New York City Metro Area

New York City Faculty My Learning Springboard's faculty is comprised of top-notch educators at every level from private, public, and charter schools as well as colleges, universities, and subject matter experts in their respective industries. Our faculty is based in the NYC metro area, including parts of Westchester and Long Island. Other locations include Washington, DC metro area, Northwest DC, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac, and Rockville, Maryland; and Palm Beach County, Florida, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Palm Beach. We are available for consultation, virtual tutoring and distance learning beyond these areas as well.

Nathalie Biju-Duval

February 2, 2023

Born and raised in Paris, France, Nathalie Biju-Duval spent summers in Catalunya, Spain, where her family still owns a home in the small town of Begur. It was here, while playing with other children her age, that Nathalie became fluent in Spanish.

Nathalie’s family relocated to Grenoble, France (near the Alps) where she attended High School at the Lycée Champollion, a public school. She then attended the Law University of Assas in Paris, where she received her Masters in International and European Law. She was always interested in traveling and meeting people from various countries, believing that the ability to communicate in different languages is key to appreciating various cultures and having a greater understanding of the world.

In the nineties, Nathalie Biju-Duval moved to New York City and began working at an International law firm as an intern before becoming a paralegal specializing in US/French/Spanish business transactions. Along with overseeing and supervising a staff of three assistants and two paralegals, Nathalie translated numerous documents and contracts from French/Spanish into English and vice/versa. She also served as the interpreter for attorneys and clients of the firm.

Nathalie is also very good at interacting with young people and has very close relationships with her niece and nephews with whom she has a strong trusted connection. She also helped the daughter of a very good friend of hers when she became interested in learning French and enrolled in classes in college. On many occasions, Nathalie assisted her when she needed help with her assignments. She guided her throughout the chapters with patience and understanding, helping to improve her vocabulary and correcting her translations and syntax. Nathalie always tried to be very positive and encouraging, which really helped her a lot in achieving her goal. It is these relationships that inspired Nathalie to work with middle, high school, and college students as a private tutor.

Nick Thomas

January 30, 2023

Nick Thomas has tutored for over 20 years in London, New York and Los Angeles, tutoring students in all five continents, including members of the Royal family, descendants of Presidents and other prominent business, artistic and political families around the globe. His broad familiarity with the academic systems of the US, the UK and Europe help inform his incisive and far-reaching approach to tutoring.

Nick is a passionate believer that the ultimate goal of education is to teach problem-solving skills, which are all too often overlooked in most schools. By teaching students not just the facts, but how to make sense of those facts, how they interlink and how to apply them, Nick’s students end up being more engaged, more excited, and more empowered to think for themselves, consequently getting better marks and getting more out of their regular school experience.

This all-important, life-long skill of problem-solving, which will set up your child for success in college and in their chosen career, can truly be learnt and taught on any subject. So while it is not surprising that Nick is enormously in demand for all levels of test preparation and math, he is equally able to help students who are stuck in Latin, modern languages, essay-writing, English literature and science. By focussing on the logic and meaningfulness of these subjects, Nick’s students click with the material, after which the material comes alive, becomes more interesting, and ultimately leads to the results that are desired.

Nick was a scholar at Eton College and Oxford University, wrote a column for the Guardian newspaper, published a book about advanced sudoku and appeared on the BBC to discuss solving logic problems. He also came second in the UK’s first ever Sudoku championship. More surprisingly, he is also a comedy writer and actor with over 15 million views online, and regularly collaborates with grammy-award-winning singer Jason Mraz. His sense of humor and creativity make sure that his sessions are always energetic and never dull!

Hillary Jordan

January 30, 2023

Hillary Jordan is an internationally bestselling author, screenwriter, writing teacher, and public speaker whose novels, Mudbound and When She Woke, have been translated into 16 languages. Mudbound won the prestigious PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, among other awards, and was adapted into a 2017 Netflix film that earned four Academy Award Nominations. Hillary has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia and a BA in English from Wellesley College. She speaks French with near fluency.

Hillary is a passionate proponent of good writing as an essential life skill that is an invaluable asset in any academic, social, or professional endeavor. She takes great pride in helping students of all levels express themselves with greater confidence, clarity, and concision.

Using a flexible approach tailored to each individual’s needs and strengths, she gives students the analytical and linguistic tools to write with intention and structure compelling arguments that persuade a reader, whether it be an English teacher, a college admissions director, or a grader for the ACT essays.

Hillary received a 5 on the AP English exam and has scored consistently in the 99th percentile in the Reading/Writing/Language sections of standardized tests, including the ACT, PSAT, SAT, and GRE. She is excited to help students navigate these tests and make them less intimidating by teaching them how to break down essays and literary passages into their elements and read closely for enhanced comprehension.

Hillary’s essays and reviews have been published in The New York Times Book Review, McSweeney’s, PASTE, and Outside Magazine. She has taught workshops for Stanford, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Hudson Opera House, as well as many workshops and craft talks at literary festivals.

She is represented for screenwriting by Anonymous Content and has been a member of the Writer’s Guild of America East since 2019. She lives in Brooklyn, along with half the writers in America.

Rachel Levinsky

January 30, 2023

Rachel Levinsky has been an educator for over 20 magical years. She has been a New York City public school educator for 18 years, and has also taught in Chile, Egypt, Taiwan, and Shanghai.

