All Articles tagged Teacher

Evelisse Mercado

September 22, 2014

Evelisse Mercado is a highly experienced and dedicated educator with over a decade of teaching expertise. Currently in her fifth year at the Valhalla Union Free School District, Evelisse has taught both first and second grade, and she presently serves as a second-grade teacher. Beyond the classroom, she is a Grade Level Leader responsible for planning curriculum, ensuring instructional alignment with the Next Generation Learning Standards, and supporting colleagues in delivering high-quality lessons. She also serves as her school’s ELA Data Analyst, where she drives instruction across the entire K–2 building by closely monitoring reading, foundational skills, and writing data to inform effective teaching practices.

Evelisse began her career as a Master Teacher in the New York City Department of Education, where she taught first, second, third, and fifth grade in both general education and Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) settings. She has extensive experience creating and implementing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and supporting a wide range of student needs, including those with Speech and Language Impairments, Learning Disabilities, Executive Functioning Disorders, ADD/ADHD, Anxiety, and high-functioning Autism. She also taught summer school for four years at Mount Pleasant Blythedale Union Free School District, where she specialized in supporting students with diverse learning needs.

A reflective practitioner, Evelisse is committed to continuously improving her teaching methods. She personalizes learning for each student by building on their strengths while addressing areas for growth, which has consistently resulted in significant academic progress. Her ability to foster strong partnerships with families is at the heart of her success, creating a supportive and collaborative environment that helps every child thrive.

Evelisse’s experience extends beyond in-person instruction. She is adept at using online collaborative tools such as Zoom, Google Workspace, and other digital platforms to design interactive, engaging virtual lessons. Her students remain motivated and eager to learn—whether in the classroom or online.

Currently pursuing her second Master’s degree in School Building Leadership at City College, Evelisse continues to expand her expertise as both a teacher and educational leader. She believes educators serve as role models in and out of the classroom, and she is passionate about motivating and inspiring young learners to reach their fullest potential.

With her wealth of experience, data-driven approach, and commitment to personalized learning, Evelisse Mercado offers private tutoring that is engaging, effective, and tailored to the unique needs of every child.

Sara Levin

August 28, 2014

Sara Levin is currently a Private Tutor and teacher at PS 172 in Brooklyn, a high performing Blue Ribbon award winning school, where she has taught in both third grade general education and inclusion (ICT) settings. Sara received her B.A. from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in 2005, with a major in Political Science and a minor in Spanish.

Sara then worked in advertising and media planning in New York City at Universal McCann and Allied Advertising, providing media plans and negotiating deals for print advertising for movie studio film releases. A career in education was always at the back of Sara’s mind. Eventually she realized how unfulfilled she felt working in advertising, and kept finding herself daydreaming about teaching, so she decided to go for it. She earned a Master’s in Childhood Education and Special Education from New York University in 2009.

While attending graduate school at NYU, Sara student taught in a second grade micro-ICT class within the ASD NEST program at PS 32 in Brooklyn where she provided instruction to high functioning children on the Autism Spectrum as well as general education students in an inclusion class. She also student taught in a fourth and fifth grade self-contained special education class at P.S. 212, where she learned a lot about the importance of structure and organization in the classroom. Both of these experiences taught her valuable lessons about differentiating instruction, tailoring teaching to the individual children.

In addition to teaching third grade for the past four years PS 172, Sara has been very involved in their curriculum development and implementation for reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies, as well as the school’s strong test preparation curriculum. She has experience working with programs such as EngageNY Math, GoMath, Everyday Math, Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop, Fundations as well as with Math and ELA test preparation. She has worked with diverse learners within the special education community, English Language Learners, and gifted learners, and believes that every student can learn.

Sara believes it is up to the teacher to get to know each child and find the materials and teaching strategies to best support and teach each student. Sara also feels strongly about empowering each student and building confidence. Sara has used her strong communication skills to build relationships with colleagues and families within the school community.

Outside of the classroom, Sara loves to travel, ski and play tennis, read, try new restaurants and spend time with her friends and family in New York City and New Jersey, especially at the beach!

Kovan Pillai

August 28, 2014

Kovan Pillai, PhD, is the Executive Director of the New York Math Circle and currently provides private tutoring and enrichment teaching with My Learning Springboard. He previously taught at the United Nations International School.

