the man behind
The bison head
My name is
Jan Alexander Rataj.
You can just call me “Yawn”
I am the founder of Great Plains Tutoring, former ecologist, current Private Tutor & English Language Teacher, proud Husband & Father.
My path as an educator began 10 years ago in the bright city of Las Vegas, Nevada. While finishing my Master’s program at UNLV, I worked as a high school biology/chemistry teacher & private tutor.
I enjoyed teaching, but what I loved were the 1-on-1 connections I was able to make with my tutoring students and families. I could see the immediate impact that my teaching had on my students’ grades and academic confidence — that’s where the idea to create my very own tutoring service was born.
It was only after moving my family to the beautiful - but freezing - state of South Dakota that I decided to take the leap & found Great Plains Tutoring — a tutoring service created with the intention of providing every student with a great tutor and a brighter future.
The Origin Story
what sets us apart
Who We Serve
Our team of professional tutors works with many unique student populations:
Elementary, Middle & High School Students
English Language Development or ESL
Multilingual Students
(Spanish & English)Adult Spanish & English Language Learners
Our Core Values
Great Plains Tutoring was created to support students who feel overlooked in the public schooling system. We aim to help those students by employing our core values in every learning session:
Meet students where they’re at
Maintain clear communication with parents & families
Employ high expectations paired with consistent encouragement, patient guidance, & goal oriented learning.
Serving Community
We proudly support families in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and have experience working with South Dakota’s state standards and school-based expectations.
Our ultimate aim is to enhance the academic welfare of South Dakota’s students and our community.
Though we are based in Sioux Falls, we also serve students online across the U.S!
student successes
“My daughter was able to finish her online geometry course in 2 months thanks Mr. Rataj She was so happy she didn’t have to retake the class over the summer!
-Carmin
“My
-C
“Mr. Rataj
-L
“Mr. Rataj
-L
“Jan has worked with my son for two years now. Jairus used to be so frustrated with math but now he loves it! Every day before he logs on he gets all excited to tell Mr. Jan how much he’s learned and how good he is at his times tables.”
-Lynette
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-Lynette