Victor Ho needed to be challenged by the time he was in the seventh or eighth grade.
Math was a breeze for him. So, he enrolled in enrichment classes at the only locations of Best in Class at the time, which were in Seattle and Bellevue.
Ho has come full circle, now as the manager of the Issaquah location of this rapidly expanding business, and the company’s chief technology officer. While attending high school in Redmond he was a teacher’s assistant for Best in Class. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington, but while in college he continued to teach part-time at the Bellevue location which he found rewarding.
He graduated from college and began to work in the mortgage industry a year or two before the economic crash, all the while teaching at Best in Class. When the mortgage industry crashed as well, Best in Class founder and CEO Hao Lam began to teach him the managerial side to the business.
Now he is not only the manager of the Issaquah center, but one of 80 instructors in Washington for Best in Class.
Lam established the company in 1995 in Bellevue.
“We just franchised a couple of years ago,” Lam said. “We plan to open 20 new centers next year.”
The Issaquah location at 1505 N.W. Gilman, Suite 6, has been in business five years. A new location in Sammamish opened six months ago.
Tutoring and enrichment for math and English are the most popular programs. Class sizes are limited to six for English and eight for math.
“It takes more time for English,” Ho said. “It’s all individualized.”
He said the instructors try to encourage more creative, persuasive and argumentative writing. Classes meet once a week for an hour and 15 minutes.
He said most of the work is enrichment, or supplementing what the student is learning in school.
“Either they’re behind, or feel they are not being challenged,” Ho said.
He said a visual arts teacher also comes in on Wednesdays. In addition the centers prepare students for the SAT test in group settings or one-on-one. Also offered is a gifted test program to help students prepare to get into gifted programs in their respective high schools.
Ho serves about 100 students in Issaquah — the Sammamish center is maxed out with about 60 students because it’s only open Wednesdays.
The Issaquah center is open Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, with Sunday being the busiest.
Cost for a subject is $100 per month. Ho said most of the clients are elementary or high school students, with some middle school kids. Non-traditional and college students are rare.
Best in Class is accepting new students.
“He made a lot of contribution to the company because he knows the business inside out,” said Lam of Ho. “He streamlined the website, social media and does all of the IT development.”
For more information visit BestinClassEducation.com
