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Our Tutors

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Meet Chris

TUTOR & FOUNDER OF NOURISHING MINDS

With over 10 years of experience in elementary schools, middle schools (both as a teacher and administrator), and over 18 years of experience tutoring, I have a commitment to success and unfaltering high expectations of all learners under my tutelage. I have a history of raising attainment and achievement. More specifically, I specialize in raising attainment in standardized test scores. I believe in teaching highly engaging and practical lessons, and strive for excellence through consistent high quality, precision teaching. I achieve success by building trust in my students through mutual respect and empathy, and most importantly, having a bit of fun while learning together!

Besides tutoring, life keeps me very busy. I am the very proud father of 3 children (two boys and a girl), and the 1st Assistant Chief with the Wilton Fire Department. 


Meet Lauren

SPECIAL EDUCATION

As a certified special education teacher and literacy specialist, I have spent the past 11 years teaching children with autism, ranging in ages from 4 to 11. I specialize in developing and adapting curriculum to meet the individual needs of each student and to make learning accessible for all children. I believe that all students can learn and thrive, and my aim is to determine how to best accomplish this goal. I consider each student’s interests and strengths and use this information to make learning enjoyable and motivating.


Meet Tracey

MUSIC THERAPY

My love of music started when I was little and Nanny would play “Darktown Strutters Ball” on the piano and my Mom, Aunt, cousins and I would dance along. I started playing piano when I was six years old and knew that I wanted to be a music therapist when I was 16.

I received my Bachelors of Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, and my Masters of Science from Molloy College on Long Island. I have been a board certified music therapist since 2005 and have worked with numerous populations, including geriatrics, special needs pre-school, children in a residential foster program, and medically fragile children. When not musicing, I love spending time with my son, Brady, and my husband, Scott. I love reading and I’ve loved introducing Brady to the library and the magic of books.

- Tracey Puckhaber, MT-BC, MS


Meet Jill

SPANISH

Jill Dugan’s love of learning languages began in middle school when she started learning Spanish. As a first generation child of German immigrants and a mother that had lived also in Argentina, she continued the study of Spanish in college, where she spent one year in Spain, taking classes at the University of Salamanca. 

Jill has taught Spanish for 45 years, beginning her career in Virginia and recently retired from teaching in a public school in the Capital Region. She enjoys working with students of all ages and loves to travel and cook. 


Meet Allison

MATH, READING, WRITING, SPECIAL EDUCATION

Allison is a certified teacher with a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Connecticut. Allison, also has a business degree in Marketing and did a complete career change to becoming a teacher while raising her 3 kids. She moved to Saratoga Springs with her husband and kids in 2014. She is certified in grades K-8. and has been teaching and tutoring for over 20+ years. She has worked in Connecticut as a teacher for 13 years, along with the Saratoga Springs City School District since 2017. She has also done substituting work in the Ballston Spa School District and 1+ year at the Saratoga Independent School. 

Allison has had a great deal of experience working with students in General Education and Special Education and identifying their needs. She specializes in Math, Reading and Writing. She loves tutoring students and it shows by the success rate of all the happy students and families she has worked with over the years. The most important goal for Allison, is for each student to believe in themselves. Her talent is boosting every student’s self-esteem and motivation to learn. Allison makes sure that every student believes in themselves. She makes learning fun and always develops a great rapport with all her students. When Allison isn’t tutoring, she loves to paint, garden, and spend time at the beach with her family.


Meet Tziona

MATH

Tziona Rose is a passionate math tutor, who has been professionally tutoring since 2011. She has her bachelors in mathematics from Binghamton University, and her Masters in the Art of Teaching from Empire State College. Currently she is working on getting her New York State Teaching License.

Tziona has consistently taken students and empowered them in mathematics, taking them from failing to succeeding in their mathematics abilities, and helping them love math as much as she does. When Tziona is not tutoring she is enjoying life in Saratoga Springs; you can usually find her at the Saratoga Public Library or at the Westside Rec with her two daughters.


Meet Andy

MATH, SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES

Andy has thirty years’ experience teaching Math, Science, and Social Studies in both public and private schools. He has undergraduate degrees in Civil Engineering and History, and a Master’s in Teaching.  After retiring from the classroom two years ago, he has tutored a variety of courses within those subjects including Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Geometry, Precalculus, Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Global and US History, Economics, and Government. He has worked with students having a wide range of learning aptitudes, learning styles and learning differences. 

He is committed to the idea that tutoring is an opportunity to help a student not only to overcome existing difficulties, but more importantly to develop the skills, the understanding, and the confidence in their own abilities so that they can move forward and achieve success on their own. 


Meet Gorman

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Gorman Ruggiero started working with Children on the Autism Spectrum in 1982, when most children were not being diagnosed. At that time they were called ‘challenged children’ and Gorman began developing modified acting techniques to teach them fundamental communication skills. Ruggiero was a Conservatory Trained Classical Actor and found that these techniques could be used therapeutically very early on. Gorman worked at numerous schools, community centers, mental health centers and colleges setting up programs for his Communication Skills Process (CSP), LLC where group work was vital to improving the lives of special needs children and their parents.

