Melissa Meyer

      Born and raised in Southern California and transplanted to New York 20 years ago, Melissa Meyer spent several years working in marketing and advertising at EMI Records before deciding to pursue her passion for teaching. She earned a Master’s degree in early childhood education at Bank Street College in New York City and enjoyed two years teaching in a Manhattan private school before having three children of her own in 19 months.
      Over the years, the children were enrolled in a downtown New York City school, where Melissa dedicated her time serving on the school’s Board of Trustees. In the spring of 2005, Melissa and her husband made a spontaneous decision to take a leave-of-absence for their 8 year old and twin 10 year olds and move temporarily to a city they both loved, Paris. As the children would be missing a substantial amount of school, Melissa took on the responsibility of teaching them while they were away from New York.
      As they settled into their school routine abroad, Melissa noticed how quickly and easily the children moved through various subjects and how their love for learning blossomed in new and deeper ways. With one teacher and only three students, the children were actively engaged in their work and genuinely excited by the opportunity to delve deeply into individual areas of interest. Soon after, the family began to travel to round out the children's studies. They traveled through Europe and Africa reading, writing, exploring and learning together. They never could have anticipated how profoundly those five months would change the course of their lives.
      Upon returning to New York, they quickly recognized their experience was not something they were prepared to surrender so quickly and made a family decision to continue home schooling in the city for one more year. Melissa recognized that now, back at home, her priority was to be her children's mother and so hired Teri Flemal to take over as their teacher.
      Together, Melissa and Teri created a comprehensive program for Melissa's 4th grader and two 6th graders. Hiring teachers as needed, they integrated honors-level academics in subjects including math, French, piano, science, English, literature and art history with travel specifically related to their studies. One year of homeschool stretched into three, and by the time the oldest children reached 8th grade their school had expanded to 6 teachers with whom they met both individually and in small groups throughout the highly structured day.
      Although the entire family will always cherish the three and a half years they "jumped off the track" of traditional schooling, Melissa and her husband decided that when their oldest children reached high school age, their homeschooling experience would end. After an intense but ultimately validating and very successful school application process, all three children re-entered the New York City private school system.
      Now, inspired by the success of their own endeavor and recognizing the need for educational options in New York City and environs, Melissa and her head teacher, Teri, have created and launched a unique educational consulting company, Quality Education by Design (QED). In the model of their own homeschooling, they work closely with their clients to establish goals, provide excellent teachers, create individualized and challenging curriculum within a flexible schedule and oversee every aspect of what they call an "education by design". As co-directors of QED, Melissa and Teri are dedicated to helping each family they work with envision and follow their unique path to achieving their educational dreams.

Melissa Meyer can be reached at Director@qedny.us

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Teri Flemal

      Teri (Cavallaro) Flemal has been an educator for 15 years, teaching in private and public schools in New Jersey as well as tutoring privately in Manhattan. In 2001 she received the Governor's Teacher Recognition Award in Spring Lake, NJ for excellence in teaching, and in 2000 was awarded the Monmouth County, NJ Literacy Scholarship for developing a unique program to teach creative writing to students. As a classroom teacher she developed an award-winning classroom website to communicate with parents and students and used this site as a springboard to enable her students to communicate on Internet projects with students worldwide. During her years in the classroom she wrote a K-8 science curriculum for her school based on NJ core curriculum standards, coordinated funding for and installation of an in-school IT infrastructure and served as math curriculum coordinator and crisis intervention team member.
      After moving to Manhattan in 2004 Teri began teaching privately as a studio teacher, working with child actors ages 5-16 on television sets, movies and Broadway shows. It was during this time that she met the Meyer Mensch family and became the primary teacher in their Manhattan home school. Together with Melissa Meyer, the two created a comprehensive and exciting program for the children that integrated honors-level academics with family travel, including studies in math, French, piano, science, English language arts, literature, art history and more. Together they expanded the breadth of the faculty to include six teachers with whom the children met both individually and in small groups throughout the scheduled day.
      In 2008, inspired by the success of their own endeavor and recognizing the need for educational options in New York City and environs, Ms. Flemal and Ms. Meyer created and launched a unique educational consulting company, Quality Education by Design (QED). Reaching back to the classic tutor-pupil model, they work closely with their clients to establish goals, provide excellent teachers, create individualized and challenging curriculum and oversee every aspect of an education-by-design. As co-directors of QED, Ms. Meyer and Ms. Flemal are dedicated to helping each family envision and follow their unique path to achieving their educational dreams.
      Ms. Flemal attended Seton Hall University and Kean University and holds degrees in both psychology and elementary education. She is a magna cum laude graduate and a member of honor societies Kappa Delta Pi and Psi Chi. She is the married mother of two children, and feels honored to count herself among the many dedicated teachers who contributed to their education.

Teri Flemal can be reached at Director@qedny.us

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