About
SmartPrep Colorado has been working with junior high and high school students throughout the Pikes Peak Region since 2008, with three goals in mind.
Student Achievement
Our top priority is helping students achieve their academic goals
Supporting Local Teachers
Teaching is a wonderful profession, but many teachers struggle to make ends meet, use their own money to purchase supplies for their classes, and work side gigs during breaks and summers. As a locally-owned company, we primarily employ full- and part-time teachers who work right here in our local districts.
Increasing District
Test Scores
Improving a student’s scores on National Exams is great for that individual student. Raising test scores for an entire class and an entire school affects federal funding, school rankings, and even property values. SmartPrep Colorado’s school-based SAT & ACT Prep Classes raise enough student scores to bring up a school’s average scores in state and national exams.
Our Teachers
SmartPrep Colorado was founded by teachers and primarily employs teachers who are still working as full- or part-time teachers within Colorado Springs and the surrounding school districts. Our tutors know the schools and know many of our students’ teachers, and those personal relationships help us seamlessly integrate tutoring into classroom goals.
Leslie Rutberg
Educator, Tutor, Owner and Operator
Leslie began teaching English in 1996. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in secondary English Education from Northern Arizona University and her Master in Teaching from Colorado College. She has been tutoring students in English, English as a Second Language, Advanced Placement, SAT/ACT, and honors curriculum since 1997. She has been teaching this SAT course since 2006 and ACT since 2007. She started Smart Prep Colorado in an effort to expand these courses across the city and help students earn the scores they deserve so they can get into the college of their choice.
Janie Mueller
Science, SAT & ACT Prep
Janie Mueller is in her 28th year of teaching. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Colorado State University and her Masters in Exercise Science from Chapman University. She has been tutoring science for a as many years as she has been teaching and has been tutoring SAT (in math) and ACT in science for three years.
“I work with students on the ACT because I saw that our students at Cheyenne always did worse on the science section than any of the other three [sections], on average. This made me feel that I had to learn about this [ACT]. Now I have looked at how the test is made and the types of questions they put on science. Really, one must be able to read and analyze data to do well on the science portion. Advice to students: keep reading — read all you can put your hands on. Nothing replaces the ability to read well and to comprehend what you read!”
Nick Gagliardi
Math, SAT & ACT Prep
Nick Galiardi has been teaching at the High School level for 17 years. He has tutored and taught in the discipline of mathematics since 1993 when he began my math career as a math tutor at the University of Southern Colorado Math Lab. Nick earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Sothern Colorado and his Masters of Arts in Education Administration from the University of Phoenix. He recently began tutoring SAT and ACT prep; but, has been helping students prepare for these national exams since he started in education. He is currently the Co-Chair of the Cheyenne Mountain High School Mathematics Department and the Head wrestling coach at Cheyenne Mountain High School.
Mykel Donnelly
English, SAT & ACT Prep
Mykel Donnelly has been teaching English for 12 years. She has been highly involved in writing English, Literacy, and ACT preparatory curriculum for School District 11. Mykel earned a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Teaching Writing from Humboldt State University in northern California. She taught for a few years before earning an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction and a Colorado State Principal License from the University of Phoenix. Mykel has been a Master Teacher for two years and a Literary Resource teacher for one year. Mykel currently holds a professional educator licenses with ELL endorsements in California and Colorado. She is teaching junior high English at Galileo School of Math and Science in District 11 as well as teaching graduate level courses in writing and education instruction at the University of Phoenix.