WELCOME to Comprehensive Academic Coaching Solutions (CACS)! I'm glad you’re here, and you’re in the RIGHT place to find the RIGHT resources for helping your child organize themselves, their materials, manage their time, and learn helpful study strategies that they can generalize to virtually any course or class they take in school. To achieve this, I offer a number of services to help your children get and stay on the right track to becoming more efficient learners. At CACS, our mission is to provide your child with the right tools and coaching to achieve success not only in school, but throughout their lives. With varied options to accomplish this, I believe the knowledge you obtain from my teachings, whether by individual coaching or through our video classroom, will help your child find the right “recipe” for success! I provide coaching for:
Welcome to CACS! I am Dr. Randi Brown, a New York State Certified School Psychologist who has almost 30 years of experience working with children and their families. I earned my Doctorate in School Psychology from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University in 1994. An award-winning professional, in 2005 I was the recipient of the Frank Plumeau School Practitioner of the Year Award from the New York Association for School Psychologists (NYASP) and a nominee for School Psychologist of the Year representing the state of New York for the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) yearly award. In 2001 I was thrilled to be profiled by my local ABC affiliate (WABC Eyewitness News in New York) for the High School groups I ran on Test Anxiety. While I have spent most of my career thus far working in the public-school arena, I expanded my expertise to higher education. I was an Adjunct Professor for both the University of Phoenix (UOP) and the Graduate School of Education at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York. I taught undergraduate and graduate courses for 3 years in Psychology for UOP and an assessment course at Pace. Continually developing my skill set, I pursued and received certification as a Bully Prevention Specialist in 2014, and in 2015 I began a yearlong Post-Doctoral Certification in the area of School Neuropsychology, becoming a Diplomate of the American Board of School Neuropsychologists (ABSNP) in 2016 once I completed the program. Professionally, I am current with Best Practices in my profession and have been a longstanding member of NYASP and NASP. I have also published articles on various topics within the industry, in local newspapers, and I contributed to an article in Real Simple magazine on helping children organize. Lastly, I authored the guide Recognizing and Treating Anxiety in Teens, which is currently available for purchase on this site.
Now that you know my background, you may be wondering how I got here…it’s simple, really. Working in the field of school psychology for almost 30 years has afforded me unique insight into how educational trends and patterns have changed over time. The pressures our children face today and what’s expected of them seems to be at an “all-time high”. It has been my experience that many elementary and secondary schools don’t have formalized classes to teach important skills like time management, how to study, and organizing oneself; students are somehow expected to just “know” them. In reality, many students need to be taught these skills, even those that can figure most of it out for themselves.
That’s how I started to work individually with children as young as 5th grade, as old as college-age, and every age and grade in between. I created customized approaches for each of the children I worked with, teaching them skills and generating routines that, if they followed with consistency, would improve their school performance. I’ve been fortunate that several of the families I’ve worked with told their friends and so on. Before I knew it, I was soon seeing children throughout the tri-state area and remotely to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Florida.
To this end, I realized that if I created a site that encompassed not only interactive assistance but also educational videos I could reach so many more children! This niche, helping students reduce the stress they encounter each day, is one I have such a passion for! And that’s how it happened…plain and simple 😀
Each 60-minute workshop, facilitated by Dr. Randi Brown, School Neuropsychologist and Parent Educator/Coach, will provide participants with concrete, effective strategies crafted for each topic discussed
With many students returning to in-person learning this fall, organizational skills are crucial for a seamless transition back to the classroom. CACS’s Organizational Skills Boot Camp offers informative and timely workshops on many of the skills students need for a smooth and successful transition back to school.
In-person Available in Westchester and Putnam Counties in New York
Dr. Brown can work individually with your child in your home or mutually convenient location. Different from the larger learning centers, Dr. Brown will create a customized approach specific to your child based upon their own individual needs.
During these sessions, Dr. Brown will tailor study strategies and other organizational support based upon your child’s particular weaknesses that they can then apply to practically every subject taught. Test anxiety reduction is addressed and discussed in order to maximize performance. Study strategies tailored to his/her individual style of learning.
Parents often want to know what they can do to help their children but don’t know what to do. Dr. Brown can help you set up specific routines and answer your questions to help better support your children.
Similar in part to Individual Coaching, Small Group Coaching offers a more “tried and true” opportunity for participants to engage in dialogue in a safe space to learn from each other and Dr. Brown. Members will be able to share their own experiences of strategies that may or may not have worked for them while learning new ideas and approaches on various topics. Test anxiety, study strategies, and executive functioning skills will be addressed with takeaway tools to implement the very same day! This type of coaching is based upon available groups and candidates at the time of sign-up. Maximum group size of 6 to ensure individual assistance.
A 15 minute follow up phone call once programs have ended, recommended for at least 3 months
4 – 55-minute sessions | Coaching sessions online will address the same content as that conducted in-person. Sessions can be either video or telephone calls and are often utilized in on-going session packages with Dr. Brown, particularly when in the maintenance phase.
4 – 55-minute sessions | Coaching sessions online will address the same content as that conducted in-person. Sessions can be either video or telephone calls and are often utilized in on-going session packages with Dr. Brown, particularly when in the maintenance phase.
At CACS we work with students from Middle School through College, and if requested, beyond. We have extensive experience working with all different kinds of learners across the spectrum, from Honors students to those with educational challenges. Some of our clients may have difficulty with their grade-level curriculum or have learning styles consistent with diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and/or specific learning disabilities.
In the area of one-to-one coaching, Dr. Brown will create an individualized program depending upon the child’s needs. For example, some students might be able to organize pretty well but need help with study skills. Others might have the opposite issue or different variations of need altogether. In all, we will help pinpoint the child’s areas of strengths and weaknesses and tailor effective strategies to enhance their current academic experience.
While it’s difficult to provide a “cookie cutter” response to this question, typically children and young adults require between 3-8 sessions of direct consult, again, depending upon their needs. Once completed, students are asked to then schedule follow up sessions as check-ins – to see what’s working and tweak what might not be.
“At CACS we welcome working with students of all ages attending college. Different from the secondary educational experience, the college student now has the responsibility of managing their entire academic career. We at CACS understand that just because a student enters college doesn’t mean they know how to effectively make this transition. What we can provide for the college student is a means of establishing weekly sessions to address current work load, keeping tabs on managing time, planning for assignments and the time to work on them, refreshing study skills, and be an “ear” for supporting students who need to have the additional guidance. Some students might require this level of support only freshman year, others might need it throughout their college career. In any case, we are here to support you in whatever way you need our assistance.
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NO – the products and services provided by CACS are NOT therapy nor are there any areas of the coaching relationship that will be used as a therapeutic tool. Coaching by CACS helps the student learn specific academic and organizational strategies they can apply to their education. Students are given encouragement and positive reinforcement to help keep them motivated to use the tools they will learn. If you feel your child needs something more than what’s described here and on our website, it might be helpful to explore those issues directly with an appropriate professional.
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