Our Story
Davida Amkraut’s life work has been teaching, coaching, and guiding teens both in and out of the classroom.
Davida Amkraut’s life work has been teaching, coaching, and guiding teens both in and out of the classroom.
After graduating from Columbia University, Teachers College with a Master’s in Education Davida spent 29 years as a middle school English teacher. There she developed her passion (skill) for teaching the writing process and helping every student find their voice. Davida’s interest in the college admission process began at her dining room table as she coached many of her former students who sought her advice as they began their journey through the application labyrinth. She helped them craft their personal essays and supplements and find their story and voice in the narratives they constructed.
Soon she began offering them suggestions about different universities and schools that might interest them. She loved the one-on-one work with these students, so she began to pursue college counseling as the focus of a new career, though she stays connected to the world of the classroom by teaching graduate students pursuing their own careers in education. Davida received a certificate in College Guidance through UCLA which laid the foundation of understanding the many layers that comprise the admission process while keeping her current on the ever-changing details of college applications and guidance. She completed a practicum of over 80 hours in the counseling office at Beachwood High School, a public high school in Northeast Ohio. There she was able to assist students with the application process and shadow high school counselors.
At the Laurel School, an independent all-girls school in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Davida worked for six years as an independent consultant in the college guidance office advising students on college essays and supplemental questions. This experience sharpened her focus on the overall process and exposed her to seasoned mentors as well.
Currently, Davida works at SAR High School in two different roles. She is a member of their College Counseling Center where she works with students on list building, deadline applications, essay writing. Additionally she works as a Learning Specialist and helps SAR students with study skills, time management, and provides reading and writing support.
Davida is also an associate member of the Independent Educational Counselors Association which gives her a community of other independent counselors to support her work. Her list of current and former clients includes a diverse range of schools, backgrounds, and locations, working with students both face to face and virtually in many states.
After living in the Cleveland area for over 20 years, Davida has returned to the New York area. Her three children have successfully survived the college admissions process. Her daughter is an alumnus of Columbia University and has just completed her first year of medical school at Case Western Reserve University, her middle son is a fifth-year engineering student at Northeastern University. Her youngest son finished his freshman year at George Washington University with a major in exercise science.