The systems students need to handle
rising expectations.
Students often have more capability than their habits show.
Academic and Executive Function Coaching starts with understanding how a student works and builds from there: a planner that actually gets used, a homework routine that holds, a way of approaching a large project that makes it feel manageable. Every system is shaped around the student.
How much support a student needs shapes how the coaching runs. Some students benefit from a light weekly check-in that reinforces habits already forming. Others are navigating a heavier load or a stretch of the semester that calls for something closer. The coaching adjusts, and parents are kept in the loop throughout.
The goal is a student who owns the process: opening the planner and deciding what comes first without being asked. When that happens, a parent can step back with confidence because the tools now belong to the student. Academic performance starts to reflect ability, and the skills that develop carry forward into college and beyond.
Dale Koplik, M.Ed.
I am Dale Koplik, M.Ed. Independent Educational Consultant. Certified School Counselor. Master of Education in School Counseling, University of Southern California.
I work with adolescents on academic habits and executive function. My goal is to help students move from feeling overwhelmed to feeling capable and in control of his or her academic life. Training in human development and educational psychology shapes how I pace coaching and distinguish between situational challenges and deeper developmental needs. I build systems with each student, based on how he or she thinks, what he or she is managing right now, and what he or she is realistically ready to take on.
“My child has become more organized and motivated and is starting to flourish. Even at this point, we can already see the transformation.”Parent of a high school student · Google Review
Organization and planning
Reliable systems for managing deadlines, tracking assignments, and approaching longer projects, built with the student so he or she will use them.
Time management
The ability to plan a week, protect time for priorities, and make decisions about how to use limited hours, without constant external reminders.
Study skills and academic strategies
Effective approaches to reading, note-taking, test preparation, and writing matched to the student’s learning style and current courses.
Independence
The confidence and capacity to manage school without a parent or coach in the loop, which is what college will require and what families are ultimately working toward.
Structure that scales with the need
Academic and Executive Function Coaching is one of those services that sounds straightforward until a family tries to describe what they are looking for. Most students do not need more information. They need a system that works for how they think, someone who can see where things are breaking down, and enough repetition that the new habits start to feel normal.
The coaching runs at three levels of support, each built around the same core process but scaled to match how much a student needs and how quickly things need to move.
Foundations is built for students who need a clearer picture before they can build a plan. Early sessions focus on identifying what is getting in the way: where assignments fall through, how the student approaches a large task, what a realistic study routine looks like for this person. From there the work moves into executive function and organization coaching alongside study skills, reading and note-taking strategies.
Core Academic is where most families land. By this point the student and I have a clear enough picture that the work shifts from identification to building: concrete systems, weekly planning routines, time management strategies, and enough repetition that what starts as a coached habit becomes something the student does on his or her own. This plan includes everything in Foundations, plus study and test preparation strategies, writing support, and academic and extracurricular planning.
Intensive is built for students carrying a heavy load, facing a diagnosed executive function challenge, or going through a stretch where the usual level of support is not enough. The work is the same in kind but closer in practice: more frequent touchpoints, active progress monitoring, and the flexibility to respond when something shifts mid-semester.
Whatever the level, the aim does not change.
A consultation helps determine whether this is the right fit.
A 30-minute consultation is a focused conversation to assess your student’s current challenges, identify the most impactful areas to address, and determine the best coaching plan.
Learn more about Dale’s background · View all packages and services
Not ready to book yet? Read practical guidance for families on the blog →