Our Story
We started Principia…
with our daughter in mind. She wasn’t born yet, but we’d already heard from friends in the DC metro area how difficult it’d been to find good academic support. There were plenty of options, it seemed, but few that offered everything a parent could want.
Our goal was to provide this for parents: a single place where they could build long-term relationships with tutors and admissions consultants while exploring their students’ intellectual curiosity, building confidence, and maximizing potential. Along the way, when we were faced with tough decisions, we asked ourselves a simple question: is this what we would want for our daughter?
The answer—at least for the hundreds of families we’ve supported over the years—is a resounding yes. It starts with our team of amazing, devoted teachers—we always start by looking for energy, empathy, and excellent communication, and it’s what our parents often cite when sharing their appreciation. We’re proud to say that we’re both a family and a team, and our educational consultants are looking forward to working with your student over the long term.
Now, with nearly 40 instructors and students across the country and abroad, we still bring this hyperlocal mentality to each student, learning not just about their school, teachers, and curriculum, but also their families, communities, and lives. It’s, to us, the most rewarding aspect of our work—sharing in our students’ experiences, offering mentorship, and supporting them on their path to success.
With love and lots of erasable pens,
Oliver and Elaina
Our Community Impact
We believe in the power of community.
At Principia, we are invested in giving back, partnering with local and national organizations that reflect our company values. Over the past five years, we’ve worked to support unhoused families through Homestretch, restored native species at Daniel’s Run Elementary through environmental nonprofit Lands and Waters, put together meal packs for subsidized student lunches at Food for Others, wrote letters to senior citizens for Love for Our Elders, and stuffed holiday stockings for soldiers through Soldier’s Angels. Every quarter, we look forward to stepping away from our desks to play a small part in addressing the issues that mean the most to us as a company.
Beyond our causes, we also donate to our community in other ways, supporting the McLean Community Center for McLean Day, the Rotary Club for Viva Vienna, and the Fairfax County Police Association for their youth programs. We also contribute to our local schools, including the Langley Band Association, Kent Gardens Elementary, and McLean High School’s Highlander Magazine.
Our Partners:
What Makes Us Different
One-Stop Shop
The phrase “one-stop shop” is overdone, perhaps, but that’s exactly what we are — a family-owned education group of tutors and consultants dedicated to providing our families with comprehensive educational support.
That means you can come to us for reading/writing support in 5th grade, come back for TJ prep and private school admissions in 8th, continue on during high school for SAT and academic support (remotely, if you’re off to boarding school), and then work with one of our trained college counselors for your application essays.
There’s nothing more rewarding for us than to see students through their academic journey, and we’re grateful to have helped hundreds of students achieve their goals.
Personal Attention + Mentorship
When we book 1:1 sessions with students, we mean what we say — one student, one instructor. We’re focused on our students throughout, tracking learning styles, academic and extracurricular interests, and overall improvement (we always start our sessions by checking grades and test scores). We also follow up each session with feedback which will be sent directly to parents.
Above all, we care about student-instructor chemistry, which is the key to improvement and mentorship. It’s why we always book one session first to ensure it’s a good match for both sides.
Full-Time Instructors + Staff
No revolving door here — unlike other tutoring centers, we don’t hire seasonal instructors (i.e. high school and college students). All of our instructors have extensive teaching experience and are trained to align with Principia’s teaching and communication standards; we also hire full-time instructors and curriculum designers to ensure we can provide consistency and up-to-date curriculums for our students. Our instructors often work with the same student from Algebra 1 all the way through multivariable calculus, for example, and we’ve found it’s incredibly effective and efficient to be able to offer that consistency.
Flexibility + Ease
Some education companies seem to expect a Faustian bargain (500 hours?!) to lock you in for the long-term. Not Principia — once your account is set up with us, we’ll bill your card at the end of the month for that month’s session, and you can track all invoices through your account.
Results-Oriented
We're proud of our track record — our academic students routinely raise their grades a full letter grade, our test prep students improve an average of 270+ points on the SAT and 5+ points on the ACT, and over 90% of our college consulting students are accepted to one of their top three choices. The proof? We’ve grown entirely through word-of-mouth, and continue to rely on happy parents and students to grow our business organically.