A North Shore native, Betsy graduated from Deerfield High School and attended Indiana University, where she received degrees in Elementary Education (K-9th grade) and Special Education (pre-K through age 21). She later earned an English as a Second Language certificate from Loyola University. Betsy spent the majority of her classroom teaching experience at North Shore School District 112 in Highland Park, in the resource and general education settings. She left the school setting in 2015 to be home with her young children.

Betsy’s journey to Academic Coaching began back in 2007, when she began offering private tutoring sessions to elementary and middle school students in Chicago and throughout the North Shore. Through weekly 1:1 sessions and collaboration with student teams, she worked to support students struggling in literacy and math. After becoming comfortable with many grade level curriculums, state standards and online resources used by districts, Betsy expanded her services to include high school students. She found that many of these young people were struggling due to underdeveloped organization, planning, test prep, and other Executive Function (EF) skills.

Around 2020, Betsy delved deeper into how she could give teens and young adults, especially those diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or ADHD, access to the Executive Function strategies needed to succeed in school and beyond. She starts by meeting students where they are at, and takes their comfort level with various supports into account when deciding which strategies to explore. Through consistent instruction and modeling, and various levels of prompting, students are able to strengthen and apply new EF skills over time. Betsy’s work as an Academic Coach is especially rewarding because the skills students gain can be applied to so many areas of their lives. It’s incredible for her to experience the newfound success students find once they increase their independence and confidence.