About Us

ThinkTank Learning is a forward-thinking educational development company headquartered in Cupertino, California, focused on education and college consulting. The company was founded in 2002, and currently has two centers in Cupertino, and single centers in both Fremont and San Mateo, California.

Mission Statement
History
Culture
Facilities
ThinkTank Education Media
Future

Mission Statement

At ThinkTank, we believe that education is made up of three-parts: knowledge, fun, and inspiration. 'Knowledge' speaks for itself; in order to pass on information, a mastery of it must be in place. 'Fun' is omitted by most educators, as they simply don't equate it with learning; ThinkTank sees the best path to education as one that includes enjoyment. Finally, true learning is impossible without inspiration. ThinkTank takes the approach that everything in education is possible, and that students' dreams should be continually fostered until they become reality. By building on these three ideals, the ThinkTank philosophy is one that propels students toward maximizing their potential - and helps them enjoy learning in the process.

History

ThinkTank Learning was founded in 2002 by three U.C. Berkeley graduates who had grown tired of the traditional approach to education. Steven Ma, current ThinkTank President and a former high school math teacher recalls, "We were just sickened that students were being short-changed by the educational system - students were bored, their demands weren't being met, and they were not achieving what we knew they could."

ThinkTank grew quickly, from a small, 100-square-foot office to a free-standing building in Cupertino within the span of a year. The services offered grew as well. Classes were the primary focus of the program, but the demand for SAT preparation and tutoring began to flow in. ThinkTank met the demand by developing the approach of "Anything, Anytime, Anywhere," and implemented their in-home tutoring program. Soon, the SAT prep program was expanded, and other centers were developed throughout the Bay Area.

Shortly thereafter, one of the largest additions to the ThinkTank curriculum was made: the college consulting program. PCAP, short for Premium College Admission Package, was developed in order to meet the demand for assistance with college admissions. The first year started off with a rather small cohort of students, but, in true ThinkTank fashion, it grew at a rapid pace. Parents and students alike, recognizing both the cutthroat competition in college admissions as well as the success rate of PCAP, soon began to turn to the program in droves in order to learn how to best attack the college application.

ThinkTank has consistently increased its presence in the Bay Area since 2004, having added an annex in Cupertino and having recently opened a learning center in Millbrae. It appears that 2008 will be the year that that ThinkTank brings itself to the world's stage, as several of their international projects will come to fruition.

Culture

The organizational culture that ThinkTank has incubated over the past half-decade is one that revolves around four words: a commitment to excellence. Only the most well-educated and experienced tutors, teachers, consultants, and full-time employees are recruited. When tutors are hired, for instance, they are pre-screened, tested, trained, tested again, and monitored to the extent that near perpetual feedback is given from the students whom they're tutoring. The treatment within the consulting, classroom instruction, and publishing arms is similar, and complete dedication to the ThinkTank philosophy is demanded of all ThinkTank-associated staff.

ThinkTank believes in human beings' potential for greatness. From tutors to teachers, students to consultants, ThinkTank promotes the idea that humans have a right to tap into this potential.

Facilities

ThinkTank currently has operations in four separate facilities: the flagship facility in Cupertino on Bubb Road, an annex in Cupertino on Homestead Road, and two additional centers, one each in Fremont and Millbrae.

Squarely in line with the philosophy, "Anything, Anytime, Anywhere," ThinkTank is committed to meeting the academic needs of its students in order to make learning as convenient as possible. As demand in particular geographical areas grow, it is in everyone's interests that ThinkTank move into those areas permanently.

ThinkTank Education Media

In order to provide educational information to the widest audience, ThinkTank Learning developed ThinkTank Education Media, which produces a monthly magazine and weekly radio show.

The magazine broaches matters of education, health, finance, and law, and has a readership of approximately 15,000. Distributed in supermarkets, convenience stores, and various outlets throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, the journal is free and topical.

The weekly radio show is broadcast from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sundays throughout the Bay Area on FM 96.1 and FM 92.7. Again, the topics discussed range from education to health to finances to legal matters, and are relevant to both the demands of the listeners as well as the time of year in the college application cycle.

Future

Although ThinkTank intends to expand its physical presence throughout the Bay Area and beyond, it is also necessary to meet the needs of a wider audience. Thus, the push toward moving much of ThinkTank's material onto the World Wide Web.

During the first quarter of 2008, ThinkTank will launch its online instruction programs, the first of their kind in the country. What makes the ThinkTank courses so dramatically different from other online classes is the manner in which they are tailored toward the needs of the individual student - akin to having a personal instructor who understands each student's strengths and weaknesses. A series of online instruction tools will also be introduced in the near future.

Ultimately, ThinkTank is interested in meeting the needs of the largest segment of the population as possible. This is not as much a result of the demands of "business" as it is that the ThinkTank approach to education simply works. The dreams of the three U.C. Berkeley graduates - to provide a method of education that promotes greatness, not boredom and an appeal to the least common denominator - have been realized. It seems only appropriate that this approach be spread as far and wide as possible.