Maria S.
Maria is an experienced educator who specializes in helping students build strong academic skills, confidence, and effective learning habits. She has taught across elementary and middle school and brings deep expertise in reading, writing, vocabulary development, and academic language growth.
Maria’s tutoring approach is centered on how students learn best. For example:
- Clear and achievable learning goals
- Explicit instruction with guided practice
- Reading comprehension strategies that make texts accessible
- Writing routines that strengthen structure, clarity, and organization
- Vocabulary practices that support deeper understanding
- Academic language supports such as sentence frames, thinking routines, and modeled responses
- Ongoing progress monitoring to celebrate growth and adjust instruction
Her students consistently make strong progress, and her classroom achieved the highest STAAR pass rate in her school (2023–2024). This success reflects her commitment to purposeful planning, high expectations, and meeting students exactly where they are.
Maria brings extensive experience in curriculum design to her tutoring, having created writing units, interdisciplinary lessons, and language-based supports that help students access challenging content. She uses this background to tailor every session to a child’s individual needs, strengths, and goals.
Although Maria is biliterate in English and Spanish, she uses this expertise only when helpful. Her understanding of how language functions in learning benefits all students—whether monolingual or multilingual—by strengthening their reading, writing, and communication skills.
Across all roles, Maria is recognized for her collaboration with families and communities, her strategic instructional planning, and her commitment to ensuring every student has the language, skills, and confidence to succeed.
Outside of teaching, Maria enjoys spending time with her family, relaxing with her dog, and staying active. She brings the same warmth, patience, and encouragement from her home life into every tutoring session.
Anna B.
Anna is a credentialed Special Education teacher and certified Dyslexia Specialist. She studied Special Education at Baylor University, where she gained hands-on experience teaching in a variety of classrooms and conducting research on dyslexia interventions. Her work focused on how students generalize reading skills across different contexts.
She is passionate about creating supportive and engaging learning environments that help students feel confident in their abilities and reach their goals. Anna focuses on building strong relationships with her students, going the extra mile to ensure their individual needs are met through evidence-based, structured literacy instruction.
She is both an effective teacher and a positive role model who inspires her students to believe in themselves and take pride in their progress. Outside of teaching, Anna enjoys going to the beach, taking walks, and spending time outdoors with her husband and their dog.
Stacey C.
With a robust foundation in early childhood and special education, along with her credentials as a licensed learning consultant specializing in neurodiversity, Stacey brings expertise and passion to her work with students.
As a Neurodivergent Specialist, Stacey’s approach, grounded in the constructivist theory, prioritizes experiential learning through dynamic, hands-on activities, social and emotional engagement, and meaningful project-based outcomes.
Taylor J.
Taylor is a Special Education Teacher and ABA Therapist. She holds a Masters in Teaching from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (UofT), and is working towards her Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) certification with the Florida Institute of Technology. She currently works with the English Montreal School Board and previously worked for the Toronto District School Board for three years. Taylor brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in supporting students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and other learning challenges. Taylor’s expertise in creating and implementing personalized learning intervention plans makes learning accessible and fun for all learners, while building the confidence and skills for academic success.
Nicole D.
Nicole graduated from New Mexico Highlands University with two Bachelor’s degrees, one in History and one in Elementary Education, with a minor in Bilingual Education. Nicole taught for eleven years, over the course of which she excelled at math and reading instruction. In addition to math and reading intervention, Nicole was a bilingual educator (Spanish) and a dyslexia interventionist. However, her real passion lies in Robotics and Computer Science.
Nicole has written Robotics/Computer Science curriculum for two districts. She has also taken several teams to competition with VEX and FIRST(tm) who have successfully won awards over the years.
In her spare time, Nicole enjoys visiting her daughter, who attends LSU, and spending time with her two dogs.
“We needed tutoring for our daughter for her SAT. She took 2 sessions. Her English score went from 470 to 590! It was amazing! Her tutor was great! Communication with them excellent. Thanks for great service!”
– Parent
Colleen S.
Colleen Simmons realized as a child she wanted to become a teacher. She loved learning how to read and do basic math from her mother, Donna, who she says was still her best teacher ever! Growing up in Illinois, she started helping her peers and younger children with reading and math homework when she was in 6th grade. Like the acting bug that some folks get, teaching became her passion. Graduating in 1981 from Millikin University with a B.S. in Biology, she pursued further training and completed a teacher certification program at the U of I Springfield soon after. She began teaching and continued to add certifications and degrees to her resume. She obtained a middle school concept endorsement on her standard certificate, a second B.S. in Special Education from EIU, and two M.S. degrees in Educational Administration from EIU and Teacher Leadership from U of I Springfield, respectively. Throughout her career, she has not only worked in the classroom, but she also has privately tutored students after school. Her reputation as a caring and supportive teacher is something she cherishes. In 2019, Colleen and her husband retired to Texas. Retirement didn’t last long, since she found herself missing the enjoyment she got from working with students. In 2021, she began working once again as support staff, tutor, and ultimately, teacher in a science classroom. This year, she is working on a new challenge. She, along with a couple of friends, began developing a home-school pod service to help families who want another option for educating their children. Along with tutoring, Colleen enjoys traveling, meeting new people, and learning something new, like painting a watercolor, playing a new strategy game, or reading a mystery novel.
Dilene W-N.
Dilene has a love of Art and Art History, which led her to obtain an Associate of Arts in Studio Art. She has experience as a military wife and mom, as well as experience working with military families. While her husband was still on active duty, Dilene completed her Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Special Education at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. She has worked with students at all levels and abilities during her 15 years in education. Dilene completed her Master of Education in Educational Technology Leadership through Lamar University, Beaumont. She completed the Texas Reading Academy and Reading by Design, the state of Texas designed Dyslexia program, in 2022. Dilene taught students in grades K-7 in Dyslexia support services and Reading Intervention while teaching at Great Hearts Live Oak. Her most recent position was teaching 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students in Reading Resource and 4th grade Math Resource. She has a passion for helping her students meet their personal learning goals. Dilene has also coached students in executive functioning skills such as organization and planning to help them learn to meet project deadlines. When not supporting her students, she enjoys a bit of anime, creating things by hand, and volunteering with the National Archives.
Available for in-person or online tutoring
Micaela M.
Micaela is an experienced educator specializing in reading, math, and ESL. She earned her Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and her Bachelor’s in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Micaela is passionate about teaching and has dedicated her career to helping students excel in English language learning, literacy, and math.
She has worked with students across various grade levels (EC-6), creating engaging and inclusive environments where they can thrive. Micaela develops customized lesson plans that support diverse learners using differentiated instruction and scaffolding. She is also trained in Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) methods, which she integrates into her teaching to foster supportive relationships with her students. Additionally, Micaela has received her Texas Teachers License in EC-6, with an additional certification in ESL. She has 4 years of experience as an educator in both traditional classroom settings and non-traditional exploratory and project-based learning programs.
Outside of teaching, Micaela enjoys camping, hiking, drawing, and spending time with her cats, Beaux and Pasha, and her dog, Apple.
Mia G.
Hello, my name is Mia G. and I have been tutoring since 2021. I graduated from St. Mary’s University in December 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in psychology. I have experience tutoring all grades from preschool to seniors in college. I specialize in tutoring biology, psychology and English, but I have tutored all subjects. I can also tutor people who are interested in cooking and baking, dance, and college admissions. I have experience working with students who have anxiety, ADHD, Autism and Down Syndrome. I will be starting my master’s degree in personalized molecular medicine in August 2025 from UT Health San Antonio. After that my goal is to go to medical school to become a neonatal geneticist.