Best Colleges in Atlanta, GA

From the Business:Lida’s career working with students began in 1975 in Jefferson, Georgia where she taught English and remedial reading at Jefferson High School. After stints at Bainbridge Island Middle School in the state of Washington and the Falk School at the University of Pittsburgh, Lida and her husband moved to Atlanta. Her first job in Atlanta was at the Westminster Schools and then she became the first English teacher when Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School opened its new high school in 1990. Lida returned to the classroom herself to get a Master’s degree in counseling and became Holy Innocents’ first upper school counselor. It was at that time that Lida found her perfect niche. She loved working with students in an environment that involved both teaching and counseling. In 1998, Lida began her educational counseling firm, Lida Griest Educational Counseling, LLC. Since that time Lida has worked with many families helping them identify the “right” school fit for their children. She enjoys working with all ages of students ranging from five-year-olds to students applying to graduate programs. Her background as both an English teacher and a school counselor, plus a deep desire to help students succeed, gives Lida a unique perspective as an educational consultant. Lida takes the time to fully understand the abilities and interests of her students and their families to best assist them in achieving the “right” school fit.Read more

From the Business:Morgan Stewart, a graduate of Yale University, and Stephanie Dylewski, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have long been passionate about students and education, specifically finding the right academic programs for their students and ensuring that their clients are adequately prepared for those programs. Both women have spent their entire adult lives mentoring and working with middle and high school students to help them thrive in school and improve their adolescent experiences. Morgan and Stephanie truly have fun with each student and find tremendous reward in shepherding their clients through high school course selection, extracurricular involvement and development, college list building, college applications, standardized test prep, and the extensive writing requirements of any rigorous middle or high school curriculum. Below is a list of the colleges and universities to which Morgan and Stephanie have helped students gain acceptance. Morgan and Stephanie highly value the art of good writing and public speaking, and they believe that clients of all ages can benefit from learning, or re-learning, effective, grammatically sound writing and public speaking skills. The Writing and Public Speaking Center at Within Reach Education serves students and working professionals who need guidance with papers, emails, memos, presentations and more. Within Reach consults clients on an as-needed, hourly basis, in person or via phone and email.Read more

From the Business:The mission of Woodfin & Associates is to provide a service that is supportive and compassionate to families; clinically sophisticated in regard to the issues that affect young people today; and informed and current, through ongoing visits, about the schools and programs available to our students. We guide individual families to the particular schools and programs where their students will thrive, intellectually, physically and emotionally, and where the adolescents’ passions will be fed. Woodfin & Associates currently confines the college counseling practice to helping those students who are not ready for the conventional college experience to identify interim or alternative options. These options may include a variety of gap year programs, independent living programs or post-secondary year placements.Read more

From the Business:Students and families often find the task of choosing a school or college one of the most overwhelming decisions they face. Often, families are in crisis and this makes the task all the more daunting. As they struggle to evaluate options and make decisions, most families find themselves unsure of which path to take. Finding the best path to follow for each child is one of the key benefits families discover through working with an experienced educational consultant. An educational consultant is a skilled professional who provides counseling to help students and families choose a school, college or other program that is a good personal match: one that will foster a particular student’s academic, social, and emotional growth. Educational consultants can provide the student and family with individual attention, firsthand knowledge of hundreds of educational opportunities, and the time to explore all of the options. Finally, we offer assistance in college placement for those students looking for smaller or more specialized institutions. There are many smaller colleges and universities that offer opportunities for a more individualized educational path than large schools. We work with students to identify schools that meet their personal higher education wants and goals. In addition, we also work with students that have special needs or learning disabilities and assist them in identifying higher education options for which they would be best suited.Read more

From the Business:Richard Kaplan, M.Ed., Sp.Ed, has been helping individuals and families with special education advocacy and to understand their learning issues and navigate the education system for over 35 years. His graduate study in the field of Cognitive Therapy/Special Education began in the 1970’s at Florida State University where he was chosen to participate in a highly selective pioneering program designed to train educators in a new method for addressing the needs of the special education population. Through the identification of individual cognitive weaknesses and strengths, combined with cognitive therapy, Richard Kaplan found that more forward momentum could be achieved in the learning process with long-lasting results.Read more