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Flexible Schooling Options for Competitive Athletes and Performers

Is there support for your student if they are struggling? What are the class sizes? Do the teachers personalize learning and know their students? Does the school schedule work for your family? Is the school accredited? Does the school offer academic rigor for your child? Does the school have a good reputation and location? Are students college and career ready after graduation? 

The Boy, The Horse, and The Lesson We Forget in Teaching

Vanessa seems to dawdle when her teacher asks her to begin her math assignment. Marcus has read the directions four times and still has no idea what to do. Shamanth opens his desk to try to find a pencil, which is buried under mounds of crumpled papers. Belinda raises her hand and, in sobs and tears, demands to go to the school counselor’s office. What’s up with these students? Are they being lazy, giving their teacher a hard time, and/or just having a bad day? Perhaps, but there’s also another strong possibility. All of these behaviors may indicate challenges in executive functioning. About Executive Function Executive functioning has very little to do with academic prowess and much more to do with the general operation of the brain. Healthcare and child development professionals typically identify eight important skills related to executive functioning: Initiation - The ability to begin a task Impulse control - The ability not to give in to temptation and behave accordingly Flexibility - The ability to shift from one task to the next Emotional control - The ability to behave appropriately despite contrary emotions Working memory - The ability to remember and apply instructions and other concepts Organization - The ability to create and abide by a system of tidiness Planning - The ability to understand the sequence of necessary steps to accomplish goals and tasks Self-monitoring - The ability to assess one’s own emotions, thoughts, physical condition, etc. Why are these specific capabilities so important? It’s all about what happens as a result. Executive functioning skills lead to effective decision-making, for example, thus poor executive functions could lead to choices that are unwise, emotionally driven, rash, etc., in relationships, physical health, and other areas of life.

Masking is one of the most exhausting parts of living with ADHD (and other forms of neurodivergence). On the surface, it looks like we’re “functioning.” Underneath, it feels like running a marathon in a costume that doesn’t fit.

The Top Benefits of One-to-One Education for Middle and High School Students

One-to-one instruction is custom, flexible, and supportive for middle school and high school students. Since success looks different for every family, understanding how quality educational support can impact outcomes is essential. In this article, I’ll explore the top five benefits of one-to-one instruction and how it supports long-term student success. One: Immediate Feedback and Support Teens are diverse learners with individual personalities; they need feedback and support. Wins are celebrated and mistakes become opportunities to grow. The latest research compiled, for The International Journal of Technology and Higher Education, with over a century of data states “Additionally, effective feedback should be personalized to meet individual learners’ needs and formative, delivered while students can still act on it to improve their performance.”(Weidlich et. al., 2025). Achievement becomes attainable through discussion, questions, and reteaching strategies.  Highly informative feedback using learning analytics: how feedback literacy moderates student perceptions of feedback | International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education Two: Mastery-Based Progression

The Invisible Load of Teachers

It’s 8:15 a.m. on a Monday morning, and Teresa makes her way into her classroom at Brightmont Academy in Phoenix . The school is one of 20 campuses located throughout the country.  Unlike teachers in other school systems, Teresa will only have to manage one student during each hour of her day. Boring? Repetitive? Hardly! A day in the life of Teresa proves her time at Brightmont is just as dynamic and interesting—if not more so—for teachers and students alike… 8:30 a.m. - English 12 with Natalie Teresa’s first class of the morning is English 12 with a high schooler named Natalie. Natalie is a full-time student at Brightmont who has been attending since seventh grade. Large groups and noise trigger Natalie’s anxiety, so Brightmont is the perfect solution to help her demonstrate her full potential. A straight-A student, Natalie is enjoying her current English unit on Frankenstein through which she and Teresa are discussing the characteristics of sympathetic characters and the nuances of what makes a monster. Natalie is so engaged in the curriculum that she is using Frankenstein as inspiration for penning some poetry outside of class.

When I think back to elementary, middle, and high school, one word comes to mind: survival . I was impulsive, unfocused, forgetful. I often missed assignments—not because I didn’t care, but because I literally couldn’t keep track. I struggled socially, too. I had a few close friends, but for some reason, I always felt like I was on the outside looking in—trying to fit in, but never quite belonging. I got bullied between classes, especially in middle school, and many mornings I was too sick with anxiety to move. I had to fake being sick just to stay home.  At the time (this was the 70's and 80's) there wasn’t language like “neurodivergent” to help me make sense of it all. ADHD was the only word people used—and it came with stigma, side-eyes, and medication warnings. I didn’t want to be that kid, so I put on the mask. No one wants to be that kid—the one who's too much, too loud, too forgetful, too weird. It’s a lonely place, and over time, you start to lose your own sense of self—becoming what you think everyone needs instead of who you actually are and end up being a “social chameleon.”

Beyond Good Grades: Strategies for Mastery