Meet the friends of The House of Tutor. These are the members of our exclusive collaborative. As part of a team of inclusive, supportive, and talented educators, the friends below are available to assist with a range of academic challenges and interests.
Zachary Leonard
Growing up and attending university in the Upper Midwest, Zachary is quick to point out that even the coldest day in Los Angeles is warm by his standards. In an effort to escape the frigid temperatures, Zachary spent a great deal of his collegiate career indoors conducting research on the Visual system in a Cognitive Neuroscience lab and another year studying Evolutionary Biology.
After graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Psychology and minors in Neuroscience and Zoology, Zachary decided to leave the Midwest and move to Los Angeles (the weather may or may not have played a significant role in that decision).
Since moving to L.A., Zachary has spent the past few years preparing students for both the ACT and SAT. Employing anecdotes, analogies, and alliterations, he focuses on helping students speak the language of the test. He relishes every incredulous “That’s it?” when a student successfully answers a question they initially thought was beyond their abilities.
When he’s not tutoring, Zachary enjoys writing, films, stand-up comedy, and having his loyalty tested by the ever-terrible Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team.
Donna Lazar
Donna went to university at New York University, where she double majored in Theater and Philosophy. After graduating with honors in 2005, she tutored for one of the nation’s largest test-preparation companies for three years.
Following her desire to work with students one-on-one and tailor a curriculum to their specific needs, she began working with A-List Education. At A-List, she helped students achieve their testing goals and helped A-List develop curriculum and train new tutors. After nearly three years with this fantastic company, she moved back to Los Angeles to continue her work as an educator (and be closer to family, of course).
After nine years in Los Angeles, she is excited to found The House of Tutors Los Angeles. She is proud of her collaboration with her fellow educators. With over a decade of experience tutoring for the SAT, ACT, ISEE, SSAT, GRE, and a wide range of academic subjects, Donna is a dynamic and engaging tutor, who enjoys making even the most daunting academic subjects manageable and fun.
Noah Fish
Originally from San Diego, California, Noah left the sunshine of the west coast to continue his acting career at New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. During his summers, he found a love for teaching after he founded Source 4 Studios, a summer intensive for High Schoolers, addressing the English language arts, theater, music and college preparation. This intensive also focused on college essay prep and helping students find their own voice in their writing, a skill that proves invaluable when it comes to writing personal statements and preparing for interviews.
After graduation, he continued to work at NYU as an instructor before setting out across the country (and Canada, eh?), touring with a number of theater productions. Over the past 10 years of teaching, his passion for the arts and education has cultivated in Noah an attentiveness and compassion that he brings to each student that he works with. He specializes in finding and fostering what makes each student unique (read: appealing to colleges!) Outside The House of Tutor, Noah can be found painting, playing guitar, running down Riverside Drive, and hosting puzzle games at Escape the Room NYC, helping competitive New Yorkers decipher puzzles and riddles in an attempt to problem solve their way out of challenging, fully-immersive brainteasers.
Jon Sprik
A Fulbright scholar hailing from Michigan, Jon has been tutoring and teaching in many different arenas—from the elementary school classroom to the university hall to one-on-one in your living room—for the last decade. He spent his undergraduate career studying psychology and Spanish and went on to earn a Masters of Fine Arts in Theatre.
Jon has worked with over 600 students both in and out of the classroom with wonderful success. He utilizes his out-going nature to create a fun atmosphere for the students and make progress toward their target scores. Jon also has a passion for special needs and is active in non-profit programming. When not guiding young minds to high scores, you can find Jon on the stage or big and small screens.