Rachel’s undergraduate studies at Colorado College, graduate work at Columbia University’s Teacher College for a master’s in curriculum development, Hunter College for certification in administration, and Hamline University for a master’s in TESOL have prepared her with the skills to plan tailored curriculum for specific student needs. Rachel has two sons and the family enjoys hiking, camping, traveling, and lots of baking. The house is always filled with the scent of someone’s cooking project and the walls are lined with everyone’s favorite books. Rachel loves incorporating these interests into her teaching, often teaching fractions through baking or sewing projects, or working on writing skills by creating plays. No matter what your child’s interests are, Rachel will find a way to include those special assets in their work together.

Rachel Levinsky has teaching and private tutoring experience with all elementary ages and also taught middle school for eleven years. Rachel has been a classroom teacher, English as a New Language teacher, and an interventionist, supporting struggling learners in reading, writing, or math. Teaching so many different subjects and students has helped Rachel develop a facility with adapting to any new learning environment and meeting any student’s needs accordingly. Rachel always incorporates games and projects so that learning is fun and engaging.

Rachel works to light the spark that leads to a lifelong love of reading. Matching children to the perfect book series is a particular joy. Rachel has a wide library of books for all levels of readers. She is trained in Heggerty, Sounds in Motion, and works with a Bank Street literacy initiative. All of these programs develop children’s phonemic awareness, as hearing the sounds that compose our words is the basis for reading. Rachel is also trained in Fundations and SPIRE, two Orton-Gillingham based programs that systematically develop phonics. Rachel also has 18 years of experience teaching with the Teachers College Reading and Writing units of study to develop reading comprehension.

Rachel is currently using the Illustrative Math program, a constructivist program that provides multiple opportunities for learners to build number sense through games and problem solving. She also has experience with Engage Math. Rachel works to build students’ confidence in math through games to develop number sense and applying literacy skills to understanding word problems.

Rachel has experience preparing students for the NYSESLAT test (a test that measures English language proficiency in New York State), the New York State ELA test, and the New York State Math test.

Rachel believes in asset-minded teaching, harnessing your child’s strengths to approach the areas of struggle. With engaging activities and games, your children will develop a growth mindset, understanding that while certain skills might be challenging for them now, they are always making progress.

Emma Kash

October 10, 2022

Emma Kash always dreamed of having her own classroom as a child and looked up to her elementary school teachers. She made those dreams come true after graduating in 2014 from Keene State College, in Keene, NH, with Bachelor of Science degrees in elementary and special education, and a third major in English. She received her NCATE accredited certification from the state of New Hampshire in elementary education for grades K-6 and special education for grades K-12. After graduation, Emma moved back to her hometown near Albany, New York, and received her NYS certification in childhood education for grades 1-6 as well as teaching students with disabilities for grades 1-6. Shortly after, she began long-term substituting as a special educator in the Albany area. By 2015, Emma decided to fulfill another dream of hers and move to NYC, where she joined the Department of Education and has worked as a special educator in grades K-5 for the last 7 years. During the first year, Emma worked in Mill Basin, Brooklyn as a kindergarten teacher and Special Education Teacher Support Services provider for kindergarten and 1st grade students. From there, she moved to teach in Harlem at P.S. 123, Mahalia Jackson School, as a 2^nd grade special education teacher in an inclusion classroom (ICT). In 2017, she moved to P.S. 124, Yung Wing Elementary, in Chinatown. At P.S. 124, she has taught grades 3-5 as a special educator in the inclusion classrooms (ICT). Emma has many years of experience working with students with ADHD, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), students with speech and language-based learning disabilities, and students with a variety of other learning challenges. Through her work as a special educator and learning specialist, she has taught lessons and skill building focused on developing executive functions, along with modifying the academic curriculum to fit the needs of her students.

Emma Kash regularly engages in professional development. In 2022, Emma was trained in grading the NYS ELA test and has since graded 3^rd through 5^th grade assessments. This experience was especially useful in her classroom as well as her private tutoring in order to incorporate test preparation into her teaching. Emma is also trained in the Wilson Intervention Program, which included the Fundations and Just Words programs. These Orton-Gillingham based programs help students with phonics and word work, including a variety of multisensory decoding strategies. Emma also attended Social Emotional Learning (SEL) professional development and has joined her school RULER team, which promotes incorporating social-emotional learning and strategies into schools and communities. Though Emma specializes in literacy and word work, she has successfully implemented NYC math curricula while teaching in the elementary school setting. For several years, Emma has been using the SAVVAS Realize Investigations Math curriculum, aligned with Common Core Standards. In the past, she used Go Math and prior to that has used Engage NY Math, Eureka Math, and IXL Learning.

Recently, Emma has been attending SUNY Oneonta through a remote Master of Education program in literacy education. By the Spring of 2023, Emma will graduate with a Master of Education degree in literacy education and will apply for certification in literacy. Another goal for Emma is to one day help other educators best improve their literacy teaching strategies and support students with literacy needs.

When Emma is not teaching, she is enjoying cooking at home in Astoria, Queens with friends and traveling the world. Emma seeks to inspire her students to follow their hopes and dreams by expanding on her own.

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New York City Metro Area

Nathalie Biju-Duval

Nick Thomas

Hillary Jordan

Rachel Levinsky

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation