I truly believe there is not a better teacher of mathematics than Kennon McCaa. He makes math come to life while creating tangible concepts that are transferable to everyday life. Mr. McCaa has the unique and intuitive ability to see where students are breaking down in the process. He meets them where they are and guides them to true understanding. Math is difficult for many because it is not something that comes intuitively or automatically – it takes time, persistence, and perseverance. I guarantee you won’t find someone with more of these qualities and more knowledge of the subject than Kennon McCaa and Transformative Tutoring.
– H.H.T., Oct. 2018
2018 – Transformative Tutoring is Created
Kennon created Transformative Tutoring, LLC in 2018 with the mission of helping students in Sarasota, Venice, Osprey, and Bradenton improve their confidence, knowledge, understanding, skill, and performance in math class or on the SAT/ACT. When the COVID pandemic caused the closure of his Osprey tutoring center, Kennon went online and now uses Zoom to tutor students from throughout the country. Kennon prides himself on having a positive outlook, being extremely patient, and finding humor in nearly every situation. He believes if you spend 5 minutes together, he’ll always find something funny to say. You might not laugh, but he’ll think he said something funny. He believes these traits, along with his compassionate, 100% honest feedback, are why students actually enjoy studying with him.
Pre 1998 – The Ice Age
Kennon grew up in Minnesota, and after a detour to study business at Santa Clara University, he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Math Education from the University of Minnesota. Kennon worked his way through college as a tutor, and was the lead tutor for the national powerhouse, Golden Gophers hockey team. When asked for the most valuable thing he learned in college, he replies with “compound interest”, and loves to explain the mathematics of compound interest and investing to his students.
Upon graduating, Kennon taught math for five wonderful years at North St. Paul High School and earned an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from St. Mary’s University.
1998 – Today – Sunny Sarasota
In 1998, Kennon and his wife, Beth, left the Minnesota cold behind and moved to sunny Sarasota. He taught briefly at Venice High School before becoming a software developer. He retired from software development in 2018 and is overjoyed to return to his true passion, education. While working as an insurance software developer, teaching was always on his mind, and he created
As more people learned about Kennon’s app, he began to receive more and more requests for private tutoring. In 2017, his 12-year-old son, Carter, scored a 760/800 on the SAT math exam, and Kennon has remained very busy tutoring students ever since. In 2018, he made the decision to retire from software development and fulfill his true purpose by tutoring full-time. In 2019, at age 14, Kennon’s son Carter took the SAT a second time and scored a perfect 800. In 2023, Carter graduated from Pine View School as a National Merit Scholar, and has been tutoring regularly since 2020. Read more about Carter here.
In his free time, Kennon enjoys exercising, playing baseball and nature walks. In the 2018, he competed in the World Rowing Masters Regatta, finishing 55th out of 56 in the C 1x division. He has nowhere to go but up! He also plays lots of baseball. In 2023, he founded the 40+ division for FL Adult Baseball . When his schedule permits, he even nature walks, and chases glory in several baseball tournaments throughout Florida and the Southeast.
Kennon has been a level 2 volunteer in the Sarasota County Schools. Which means he has passed an FBI background check and is just an all around nice guy.
Kennon selected the word “Transformative” for the company name because he is motivated by the Jackie Robinson quote, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Start studying with Kennon at Transformative Tutoring and see how he can have a positive impact on you or someone you love.