Academic Coaching to build confidence.
Academic coaches use a student’s current school assignments as a springboard to help teach goal-setting, prioritizing, organization, planning, time-management, focus, emotional regulation, self-assessment, and study skills.
WHO
Who are we?
Our coaches are professional educators and school counselors. They are experts in providing customized and comprehensive support for students who need help improving their academic performance. Sometimes you hear professionals use the term “executive functioning coach”. We use the term Academic Coach because not only do we teach students how to enhance executive functioning, we also focus on increasing motivation, metacognitive skills, and self-regulatory learning abilities.
Have a question? Talk to a client specialist.
Who we are not
Academic coaching is not the same as tutoring in that it is not subject-specific but instead aims to teach the skills necessary for academic success and productivity in all classes. Academic coaching is not counseling or therapy.
WHAT
What do we do?
Academic coaches use a student’s current school assignments as a springboard to help teach:
Goal-setting
Goal-setting and creating a daily process to work towards goals. The ability to enjoy learning more and feel more successful in school.
Prioritizing
Tools to overcome procrastination and avoidance of assignments.
Organization
Improve your organization and learn effective study skills.
Planning
Be able to create a customized plan to effectively complete all of their required tasks.
Time-management
Discover time and task management tools. Learn strategies to work smarter and more efficiently.
Focus
Learn strategies to manage distractions to improve academic performance and work completion.
Emotional regulation
Increased emotional regulation and executive functioning skills. Discover tools to manage emotions related to productivity and ability to perform well on academic tasks.
Self-assessment
Increased responsibility, productivity, and independence. Increased critical thinking and metacognitive skills
Have a question? Talk to a client specialist.
Students
Who is Academic Coaching for?

Are in upper elementary, middle, high school, or college
Struggle with executive functioning
Have low grades
Have lots of late work, missing work, and zeroes
Don’t understand how to study and do well in school
Have difficulty completing or keeping up with the details of multi-step directions or assignments
Can’t get started on projects or fail to complete and turn in homework assignments.
Are easily overwhelmed and don’t have confidence in their academic ability
Are disorganized and have trouble keeping track of necessary materials, papers, and supplies
Complete assignments at the last minute or take a very long time to complete assignments
Can not recall what they learned in school
Have trouble focusing or sustaining attention
Appear “unmotivated”, procrastinate, or avoid school work
Struggle with perfectionism

Have a question? Talk to a client specialist.
TESTIMONIALS
What Our Students Say

We have had a wonderful experience with PLZ. Nina does an excellent job identifying a student’s needs and pairing them with the appropriate tutor. Our child has worked with the same math tutor for several years. He has taken the time to know our child, who enjoys the tutoring sessions. These sessions reinforce concepts from the classroom and help develop study skills in other areas of study. The entire team is kind and compassionate – they understand that each student has unique strengths and needs. We are fortunate to have our child working with PLZ for math and now SAT prep. We highly recommend PLZ without reservations.
-Kim S.
Parent

Our clan is VERY happy with Parrish Learning Zone! Both of our kids started with Study Skills tutoring last school yr (7th & 9th grader). After initial tests showed that both were doing well in reading & comprehension so both were given skills that they will be able to use through the rest of their life. Organization, study, writing papers skills have been given to both kids.
We took a break over the summer months & then my son requested Nina’s help 2 weeks into his sophomore year. Why? Nina helps him to organize his schedule! He uses his weekly hour long sessions to make his “mountain” of homework/tasks turn into daily small hills of homework. They work together to constantly re-organize his folders, how he takes notes, how to study while reading his chapters, paper writing organization/writing, etc. He is VERY happy… WE are very happy!
Looking forward, we will be using their SAT/ACT prep classes as our son enters the Jr year. Thank you Parrish Learning Zone.
–the Swansons
Have a question? Talk to a client specialist.
Academic Coaching Related Blogs
Student Self-Regulation Relies on Metacognition
A recent review of the research by the Educational Endowment Foundation found metacognition and self-regulation to be the most high-impact classroom strategy taking into consideration both evidence from research and implementation cost. According to psychologist...
How to Use Deliberate Practice in the Classroom
Many of us are familiar with the idea that practice helps to improve performance. We have heard familiar mantras like, “Practice makes perfect”. We may have even read books about practice such as, Malcolm Gladwell’s, 2011 bestseller, Outliers: The Story of Success....
What Are Executive Functioning Skills?
Executive functioning skills are the mental abilities that allow us to engage in goal-oriented actions. Imagine that your executive functioning is like the air traffic controller of your brain. All of this information is flying in from all directions, and we use our...
Strategies for Staying Focused
Oftentimes we have a task to complete but run into difficulty getting it done. This is frequently due to distractions. Either we become sidetracked or overwhelmed and don’t begin or we get off task once we have started working. Here is a five step process to help stay...
Helping Students Create Routines and Schedules
Adapting to the new reality of at-home education and work can be difficult for the whole family. Children may have an especially difficult time adjusting to new changes. If your child has trouble following a regular schedule or has meltdowns when asked to switch from...
How to Create the Perfect To-Do List (for Kids!)
There are two major reasons that we don’t get things done even when we have every intention of doing them. The first is that we are not specific enough about exactly what needs to be accomplished. We need to consider what specific actions need to be taken to meet...
Will the AP Test Still Be Given in 2020?
I bet a few weeks ago you did not think you would be homeschooling your student, especially not in their AP classes! We have received many questions from parents who are wondering about AP testing and whether it is still happening. They are also not sure how to best...
How Do I Know if my Child Needs Reading Help?
Often I talk with parents who are frustrated to find that their child is one, two, or even four or more grade levels below what would match up with their year in school. They usually express some version of the same frustration,...
Not Sure How to Accomplish that Big Task? Just Get Started!
Do you spend a lot of time and energy preparing for a test only to feel like your mind goes blank once you start the assessment? This is a common experience. It happens because of the way our brain takes in, stores, and then recovers learned information. There are three phases to learning and remembering…
How to Get More Done By Making One Simple Change in Your Routine
Do you spend a lot of time and energy preparing for a test only to feel like your mind goes blank once you start the assessment? This is a common experience. It happens because of the way our brain takes in, stores, and then recovers learned information. There are three phases to learning and remembering…
Have a question? Talk to a client specialist.