Now accepting new students · Tacoma, Seattle, & online
Learn how you learn.
Then make it stick.
One-on-one executive function coaching and tutoring for middle school, high school, and college students, with a teacher who believes your potential is not fixed.
Services
Support is tailored to the student, and often starts with the skills that sit underneath the grades.
Executive function coaching
Planning, prioritizing, starting tasks, managing time, and staying organized, with systems built around how each student actually works.
Subject tutoring
Elementary and middle school in most subjects. High school English, history, and social sciences, including AP and IB courses.
Writing & study skills
Reading strategies, note-taking, essay structure, and how to prepare for tests so effort turns into results.
College transition
Applying to college and preparing for the shift to university-level independence and workload.
Arabic language
Instruction for students and adult learners of Arabic.
Adult learners
Coaching for graduate students and adults returning to school who want sturdier habits and a clear plan.
How it works
Sessions balance encouragement with accountability, and teach students to think about how and why they learn.
Free intro call. We talk through goals, challenges, and what has and hasn’t worked so far.
Find strengths and friction points. We identify what is getting in the way and what the student already does well.
Build routines together. Weekly sessions combine real coursework with skill-building, so strategies are practiced on actual assignments.
Hand over the controls. The goal is a student who no longer needs the coach.
About Sam
Samuel Kigar is an associate professor of religion at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. He has taught students from kindergarten through college, as well as adult learners, and his greatest passion as a teacher is identifying and developing students’ hidden strengths.
In 2025 he received the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence, the highest honor the university gives its faculty. Years of work as an academic advisor shaped his approach as an executive function coach, and his methods are informed by research on learning differences.
Sam is also a parent of two school-age kids, so he knows the homework-night struggle from both sides of the table.
At a glance
- Associate Professor, University of Puget Sound
- BA Reed College; MA and PhD, Duke University
- Tutor with Northwest Educational Services
- Passionate Arabic student and teacher
- In person in Tacoma, or online
Let”s talk
Tell me a little about your student and what you’re hoping for. The first conversation is free and there’s no commitment.
