About Erica

Erica Jesselson is the founder of Excel with Erica, a boutique private tutoring practice located in New York City. Erica lives with her husband and her three children on the Upper West Side. She supports elementary school students who are struggling with fundamental reading, writing, and math skills. She is a knowledgeable Learning Specialist who has worked with students for over a decade. Erica is passionate about meeting the needs of diverse learners. She looks at each student as a unique individual and tailors her lessons and materials to meet the needs and learning profile of the child.

Erica graduated from The University of Pennsylvania with honors. She majored in Health and Societies with a concentration in International Health. From the onset, Erica had a desire to work with kids. While at UPenn, she started working with students from a local charter elementary school. It was here, where Erica discovered her passion for teaching children.

She received her dual Masters degree in Early Childhood and Special Education from Columbia University Teachers College. Erica is passionate about supporting students who have diverse learning needs and varying learning profiles. She has experience working with students who have language based learning disabilities, dyslexia, processing delays, ADHD, and executive functioning challenges. Erica is adept at communicating and coordinating with service providers such as occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, behavioral therapists, and psychologists/psychiatrists. She also maintains regular communication with teachers, school support staff, and parents.

Erica began her teaching career at Avenues The World School as a first grade teacher. She then transitioned to Ramaz, where she taught first grade for several years. Upon completing training in intensive math and literacy programs, Erica realized she wanted to specialize in these areas. She then moved to Riverdale Country School as a Learning Specialist. At Riverdale, Erica supported students in kindergarten through third grade in literacy and math during small-group instruction, as well as pushing into the classroom and working one-on-one with students. She also supported fourth and fifth grade students who needed direct phonics instruction. 

  • "Mrs. Jesselson was truly a lifesaver for my son. Prior to joining her reading group, he would just sit at the table in the classroom and turn the pages, completely disengaged. Then she started working with him on a daily basis, introducing foundational knowledge with one-on-one instruction. He became confident in his phonemic awareness, dictation, and is now reading at an instructional grade level. She is calm, patient, and caring with her students, always transparent with feedback to the parents and an all-around partner."

    Parent of a 1st Grade Student

  • "Erica was a huge help with our son's reading and writing over the past year. We loved seeing the progress he made while working with her. And she was so responsive to our questions while making sure we understood what they were working on. Perhaps most importantly, our son loved working with her and he enjoyed their time together which made things so much easier for us. We'd definitely recommend her."

    Parent of a 2nd Grade Student

  • "When Erica met my daughter, she was very intimidated by writing. Both the act of writing and the planning for writing activities were challenging. Erica helped her learn how to use graphic organizers to effectively plan and execute writing assignments. She also worked on handwriting practice, as well as building up her writing stamina. My daughter loved working with Erica! She makes learning enjoyable, interesting, and interactive."

    Parent of a 3rd Grade Student

  • "My daughter was really struggling with math in kindergarten. Erica helped her learn early numeracy skills such as one-to-one correspondence, addition and subtraction. She even helped her with basic story problems once she was ready. Erica approached math in a creative, fun and engaging way for my daughter. Any child would be lucky to work with Erica!"

    Parent of a K Student

  • "Erica is incredible! She works with our son 2+ times per week, always finds engaging activities for him and makes learning fun! She also politely nudges us all on practicing in between sessions, and consistently updates us on progress. Our son has learned so much from Erica over the past few months, and he is making great progress with her support. We can see it each week as he builds on what they have done in prior sessions, gaining more confidence to engage with reading and writing as he enters 1st grade. We are so grateful to have Erica as a partner in supporting our son’s developing literacy!"

    Parent of a K Student

  • "Erica has been absolutely wonderful to work with! Our sometimes reluctant 1st grader quickly engaged with Erica. She found tactics that our daughter responded to and shifted gears to accommodate her changing needs. We loved her detailed reports that kept us updated on our daughter's progress. We fully recommend her!"

    Parent of a 1st Grade Student

Teaching Philosophy and Qualifications

Erica’s teaching philosophy is to make learning enjoyable, impactful, and effective.

She creates a warm, supportive, and nurturing environment in which a child’s strengths can be highlighted and drawn upon. Erica approaches both her students and their parents with immediate feedback and open communication. Erica believes in sending detailed updates to parents about what she is working on and the progress of the child. Her philosophy when dealing with families is that regular communication and transparency are key to creating a productive relationship that will further benefit the child. 

Erica is trained in the following programs:

  • Multisensory Reading Instruction (PAF)

  • Expository Writing Instruction (Hochman Method)

  • Best Practices for Reading Comprehension Instruction 

  • Wilson Reading System  

  • Fundations (Wilson Foundational Prevention Program) 

  • Singapore Math

  • Teaching Math to Students With Learning Disabilities and Math Difficulties (Learning and the Brain) 

  • Comprehensive Orton Gillingham Training

  • The Writing Revolution: Advancing Thinking Through Writing (Grades 3-12)

Learn More