Melanie Pickard and Keith Francis are the founders of Arete Educational & Conference Services. Arete is "a Sonoma County-based company with state, national, and international connections."
"Melanie definitely made me stay focused through high school. Melanie helped not only when I didn’t understand my work, but also when I was too stressed to get anything done. I actually looked forward to getting tutored by her because she always gave me great advice on everything."
Bobby Lindee
University of Colorado Boulder – Former Student
Arete (ah-ray-tay) is Greek for "excellent." But Arete means more than the best or the top. In Ancient Greek thinking Arete meant "completeness", "well put together", "nicely balanced", or "maximizing one's potential." That is the goal of Arete Educational and Conference Services. Personal service is our motto. We believe that working face-to-face with our clients is the surest way to achieve quality.
Our team wants to do the best for our clients and we want our clients to achieve the best they can.
Our company is made up of two parts. One part, Arete Educational Services, focuses on students. We prepare students to take an SAT or help them to improve their math skills. Another part, Arete Events Services, is for everyone, 'big' and 'small'. We organize large events such as conferences or small events such as children's birthday parties.
Fall classes in ACT/SAT prep.
Arete Educational Services provides a range of tutoring and counseling services for students of all ages
There are two types of tutoring services available. Students from elementary through college receive individual tutoring in math, science, English, and history. High school students take preparation classes for the SAT, ACT, and GED tests. College students or adult returning students take preparation classes for the GRE exam. Our live classes focus on general strategies as well as the needs of individual students.
There are also two types of counseling services available. For high school seniors we have classes which focus on surviving the freshman year in college. For college students we provide academic advising and guidance in choosing a career.
Would you like additional information on our event and conference management services? We'd love to connect with you and explore the purpose and needs of your event. Click the link below to complete our online information request form.
Arete Events Services can plan and organize a wide range of events: weekend retreats, small or large conventions and exhibitions, parties of all kinds, weddings, group tours, or that special vacation.
Our team focuses on what our clients want. Perhaps a ten-person retreat or a thousand-person conference isn’t your particular dream. Arete Events Services can design unique packages – a tour of particular colleges for a small group of high school juniors/seniors and their parents or a group of best friends touring the wineries in Napa County, California or even Burgundy, France.