Ruggiero developed CSP programs at Philadelphia Mental Health Center, Delaware Valley Childrens Center, Bristol Township School District, SUNY Purchase Psychology Program, Resources for Human Development in Philadelphia, and the King School and Edison School in Portchester N. Y., and several cities in China, among others.

Ruggiero is founder and Executive Director of World Theatre of Children (WToC) where he combined typically developing children and Children on the Autism Spectrum in the performance of plays and musicals. This work engaged siblings and parents in a community-wide process that helped in the education of people unfamiliar with Autism and/or special needs children.


Meet Adrienna

SCIENCE, MATH, SAT PREP

I am a National Board certified science teacher who has taught middle school science, and tutored a variety of subjects from math to SAT prep for almost ten years. Building relationships with my students is always my number one priority, because once a student trusts you, they’re willing to take on academic challenges and open up to you about where they’re truly struggling.

In my free time, I like to read and write stories of my own, and I bring that same kind of creativity to my lessons with students, finding new and engaging ways to teach them concepts.

  • "Chris has been tutoring my son in math for 4 or 5 years now. We mostly utilize him so my son stays on top of his lessons and any questions can be answered as they arise. My son consistently earns top marks.

    Chris is patient but also firm…He does not give the answers but helps him to work through problems to find the solution. He has helped build my son’s confidence. We highly recommend!"

    - Jessica

  • "We were referred to Nourishing Minds by friends of ours, and it felt a bit like being let into a best kept secret. We are having an outstanding experience. Both of our elementary school aged children have gained confidence in themselves since we started working with Nourishing Minds. They've also learned a lot of new tactics for understanding, breaking down, and solving math problems.

    Schools are teaching math in very new and helpful ways, but as a parent who learned this "the old way," it can be difficult to support kids when I don't even understand the new methods. In every way, working with Nourishing Minds has been the right move!"

    - Chloe

  • "Chris tutored my young son for several years, following a dyslexia diagnosis. He was very patient and implemented several strategies to improve my son's reading and phonics ability.

    His initial assessment and advice was extremely useful when we requested Special Ed services from our district. I would highly recommend Chris, and Nourishing Minds tutoring services for any child who is struggling in school!"

    -Erin

  • "We have used Nourishing Minds for six years for math tutoring. Our tutor, Tziona, is excellent and both my kids really enjoy working with her. She is skilled in all courses of middle school and high school math. Tziona is also flexible with schedule changes when things come up, which is great, so we don't miss a beat.

    I have recently requested a physics tutor and he will be coming next week. I would highly recommend Nourishing Minds for Tutoring."

    - Brittany

  • "Two of my children had the opportunity to work with Chris regarding some gaps in their literacy development in 1st and 2nd grade. He did an incredible job working with them. Lessons were prepared well and information was provided to me at each session to allow me to see their progress and skill development.

    They made excellent progress and filled the gaps with solid foundational understanding. They are now in middle and high school and I credit Chris with helping them to learn and reinforce those critical foundational skills."

    - Nancy

  •  " Chris of Nourishing Minds Tutoring has been working with my eight-year-old daughter in math for several months. In that time, we have seen an incredible improvement in her test scores and her confidence. Chris is patient and kind, yet knows when to be firm and encourage my daughter to overcome her hesitation when answering math problems.

    The work that Chris did with our daughter over the summer also prepared her for what would be taught at the beginning of the 3rd grade. She started the year feeling confident and unafraid of new concepts, such as multiplication, and has been bringing home A’s on her math tests for the first time. I highly recommend Nourishing Minds Tutoring!"

    - Kim

  • "Chris has been a lifesaver for us! He started tutoring our son 2 summers ago, when we found out he was behind and at risk of having to repeat a year of math. Chris came to our house and tutored our son twice a week that summer and got him to where he needed to be by the fall, no repeating a year of math!! He is knowledgable about the various school curriculums, great with the kids, instills confidence and gives you a report after each session.

    Almost two years later, Chris is still coming on a weekly basis and it helps to keep our son on task.... plus, we're not ready to let Chris go just yet!"

    - Lindsay

  • "Chris has been tutoring our son, William for two years and we are thrilled with his progress. He was transferring from a private school into the public school system. Through the placement exam, we discovered that William was behind in math compared to his peer group in the public school system. The goal was to help him reach grade level and pass the entrance exam into the enriched math program.

    With Chris' help, he was successful and is now taking enriched math and doing very well. More importantly, he is no longer anxious but is confident and enjoying math! Chris continues to work with William and provides an additional level of support. William can review concepts that he may not have fully understood in class in a judgment free setting. Chris also works with our schedule should conflicts arise. William looks forward to his tutoring sessions with Chris."

    - Nell