Taking it to the Next Level

Pali High Grad Deven Radfar Launches Tutoring Company

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Inspired by his time at Palisades Charter High School and the experiences he garnered, Deven Radfar launched Next Level Tutors, a college-run tutoring organization that mostly serves students in the Palisades and Los Angeles area.

Starting his freshman year, the Class of 2019 graduate began volunteering at the school’s Study Center, where he first learned the value of peer tutoring, including the connections made between students and the positive impact it had on students engaging in a comfortable learning environment.

By his senior year, Radfar was a paid tutor of the center—and he was hooked.

“Once I graduated from Pali, I was like, ‘OK, it’s time for me to do something with the skills that I’ve learned and to really make this a larger thing,” he explained to the Palisadian-Post. “That’s what inspired me to start Next Level.”

For the first year, Next Level Tutors was a one-person show. It wasn’t until a student he was tutoring suggested making it a bigger thing, pointing out the potential to expand.

Starting the second year in operation, which coincided with the beginning of COVID-19, Radfar began to expand, sharing that he made Next Level Tutors his pandemic project.

“We are a completely college-run company,” Radfar explained. “All of our tutors are college students, all of our administrators are also college students. We really value that shared connection with the students.”

Radfar shared that when meeting with tutors throughout his time at high school, he found it difficult at times to connect with them, which is part of why he makes sure Next Level values the mentor/mentee relationship between students. He said that programming is designed to guide students through the process, rather than push them toward the finish line.

As pandemic-related restrictions went into place, Radfar did not have to make many adjustments to the program, as Next Level Tutors was already operating in a virtual model. After graduating from Pali High, he moved from Brentwood to Northern California to attend Berkeley, which is when he switched operations to remote.

“But then, I had to deal with creating a work environment in this virtual space,” Radfar explained. “I had to hire tutors at the beginning of the pandemic, and connect them with students when so many different things were going on and people were just adjusting to this new lifestyle.”

Radfar said that at first, it was slow, but then it started to pick up as he was able to imagine himself adjusting the workspace in a virtual world.

“Everyone needed to adjust to that sentiment across all jobs and all professions and all schools,” Radfar said. “It was a learning experience for everyone, but I was lucky enough to already have that online work experience in place.”

Running Next Level Tutors has become a full-time job for Radfar, who balances the work with his course load at Berkeley where he is studying political science and public policy. At first, he launched it as an SAT/ACT tutoring company, but has since expanded.

“We focus on high school tutoring and middle school tutoring,” Radfar explained, “as well as college counseling and essay coaching.”

Other offerings include SSAT prep, which is the entrance exam for private middle and high schools, as well as the Kaplan nursing school entrance exam. Radfar connects students who approach him looking for tutoring with a tutor from his network of 20 that will complement their weaknesses and strengths, as well as their personality.

At this point, Next Level Tutors employs college students spread across the country, from Yale, USC, UCLA, Berkeley and other universities. In addition to Radfar, three other tutors also have ties to Pali High.

“I try to get a diverse range of tutors because every student has a different learning style, every student has a different test taking style,” Radfar explained. “I really want to be able to get tutors from across the spectrum from a diverse range of backgrounds.”

After Berkeley, Radfar shared that he plans to get his law degree and MBA, while continuing Next Level Tutors.

“I really established myself in the industry and have really created a network that I love,” Radfar shared. “I think that not continuing this would be taking away a passion of mine and so I do myself continuing in some capacity.”

During his time at Pali High, Radfar was president of Youth & Government through Palisades-Malibu YMCA, as well as DECA. He was also a Palisades Ambassador.

“Through all of these experiences, I was really able to understand how to interact with others,” he shared. “That’s really the main thing that comes with my job: interacting with others, hearing what they want … Pali really equipped me with the skills to be able to hear other people’s perspectives, work with other people and be able to collaborate, especially adapting—like I said before—to this online environment and creating this online workspace.”

Two key things Radfar said he grasped while at Pali High were adaptability and communication. He said he owes it back to teachers and administrators, including Melinda Meinen at the Study Center and Principal Dr. Pamela Magee, who Radfar worked under as an Ambassador.

“Pali really did have such an integral role and I really do owe it back to this community for teaching me the lessons and really inspiring me to get to where I am today,” Radfar concluded. “Pali really does equip you with the many skills that you need to be successful in this world, so take advantage of as many opportunities as you can because you’ll reap the benefits in the future.”

For more information about Next Level Tutors, visit nleveltutors.com, email nleveltutors@gmail.com or call 424-208-4570.