Kovan Pillai started teaching mathematics in 1985 and in between teaching stints has worked as an astrophysicist, a medical researcher and a portfolio manager, applying mathematics in these different fields. He graduated from Oxford University with a First Class Honors degree in Mathematics and also holds a PhD in Statistics from NYU, where he won the prestigious Edward Deming Fellowship. He has published research articles in General Relativity and also on the development of CPAP technology in the medical field. Kovan has taught in Hong Kong, London and New York and has extensive experience with students of all levels and ages from 6^th Grade through college.

As a parent of a Trevor Day School alum and private tutor, Kovan has developed a deep understanding of mathematical challenges faced by students at each grade level and has prepared students for standardized tests, including the ACT, SAT, SAT subject tests (Math 1 and 2), AP Calculus AB and BC and also the mathematics competitions AMC 8, AMC 10, AMC 12 and AIME. He also tutors college students, including mathematics majors.

Areas of expertise: Pre-algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, Trigonometry, Geometry, Number Theory, Pre-Calculus, Calculus (AB and BC), various undergraduate mathematics courses and statistics.

In his spare time, Kovan enjoys cycling around New York.

Jaime Mezon

August 21, 2014

Jaime Mezon is passionate educator and private tutor. Most recently, he was on faculty at The Elisabeth Morrow School as a first grade head teacher. Before that, Jaime was on faculty at Avenues in Chelsea where he was a teacher in a Spanish immersion section of kindergarten. Additionally, Jaime worked as an admissions consultant for Avenues. As an admission consultant, Jaime assessed a variety of incoming students through model lessons and hosted playgroups. He joined Avenues from P.S./I.S. 210, Twenty-First Century Academy for Community Leadership in Manhattan, where he worked as a teacher in a bilingual special education fifth grade classroom.

Prior to P.S./I.S. 210, Jaime Mezon was an assistant teacher, supporting classroom teachers in an inclusive special education kindergarten classroom at P.S. 029 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. He facilitated the Kids Club after-school enrichment program, where he practiced motor skills with lower elementary students through arts and crafts and provided homework support to middle school students. Prior to this role, he provided language instruction to emergent bilingual Spanish-speaking students, and tutored K-6 students in various subjects through the Alianza Dominicana MOSAIC Beacon in the Bronx. Jaime creates an environment where children are motivated and confident in their abilities to perform above expectations. He is skilled in Fundations, Wilson’s reading system, Handwriting without Tears, TERC Investigations, GO Math, Math in Focus, Singapore Math and ReadyGEN.

Jaime Mezon received a B.A. in Economics from SUNY New Paltz and an M.S.Ed. in Bilingual Special Education from the City College of New York. He is fluent in both Spanish and English.

In his free time, Jaime enjoys reading, traveling, playing basketball, and spending time with family.

Eminesse Gonzalez

June 4, 2014

Eminesse Gonzalez is currently a Learning Specialist on faculty at The Spectrum School, working with Kindergarten and first grade students with autism spectrum disorder. Eminesse also teaches a 1st Grade class on Saturday mornings through the GO Project, providing extra support to students in public schools and teaching reading, writing, and math strategies that are aligned with the Common Core Standards. As a private tutor, she works with a wide range of learners in elementary and middle school. Eminesse received both her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree from Pace University, with a combined focus in Elementary Education and Special Education.

Eminesse has provided instruction in an array of different environments, working with first, third and fourth grade students from diverse backgrounds. Her experiences have helped her to her fully understand that every child is unique and learns differently. In Valhalla, New York, Eminesse worked as a student teacher where she gained experience with differentiation in regards to literacy and math. In Manhattan, New York, Eminesse was welcomed into a new academic community where she gained her first experience teaching in an inclusion classroom. For a full academic year, she assisted students of different cultural, linguistic and economic backgrounds who, she is proud to say, demonstrated tremendous growth by the end of the year.

Eminesse exudes a genuine passion for teaching and learning. In 2013, she had the opportunity to present at the 9^th International Literacy Conference in Guatemala City, Guatemala. While visiting underprivileged schools in Guatemala, Eminesse had the opportunity to share interdisciplinary teaching methods with educators around from the world. Her main objective was to invite teachers to utilize more creative approaches in the hopes of enhancing literacy within all academic subjects. For Eminesse, visiting Guatemala City was an eye opening experience that reinforced the concepts of collaboration, differentiation, and being a reflective practitioner.

Eminesse currently resides in the Lower East Side area of Manhattan where she enjoys reading, trying new restaurants, and spending time with family and friends. This year she hopes to continue her love of traveling, which she attributes to her open-mindedness and love of learning.

All Articles tagged Teacher

Evelisse Mercado

Sara Levin

Kovan Pillai

Jaime Mezon

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation