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More Testimonials

"Jonathan is a detail-oriented, compassionate, and professional educator, who has worked with a number of my middle school students at Crossroads, who are struggling with academic fluency and/or poor executive functioning. Students are proud of the work they complete with him, and in the end, they are independent learners." 

— Michelle Merson

“A developed work ethic, a sharp intellect, and an uncompromising integrity: that described Jonathan in high school. A decade after he graduated, Jonathan joined the Crossroads faculty and became a colleague. Here too he developed a reputation for both quality and caring. I am privileged to know him.”

— Tom Laichas 

"When my parents hired Jonathan to work with me on my college application essays, I was skeptical, to say the least. I didn't think I needed much help, as I was a pretty strong writer to begin with, but after reviewing my rough draft, Jonathan politely told me that the topic I had chosen would not serve me well, and he explained why. Jonathan convinced me to do a brainstorming session with him, and through that process, I came up with a much better topic that I would never have considered writing about on my own. With Jonathan's guidance, I ended up writing an essay that not only got me into some of my top choice schools, but also got me a scholarship that I was not expecting. I'm very glad that I listened to him."

— Jordan K.

"We hired Jon as the college advisor for my son, David, when David was in 11th grade, after being very unhappy with both the school advisor and another independent advisor. Throughout the college process, Jon walked us through each step. After getting to know David (his personality, interests, extra curricular activities, grades and test scores) Jon helped my son create his "college list," advised him on what classes and activities would be most beneficial for his college application, reviewed and helped David prepare for his college applications (including his resume and school-specific essays), provided substantial help on my son's personal essay and even advised my son on how to increase his chances on getting accepted to the school of his choice after being wait-listed (which he did and which is where he is now a freshman). I strongly believe that without Jon's help, we would not have known all the choices available to David nor would David have gotten into as many schools as he did. David is a good student but not a top student. He has many areas of interest but did not have one interest that stood out among the rest. With Jon's help, David got into 7 out of the 9 universities he applied to. I credit this to Jon understanding which schools David would and would not get into and his helping my son craft the best application and essay possible. Jon believed that David had many fine choices available to him when we felt the other advisor did not. He also did not provide us with a cookie-cutter list of activities or college choices as we felt the other advisors did. I cannot recommend Jon highly enough. He reduced the typical college-anxiety that we, as parents, and David were going through. He kept David on a reasonable timeline so that David could handle the time-consuming process of applying to numerous universities. His knowledge, both of colleges/universities as well as the application process, is vast. We have already started Jon working with our second son who is just entering 11th grade and have recommended Jon to anyone who asks."

— Martine Shahar

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