Month: February 2016

At Infinite Edge Learning Center, located in the Tampa Palms Professional Center off Commerce Park Blvd., helping New Tampa students reach their highest potential is a family affair.

Sobi Jabbari owns the tutoring center, where his wife, Ozra, is the office manager, and son, Korosh, is one of the 15 staff members who work one-on-one with students. Sobi and Ozra also have a daughter, Farush, who is a freshman at nearby Freedom High, less than a mile from the office. The family has lived in Tampa Palms for more than 20 years.

Every member of the staff at Infinite Edge Learning Center works individually with students who are looking to get ahead — or need help catching up — in all subjects for grades kindergarten through 12, and even for college.

They also help students prepare for a variety of standardized tests, everything from the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and ACT (American College Testing) to get into college, to the GRE (Graduate Record Examination)/GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test), tests students need to get into good post-graduate schools and programs.

“We don’t prescribe to a one-size-fits-all curriculum,” says Sobi. “Here, we design a program that fits each individual student’s needs. We continually assess each child and help them improve in order to reach a higher level.”

Before he opened Infinite Edge Learning Center in 2007, Sobi says he had 30 years of teaching experience at the high school and university levels. He earned a B.S. (Bachelor of Science) degree in Mathematics & Engineering Physics from the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1986 and an M.S. (Master of Science) degree in Experimental Physics, which he earned from the University of South Florida in 1987.

Students can get assistance in a variety of subjects at Infinite Edge Learning Center, including mathematics, language development and enrichment, general science, chemistry, reading, foreign languages, AP Calculus (AB and BC), AP Chemistry and AP Physics, along with International Baccalaureate (IB) and other college-level courses. The center also offers help with language improvement for students whose first language is something other than English. The staff also can help students who are serious athletes or musicians and can’t be in school full time, because of their busy travel schedules.

“Every student has the capability to do well, but you have to find the way to help each one reach their potential,” says Sobi. “It’s very individual. We don’t have the same formula for everyone. We learn the weaknesses of each student and then work to eradicate them.”

He adds that the staff at Infinite Edge teaches students at all levels, from remedial to the highest achievers.

A Truly Expert Staff

Korosh Jabbari is the only tutor at the center who does not hold at least a bachelor’s degree. Although he is just now a freshman at USF himself, his education in math is well beyond that level.

As a high school freshman, Korosh took AP calculus BC, considered an advanced class even for high school seniors, and has continued taking subsequently more challenging classes. He is currently in the USF Honors College seven-year B.S./M.D. medical program, where he will earn both a Bachelor’s and M.D. degree in seven years, all at USF.

All of the other tutors at Infinite Edge are teachers in local schools and professors at the college level.

“Since our tutors are working with kids,” says Ozra, “we make sure they are correctly certified for a teaching job.”

She feels it’s important that the center’s tutors are currently working in the education system, so they are very much in tune with what students are learning in the classroom.

“Many parents are professionals and have a lot of knowledge, but they don’t know how to teach,” Ozra explains, saying that’s why they bring their children to the center. “You have to be a teacher to know what’s going on in the education system today.”

New SAT Starts in March

Beginning this March, the SAT has a new format. While the old SAT offered a total of 2,400 points (800 each in math, reading and writing), the new SAT is only 1,600 points (as it was before the writing portion was given its own 800 points), still with 800 points available in the math portion but only 800 points available for reading and writing combined.

“The new test is more difficult,” says Korosh. “It relies less on test-taking strategies, such as elimination. Students need to deeply understand concepts from classrooms and how they apply these concepts to real-life situations.”

But, students who attend Infinite Edge Learning Center continue to be well prepared. Using a curriculum developed by Sobi, Infinite Edge students have already been practicing the new SAT format for months.

Ozra says that Infinite Edge lives up to its billing as the self-proclaimed “Home of the Perfect SAT Score.”

“Every time we have students take the SAT, we have at least one perfect score,” says Ozra. “We give students the material to prepare, and they work hard.”

She adds that the biggest problem she sees is that many parents wait too long to think about the SAT or ACT.

“Your children should begin preparing for the SAT by ninth grade, at least.”

If students haven’t begun preparing for the SAT before their junior year — which is when they need to take the test to apply for college — they’re often too busy with academics and extracurricular activities to spend a lot of time preparing, and they simply run out of time.

“We recommend one-on-one, customized test preparation,” says Ozra, “but we also offer group preparation courses.”

Infinite Edge Learning Center has also offered free, four-hour SAT prep classes on a Saturday morning at Freedom, which is available to any student at the school.

No Contracts/Great Results

One thing that sets Infinite Edge Learning Center apart from its competition is that there are no contracts.

“You come as long as you need us,” explains Ozra, “and you always get personal attention.”

That’s one reason why Adam Chronister, a West Meadows resident who attends Tampa Catholic, first came to Infinite Edge for his SAT and ACT preparation.

“We shopped around before choosing Infinite Edge,” says Adam’s mom, Trish. “They are very affordable. While their rates are in line with others, some other centers required a long-term contract, and I didn’t want to get into that.”

She says her son wanted to do well on both his ACT and SAT, so he started working with Infinite Edge the summer before his junior year. Although he did well on the first SAT test he took, he was driven to improve.

“He would take an SAT or ACT, see his scores, and want to do better, so he’d go back to Infinite Edge,” Trish says, adding that Adam was able to raise his SAT score 180 points over a total of three tests.

“They really helped him,” she says. “We’ve been incredibly pleased and highly recommend them.”

Trish says the support her son received at Infinite Edge helped him achieve the test scores he needed to get into the college of his choice. So far, he’s been accepted and received academic scholarships to Florida State University in Tallahassee, the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Stetson University in DeLand, and – most important to him – his first choice, the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Infinite Edge Learning Center (17419 Bridge Hill Ct.) is open Mon.-Fri., 2 p.m.–8 p.m., and 9 a.m.–5 p.m. on Sat. Weekday morning hours are available by appointment only for students who homeschool or do online courses. For more info, visit InfiniteEdgeLearningCenter.com, call 971-6500 or