About Essig Education Group’s
Executive Function Coaching
Executive Functions are maturational brain processes and they completely develop sometime between 18-28 years old for all of us. For children, this developmental timeline does not match many of the advanced requirements of our school curricula. Boys are particularly vulnerable because their development lasts longer than girls, but girls can struggle too. For adults, who have struggled for years and find that aging doesn’t improve their executive function vulnerability, executive dysfunction can be absolutely defeating.
Despite your age, executive dysfunction can be improved with a growth mindset (the motivation and belief that you can change) and understanding what skills and strategies are needed to complete tasks thoroughly and independently. You don’t need to try to figure out how to do this on your own; coaching with Essig Education Group will offer you the steps, training, and practice needed to be successful.
If you are ready to begin the journey to better executive functions, we are ready to guide you.
What is Executive Function?
Executive Function is a broad term which covers the cognitive processes that help us govern our behaviors, actions, and outcomes. These processes are important for school and life success because they include:
Inhibition
The conscious or unconscious ability to restrain from a desire or impulse.
Initiation
The ability to start a task, even when the task is not preferred.
shift
The ability to consciously move or change your attention from one task to another.
Self Monitoring
The ability to evaluate your performance and alter your actions if necessary.
Working Memory
The ability to take information that was introduced into short term memory and begin to use, manipulate, and integrate it with our other memories.
planning & ORganizing
The ability to think about activities and time required to achieve a goal and then develop the initial strategies for success.
Materials Organization
The ability to understand, organize, and successfully use the materials necessary to complete a task.
Emotional Control
The ability to respond to demands and experiences flexibly and in a socially acceptable way to permit both spontaneous and delayed reactions that are grade and age appropriate.
In the Community
our team members
Kathy Essig, M.Ed.
Kathryn Essig, M.Ed., Founder and President of Essig Education Group, has spent nearly 30 years working in special education. Prior to starting her current practice, she worked in public and private schools as an educator and educational diagnostician; in private practice as an executive function coach; as a curriculum consultant to private schools in the Metro DC area; and as an owner and founder of a study center in McLean, VA. Kathy has spent her career observing students with variable executive function skills, training them to externalize necessary study strategies, and adapting school curricula to ensure their success.
Kathy has developed a model for student success which allows learners to understand their best organization and study strategies, then implement and individualize the skills to create learned independence. While creating the Learning Center at The Potomac School in Mclean VA, she developed a unique study skills curriculum (Essential Study Skills) which, combined with her empowering coaching, has helped numerous students meet their academic potential.
Over the last several years, Kathy has become increasingly interested in school transitions, college attrition, “failure to launch,” the students whom she refers to as rebounders, and adult executive dysfunction. Kathy’s practice focuses on the intersection of executive function, resilience, and learned independence for students and adults.
Meet Our Team
Executive
Function Specialist
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Wendy Boly, M.Ed. is a special educator who also trained and certified in Orton Gillingham, Wilson Reading Systems, Read Naturally, and Linda Mood Bell while teaching at the Lab School in Washington DC. Wendy has a deep understanding of Executive Function growth and vulnerability at all grade levels. With an educational doctrine based on helping students with key skills, Wendy helps build self-esteem and create self-reliance through personal agency. Wendy has taught students with a wide range of learning disabilities including ADHD and Executive dysfunction, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, and Autism, both verbal and non-verbal. Wendy coaches students from Kindergarten - Grade 12.
Executive
Function Specialist
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Lauren Tripodi, M.Ed . is an educator with 10+ years of teaching experience in English and Study Skills.
She holds dual degrees from The George Washington University in English and Psychology. Lauren is a Syracuse University Project Advance Certified Instructor of Study Skills, has authored Study Skills curriculum, and trained teams of educators in its implementation.
She works with prospective college students to help them find and express their voice in their application essay and works with college students as an executive function coach. Her learner-centered philosophy and teaching methods keep the focus on the learner. Lauren is committed to empowering students with the skills to achieve independence and success in both academic and life endeavors.
Executive
Function Specialist
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Kathy Martin, currently a Learning Strategist at a prestigious private school in the Southwest, has been a prominent special educator in the Washington DC area for the past 20 years. Having taught in multiple private schools, Kathy has helped innumerable students develop strong executive function skills, winning the Excellence in Education Award in 2007. Kathy’s background and training allows her the expertise to work with k-12 students and adults, but her passion lies in setting the foundation for elementary aged students.
In addition to her graduate degree in special education, Kathy has continued her training in the areas of reading and writing vulnerability/disability. She has numerous trainings and certifications in literacy intervention. These post graduate trainings allow Kathy to support the resistant reader or writer gain confidence in their work and ultimately master learned independence.
Kathy’s approach to coaching is to not only empower the student but to also involve the parent in appropriate support and communication. Kathy’s coaching schedule (living in the Pacific Time Zone) is ideal for families who need later weekday or weekend hours in order to master these skills.
