Academic Approach®

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Matthew Pietrafetta founded Academic Approach in 2001 to bring a new level of depth and value to the process of test preparation and academic tutoring. His founding philosophy—to teach beyond the test^TM— utilizes test preparation as a means to raise test scores substantively while emphasizing a curriculum of core skills required for college readiness. Matthew has authored and continues to oversee the company's proprietary curriculum. He has led the organization since its inception and formed a talented team of leaders and educators, serving hundreds of students across the United States each year.

Matthew's enthusiasm for academic enrichment stems from his positive experiences as a student with independent study and one-on-one mentoring relationships, beginning in Massachusetts at St. John's Preparatory School where he thrived in his studies of English literature and German language. Matthew participated in a selective, humanities-focused guided studies program at Trinity College, in Hartford, Connecticut, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He went on to earn a Master of Arts in English literature and Master of Philosophy in English literature from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University in New York.

Matthew taught for six years at college-level and has over 11 years of one-on-one tutoring experience. As a writing fellow at Trinity College, Matthew instructed peers in writing skills and studied writing theory and practice. As a writing fellow at Columbia, he taught numerous undergraduate composition courses. At the same time, he helped hundreds of high school students prepare for standardized tests—including the SSAT, ISEE, SAT, ACT, and SAT Subject Tests—and improve performance in other academic subjects. His work with both high school and college students inspired the development of his academic approach: his creative use of standardized test preparation as a pedagogical platform from which to teach an academically enriching curriculum.

Matthew resides in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago with his wife, Lauren, and their son, Zachary. In his spare time Matthew is completing the last chapter of his dissertation on the Bildungsroman, the novel of development, but his favorite activity by far is running the playground, museum, and lakeshore circuit every weekend with his very active and inquisitive son.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Michael joined Academic Approach in 2005 as its Chief Operating Officer and part-time tutor. He graduated cum laude from Williams College with a BA in religion and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Immediately after college, Michael spent several years working as a project manager for Cognitive Arts, a 250-person firm specializing in the design and construction of multimedia training software solutions for corporate clients. Michael worked on multiple award-winning projects including the Cutler-Hammer Value Selling Program, winner of the 2000 Silver Medal from the Brandon Hall of Fame, the only juried competition dedicated exclusively to the technology-based training industry. Other major clients at Cognitive Arts included First Union Bank, Harvard University, and State Farm Life Insurance. After business school, Michael worked as a business development associate for the Chief Strategy and Chief Operating Officers of AEG Live, the nation's second largest concert promoter.

Michael's interest in education has been a lifelong one. In addition to his work in the corporate training industry and at Academic Approach, he sits on the Board of Directors for Chicago Metro AEYC, an organization dedicated to developing pragmatic tools for early childhood service providers in the greater Chicago area.

Michael enjoys reading the works of Paul Auster, Charles Bukowski and Charles Dickens. His favorite movies typically have good acting, sublime cinematography and just a pinch of gratuitous violence. His claim to fame is that he can do near perfect impersonations of Yoda, Kermit the frog and Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes.

Though his window of opportunity is closing rapidly, Michael still hopes to play power forward someday for the Chicago Bulls.

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Jonathan joined Academic Approach in 2006 and has developed, designed, and overseen its website and online course technology. He holds a BA in both philosophy & English literature from Calvin College.

Jonathan has been working in the world of technology since doing telephone-based technical support in high school—back when 56K dial-up internet was considered fast. He partnered with a friend to start his own web design company, Protus Group, in 2003 while studying as a full-time college student. He has developed successful websites and provided strategic technology consulting for many clients, including Five Star Real Estate, West Michigan’s largest resident real estate company, and international multimedia firm, Modus Associates, in London, England.

Jonathan is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan and has lived in Chicago since 2006. He commutes to work on a fixed-gear bicycle, teaches himself German, plays drums in the band Cains & Abels, co-founded LAMB, an amateur art criticism magazine—loves the "em dash"—cares deeply about an Oxford Comma, and gets "Twitter-pated" about Web 2.0. (He also can't pass up a pun—no matter how bad.)

Incidentally, Jonathan took the ACT as a high school junior, having taken no advanced mathematics, and still managed a high enough composite score to keep his employment at Academic Approach free from irony. He attributes this, and other accomplishments, to all the Nintendo he played in his childhood.

VP HUMAN RESOURCES

Maryanne received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Psychology from Illinois State University. Before joining the Academic Approach, she worked for The Salvation Army ARC as the Human Resources Director for the 11 states in the Central Territory. She has 15 years of HR experience, working for a variety of companies, both public and private, including the following: Sara Lee Bakery, Kemper Financial Services, Crown Consolidated Industries, and The Eli’s Cheesecake Company. She has spent time working as a volunteer with The Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development and The Lakeview Pantry. In her spare time she enjoys reading, cooking, and teasing Michael Schulte for his love of the Grateful Dead.