Meet Mary Beth

My name is Mary Beth Hes. I am the founder of Engaged Minds and an educational consultant and neurodiversity advocate. I have fifteen years of classroom teaching experience, working with elementary aged children, and have been tutoring since 2021. I have taught in both public and independent schools with the majority of my teaching career spent in private education.

I currently offer educational consulting services related to school selection, grade placement, academic accommodations, behavior and social-emotional support, as well as one-on-one tutoring instruction. Additionally, I am curriculum creator working to make materials in the science of reading readily available to families, teachers, and tutors.

In terms of instructional support, I specialize in helping students learn to read using individualized phonics instruction. I also have special interests in handwriting instruction and working with students with learning differences and developmental disabilities. I offer tutoring services for elementary and middle school students using Orton-Gillingham methodology for phonics instruction, Handwriting Without Tears® for handwriting instruction, as well as support and extension work with reading comprehension, writing, spelling, math, and Project Based Learning.

Regarding my educational background, I attended Duke University for my undergraduate education, where I studied visual arts and elementary education. I completed my graduate studies at the University of Virginia, where I earned an M.Ed. in educational psychology with a concentration in gifted education.

I hold a current North Carolina teaching license in elementary education and for academically/intellectually gifted students K-12. I completed associate level training with the prestigious Orton-Gillingham Academy, which included 60 hours of coursework and a rigorous 100 hour supervised practicum. I continue to work under the mentorship of an Orton-Gillingham Academy fellow. I am also a level 1 certified handwriting specialist with Handwriting Without Tears®.

In terms of consulting credentials, I am an associate level member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), having completed their 2024 Summer Institute Training. I also participated in special education advocacy training with Wrightslaw in 2024.

I am a passionate educator who loves to watch students learn and grow. While I loved classroom teaching, I find there is something truly magical about working one-on-one with children through tutoring. I enjoy delving deep into a content area with a student and having the opportunity to be diagnostic and prescriptive, in order to find the learning technique that helps a new skill “click.”

I am also a mother of two children, born in 2013 and 2016, and have been actively involved in helping them learn to read and write. All this being said, I know first hand both the joys and challenges of meeting the academic demands placed upon kids in school.

I invite you to partner with me in your child’s learning journey!