testimonial
Michelle introduced excellent content to match our situation. Her high quality advice for refereeing strong personalities is no small feat! I was duly impressed by both her content and management skills.
Jessica, DYS Parent
This has been an outstanding class that my son has looked forward to every week. Michelle is a caring, insightful teacher with tremendous follow-through. Each week she worked with my son to set goals; gave specific, related assignments; provided related resources to support his learning; discussed submitted work during class with time to reflect and improve; and finally sent me an email describing what they had worked on, what they would do next and any related resources I could look up myself. She was extremely responsive to specific situations or requests–both due to her collaborative and supportive approach and the wealth of resources she brings to her work. My son gained skills and self-awareness about his own learning process. Both my son and I highly recommend her!
Jennifer N., Greece
Michelle helped me so much as a musician and artist. The time I spent with her helped me to process obstacles and guide me through my creative rut to find the next right step. I could not have done that without her. Her book recommendations were exactly what I needed, and I found her insight to be valuable and applicable. Michelle genuinely cares and goes the extra mile to help her clients achieve their goals. Michelle is trustworthy, insightful and knowledgeable, and I would absolutely recommend her to everyone I know.
Siri Steven, musician/artist
I love Michelle’s insight into intense emotions in the gifted population. It has generated numerous conversations I have been able to correlate to family life and work life. We also revisit psychological flow often. Thank you!
Rachel, DYS Parent
My profoundly gifted student has extreme emotional responses. Michelle helped us understand his reactions and act accordingly. We would like to thank her for all the tailored help and discussions.
Niharika, DYS Parent
Michelle is a very knowledgeable and well versed teacher. She is a great listener, positive and encouraging. She has relayed to him how well he is already working towards his goals. She promotes internal dialogue to allow him to assess his own gauge for viewing progress towards growth. Any child with a vision of what they want to attain can benefit from her support and guidance.
Katherine
My son chose a music based project for his senior project for graduating from high school. Michelle helped him define, execute, and revise a portfolio of songs and a thesis essay. The best part is that her guidance empowered my son to create something that was truly his expression and that he feels very proud of. We are very impressed!
Veronica V.
Michelle is amazing! She immediately connected with my 14-year-old son and has a long list of invaluable resources to help meet kids where they’re at. I very highly recommend her to all parents looking for someone to help guide and support their child!
Heather M.
Michelle is wonderful. I really like the way she gives feedback after class and continuing journal prompts or optional assignments. I also like the way she connects with my student in an intentional way while also keeping class on schedule and moving through incredible information. Her knowledge and gifts in sharing information on giftedness with children is really amazing.
Grace B.
This assessment was exactly what I was looking for, in order to determine how best to support my daughter in the areas of fluency, comprehension, and writing. I received a detailed report describing her current level in each area as well as feedback, tips, and links to various interventions, to help improve her areas of weakness. My daughter really enjoyed her time working with Ms. Michelle and didn’t feel rushed or pressured, which is really important to me. Overall, I feel that this was a high quality assessment and I plan to have Michelle reassess my daughter again next year.
Kimberly F.
Michelle is an amazing writing instructor- she’s working with my son on a five paragraph essay & I love what he’s been able to accomplish so far!
Chelsey L.
Very personalized service! I always notice a progression in my son’s reading and writing comprehension after their sessions.
Ms. C
I could not be more impressed with this teacher and these sessions. Michelle’s communication is really more helpful and thoughtful than I expected after trying out several other teachers and formats for language assessment. She has given us lots of ideas and resources to consider and my son has only just begun meeting with her. He’s 10 and incredibly gifted, slower to master some things while excelling in many things. It’s been wonderful to see my son’s confidence as he sits and does writing/reading with someone he feels respected/empowered with. He has been a reluctant reader and in only a couple weeks he’s already picking up books and reading voluntarily to siblings and friends in a new way.
Grace B.
Michelle Ptacek is a certified gifted/talented teacher and multi-talented creative. She leads groups of 5-7 or so students in daily Zoom meetups, usually consisting of a few minutes of each child giving an overview of their day, sharing any personal news or projects, a mini-lesson perfectly geared towards helping profoundly gifted and twice/multi-exceptional kids understand how their brains and social-emotional experiences tick along a little differently than a lot of kids their age, and always a little time for some jokes or fun banter or brain-building games. This class has been the best jump-start to my son’s days and the FIRST time he‘s ever had the opportunity to really get to know and interact on a regular basis with a group of kiddos that he could fully relate to. Michelle truly understands how to lead them with a sense of curiosity and genuine interest, helping through any social anxieties, keeping the conversations flowing, fun, and (incredibly) on-track. Medicine for his soul!
Erica, DYS Parent
Our 11 year old daughter has both participated in Michelle’s Davidson Young Scholars (DYS) morning homerooms and enrolled in special 1:1 instruction with Michelle for three years. Michelle quickly formed a bond with our daughter. In just a matter of months I could see substantial benefits from the time they spent together. Michelle is a very thoughtful teacher who presents engaging and pertinent materials to her students, while her patience and encouragement towards each student is unparalleled. She creates a safe space for children to be themselves while also working with them to build life skills to overcome challenges. My daughter has made some great connections and looks forward to seeing her friends every morning. On top of all that, Michelle is always responsive to my communications and always willing to share her wealth of knowledge or provide additional help. We look forward to continuing to learn with Michelle!
Megan, DYS Parent
Michelle’s class has added a great deal of joy to my DYS scholar’s day and what a wonderful outlet to discuss things that impact him so deeply for which there was no consideration outside the home just a few months ago. Thanks so much!!
Shilpa, DYS Parent
My son absolutely loves his DYS Homeroom. I think it really helped him not be frustrated with having to do homeschool.
Ann, DYS Parent
I really love what Michelle does with these kids. It’s been everything I had hoped for. She’s got her finger on the pulse of what they need and how to communicate to make each kiddo feel valued.
Jessica, DYS Parent
Michelle is an absolute gem. Daily homeroom with her has added tangible joy to my son’s day. Her classes are well structured, present children with the opportunity to use and build their social and presentation skills, and the ability to learn and discuss issues that are unique and significant to the profoundly gifted population. Michelle is a consummate professional, and her dedication to understanding and doing the best for each of her students is something we wish all educators would aspire to.
Krishna Shah (DYS Parent) and Shyam Shah (DYS Scholar)
I love DYS Homeroom because it is a safe space where I feel I can talk about my feelings with friends. It’s so fun to be around other Davidson Young Scholars in a friendly environment! I enjoy all of Michele’s mini lessons. I love and cherish every moment with Michelle and my peers.
Lauren, Age 11 (DYS Scholar)
Michelle’s approach is brilliant and my son loves her sessions.
Deepa V.
Loved our classes with Michelle. We plan to return next year. She is GREAT!! and very knowledgeable.
Jacob C