Executive
Function Specialist
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Emily is a passionate, heart-centered educator, with over a decade of experience working with neurodivergent students and their caregivers. After receiving dual degrees in Elementary and K-12 Special Education from Salve Regina University, Emily moved to Washington DC to begin her teaching career in the public school system. She received her master’s degree from George Washington University with a concentration in Students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders and found her deepest passion, supporting students with the tools needed to be successful in life beyond the classroom.
With expertise ranging across disability categories and grades K-12, Emily particularly enjoys her work with middle and high school students who have ADHD and Executive Dysfunction. Her unique approach helps students navigate the bridge to adulthood through social awareness, creative planning, and interest-based learning.
Executive function specialist
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Sarah Robison has been a professional educator since graduating from Vanderbilt University many years ago. Following the completion of her M.Ed., Sarah enjoyed teaching both domestically in DC and internationally in Abu Dhabi, supporting students in Middle and High School with learning disabilities, AD/HD and executive functioning needs. After relocating back to the States in 2015, Sarah joined the team at College Living Experience, supporting young adults with Autism on their road to independence. After serving as the program director for almost three years, Sarah made the difficult decision to step back from full time work to pursue her Ed.D., again at Vanderbilt, and spend more time with her three young children.
Executive function specialist
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Amy Dollins is a dedicated educator who has not only worked in some of the most prestigious schools in LA, NYC, and Richmond VA, she has also worked with highly diverse populations, modifying curriculums with strategies to bolster executive functions. Regardless of the environment, Amy always has the same goal: to provide a safe space where students feel supported throughout the learning process and to meet students where they are while challenging them to perform at a higher level.
While completing her M.A. Ed. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Gifted and Talented, Amy became increasingly interested in twice exceptionality and began incorporating more and more executive function strategies into her curriculum planning. Amy’s educational philosophy is deeply rooted in creating an environment that meets the academic, social, and emotional needs of all her students. Her ultimate goal is to leave students with a deeper sense of self and a life-long love of learning.
GAP YEAR Specialist
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Janet Price has 17 years of professional experience in special education, as well as a previous decade-long career with the U.S. Department of State. She likes to say that her experience in diplomacy and negotiation has served her well at the IEP table.
Janet is a member of the Board of Directors of The Novus Academy in Grapevine, Texas, a private school serving students K-12 with mild to moderate learning disabilities and twice exceptional students. Janet has also served as the Assistant Vice President for Outreach and Admissions for College Living Experience, a post-secondary transition program for young adults with Autism and other learning and developmental disabilities. Prior to that she spent nearly a decade as a Special Needs Advocate, helping families in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area navigate the special education system from grades K-12, including IEPs, 504 Plans, private school placements and college accommodations. Janet brings this expertise to the process of post-secondary and gap-year exploration for students with learning and executive function challenges.
Janet is the co-author of Take Control of Asperger’s Syndrome: The Official Strategy Guide for Teens with Asperger’s Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disorder (Prufrock Press 2010), which won the 2010 TAGT Legacy Book Award, and its follow up, Take Control of Dyslexia and Other Reading Difficulties: The Ultimate Guide for Kids (Prufrock Press 2011), and has authored numerous articles in a variety of professional journals. Janet has been a guest lecturer at Towson University and American University and developed an online course in special needs advocacy offered at Catholic University. She has been a frequent presenter at national conferences on topics of special education and post-secondary transition for both families and professionals.
Writing Specialist
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Alex Byrnes is a seasoned television producer and writer with over 15 years of experience on a variety of series for ESPN, Discovery, National Geographic, and more. He is a published author and has made contributions to numerous produced screenplays. He is a graduate of Emerson College with a B.A. in film production and a minor in Writing, Literature, & Publishing.
Writing Specialist
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Jenny Essig is a graduate of The Potomac School in McLean, VA and the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in Comparative Communications (cum laude). She currently develops and produces television series and branded content for clients such as Netflix, Viceland, TLC, and Mindbodygreen. As a professional storyteller, Jenny has cultivated the ability to concisely communicate story and concepts through the written word. In her personal time, Jenny proofreads and revises academic assignments, undergraduate and graduate application essays, and marketing copy.
Director of A-V Production
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Matthew Essig had a successful career in highly competitive athletics while managing executive dysfunction. Matthew started swimming as a young boy and continued in swimming until he competed in meets alongside swimmers like Michael Phelps - in both division 1 and 3 Universities - where he still holds program records. Having spent most of his life in and around sports and having gone through the process of swimming after high school, Matthew has the hindsight and knowledge to accurately help students pursue their dreams of college through athletics. His primary belief is that if you competed in the sport as a child, there is a way to play after your high school graduation.
Director of Social Media Marketing
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Tylei Quintin has been with Kathy Essig since high school, starting as a student of Kathy's executive function coaching and eventually interning with Kathy for her senior project doing market research on how public schools in the northern Virginia/Maryland area address executive function. Now, Tylei is a graduate of the College of William & Mary class of '21 with a major in Chinese Language and Culture and a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Currently working on a certificate in digital marketing, Tylei is enjoying managing EEG's social media accounts and watching them grow.