep class through her high school. When she received her scores she felt she could improve. We didn't feel that she'd benefit from more classroom style tutoring; hence the search for a tutor began. Like all the best referrals, a friend was planning on using Art and recommended his services.
Art created a personalized tutoring plan for our daughter. He began by determining whether she'd test better on the SAT or ACT and then adjusted her plan depending on her challenges and questions. Art used multiple practice tests to gauge progress and gave her practical suggestions on test strategies plus some test-taking tricks. Our daughter was much more confident taking the ACT the second time and she saw a five point increase in her total score. Truly effective tutoring!"
A Mother in Alexandria
Virginia
"Art tutored our son for the ACT and our daughter for the SAT. They are very different students with different personalities and strengths/weaknesses. Art worked with each of them individually, tailoring his sessions to their needs. He connected well with both of them and each improved their scores and testing strategies. We recommend Art without reservation."
A Mother in Centreville
Virginia
"Art was a very experienced tutor. He tailored his plan to the student. He worked with all three of my children with wonderful results."
A Mother in South Riding
Virginia
"Art tutored my son for a few months in our home weekly for the SAT. He's prompt, knowledgeable and friendly, and my son learned a great deal from him. He explained the lessons in a way that was very relatable to my son. When my son decided to take another SAT, Art graciously came back to do a refresher session with him. He truly cares about the kids and their improvement and it shows. He is currently working with us to edit his college essays. Art has always gone above and beyond to assist my son and he has been an invaluable part of his successful higher education journey. We are so thankful for Art!!!"
A Mother in Quantico
Virginia
"I cannot say enough about Art! He truly helped my son increase his ACT and SAT scores. He was always on time, courteous and professional. My son never complained about going to tutoring and he said he really felt like he was learning a lot. Excited to see his new scores but after 6 sessions he had already broken into the 30's on his ACT."
A Father in Annandale
Virginia
"Here is another 5 star review. At the risk of being redundant, Art Edwards worked with our son to improve his math SAT score through a combination of material mastery and test-taking strategies. Our son did his part, doing practice exams and going over them when they met. We had what we thought was a realistic expectation of how much the score might improve and were pleasantly surprised when he scored higher than we'd hoped and expected. Art is able to explain the material as well as how test questions are designed in ways that our son understood and was able to apply. Both not only helped this score, but certainly will contribute in the future. Highly recommended."
A Mother in Reston
Virginia
"We used Art to tutor two of our children for both the SAT and ACT. Our kids always liked working with him as he was able to find the parts of the test where they needed help and concentrate on that. Art also taught them test taking skills that were very helpful and useful beyond the SAT. We felt his rates were very reasonable and he was always on time. We felt it was so worth it as our children's test scores improved greatly!"
A Mother in Centreville
Virginia
"We have used Art Edwards services to SAT prep all three of our high school children with great success. He came on recommendation from a friend, and we were so happy with his level of service in the test prep. The children took the SAT cold first and then we brought in Art to review the results and then he would prep once a week for eight weeks, ending right before the exam (so it was fresh). Their scores went way way up.
He gets to know the kids’ wishes and thoughts on their schools of choice and presents data and his knowledge of prepping for the schools of choice. We had him to our home and each time split the session cost with another family, which helps. He also will work around kid’s busy schedules. Flexible. He is kind and brilliant and we couldn't recommend him more. He has tutored a lot of my friend’s kids due to our referrals, and other referrals in just our large neighborhood alone. Again highly recommend!"
A Mother in Lansdowne
Virginia
"Art is very thorough and knows these tests inside out. Our daughter worked with him with great results. Highly recommend him to anyone looking for SAT/ACT tutoring."
A Mother in Alexandria
Virginia
"I can't say enough good things about Art Edwards and his SAT and ACT reviews. Art is very professional, knowledgeable and gets results. My daughter loved working with him and scored a 32 the first time she took the ACT. Many of my neighbors in Alexandria used him as well and have positive comments and results as well."
A mother from Alexandria
Virginia
"I have been spreading the word about you since 2004. Having Art appears at our dining room table once a week for tutoring was one of the best things we ever did for our two sons. Not only did they do their 'homework' for him without complaint, they also never moaned or groaned about having to sit through a tutoring session (a major miracle). My oldest son's SAT score went up 300 points after a round of tutoring, and both boys got into their first choice colleges (and are doing great!)"
A Mother in Alexandria
Virginia
"Art tutored our son for the SATs. He connected well with my son (and our 2 collies for that matter! They appreciated the treats he brought them). Art gave our son clear strategies for attacking problems/questions which significantly increased his confidence preparing for this test which causes so much anxiety for kids and has an undeniable impact on what schools they receive admission to. Listening to Art tutors our son, my husband commented that he wanted to take the test again now that he "had a strategy and knew a few tricks!" Our son needed to feel that he had done everything possible to achieve his best score possible and Art was a definite factor in that."
Finally, we're aware that, for many students, school can be boring and tedious. We want our students to look forward to our lessons, not only because they're learning a lot, but also because they feel comfortable and laugh a little.