Education & Classes in La Grange

In the late 1970s career educators Eileen and Raymond Huntington opened the first Huntington Learning Center in Oradell, New Jersey. Their goal was to take an individualized approach to education, adjusting instructional tactics according to each student's set of needs. Their success in helping K–12 students prepare for exams and improve grades and study skills quickly spawned franchises across New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere.

Today, the certified Huntington tutoring staff utilizes testing and rubrics for assessing each child's skills, academic needs and potential for growth. The teachers even note the student's behavior in different testing and academic situations to craft a methodology sensitive to each child's learning style. Teachers also adhere to the company's code of ethics that stresses professionalism and confidentiality and encourages pupils to improve their grades honestly through dedicated study rather than shortcuts.

In The Art Escape’s student gallery, dozens of burgeoning artists proudly smile beside their work. Through painting parties and a calendar of regular classes, the studio's instructors ease students into the creative process with step-by-step instructions that result in a complete painting to take home or sneak into the local art museum to see if anyone notices. In these structured yet creative sessions, small groups of artists unholster their brushes to have fun while gaining confidence in painting fundamentals. Floral arrangements, still lifes, and nature scenes emerge from surprisingly simple techniques, ready to stand proudly on the wall of any room.

Cofounded by professional dancer Alexander Thomas and personal trainer Daniel Hamilton, Diamond Dance & Fitness works to foster active, nutritional lifestyles through a varied schedule of programs and periodic group outings. Classes are headed by experienced instructors—the studio's signature ballroom course has teachers who are competition-trained. Meanwhile, dance-fitness courses such as Zumba help to put an upbeat spin on classic exercise techniques without the added risk that comes with practicing the moonwalk on a treadmill.

Melodies rhythmically flood the studio's space on Salsamante Saturdays, when guests trace bachata, merengue, and salsa steps across the dance floor. In addition, visitors can get custom fitness advice in personal-training sessions and in-depth nutrition advice from health coaches.

Over the course of four years, Joanna Harvey helped 800 elementary school students to unleash their creativity on paper or canvas. At Bubbles and Brushes Art Studio, she and her team of teachers help people of all ages to do the same. Among the events they curate are adult art parties and Mommy and Me classes—at which parents and children work together on projects. Joanna provides all necessary supplies and pays the going rate for high-quality muses. A certified art teacher, Joanna also graduated with a degree in marketing and a minor in art history from Auburn University in 2002.

Though Bubbles and Brushes provides aprons, students are encouraged to wear old clothing they are comfortable gifting to the Guggenheim to display when they become famous.

Painting classes with Uptown Art - Uncorked allow artists of all ages and skill levels to spend a few hours expressing their creative impulses. Each session focuses on a designated theme, based on the style of a particular artist, such as Monet, or a particularly beautiful still-life subject, such as gerber daisies or a puddle of spilled tabasco sauce. For groups of aspiring Picassos or people with more than three hands, the studios also host painting parties to accommodate birthday celebrations, bachelorette soirees, work retreats, and sorority events.

The resident chefs at The Cooking School at Irwin Street model their teaching style after that of the quirky, patient Julia Child as they walk kitchen cadets through the basics of food transmogrification with a collection of helpful and laughter-filled classes held in two distinctive locations. Tucked away in the historic Old Fourth Ward, the indoor kitchen lets students loose on modern appliances amid appetite-kindling hues of pumpkin and avocado. The newly unveiled farm kitchen, meanwhile, incorporates vine-fresh produce and just-picked herbs from the surrounding soil in recipes prepared under the open sky. In both of these settings, the instructors pare cooking down to the essentials—an open mind, an eager palate, and a sharp, non-argumentative knife. Classes cater to a number of dietary restrictions, from creative vegan options and gluten-free baking lessons to smoked-meat sessions for inveterate salamivores. Most classes are BYOB, and some sessions are open to parent-child combos.