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Meet Our Capital Region Tutors

Nourishing Minds Tutoring has matched Capital Region students with the right tutor since 2014. Many of our tutors are New York State certified teachers with years of classroom experience in local schools.

Our team covers math, reading, writing, science, Spanish, social studies, and Regents and SAT prep.

More than half of our tutors specialize in special education and have experience supporting students with autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities. We work with students from elementary through high school, in your home or online. Your first session is always free.

Our Leadership Team

Meet the people who run Nourishing Minds and match every student with the right tutor.

Chris Leuzinger

FOUNDER OF NOURISHING MINDS TUTORING

Chris Leuzinger founded Nourishing Minds Tutoring after more than 10 years as an elementary and middle school teacher and administrator. He has been tutoring for more than 18 years and specializes in raising standardized test scores. Chris holds high expectations for every student and builds trust through respect, empathy, and a bit of fun.


Lauren Leuzinger

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Lauren is a certified special education teacher and literacy specialist with 11 years of experience teaching children with autism. She adapts curriculum to each student’s needs and builds lessons around their interests and strengths.


Tracey Puckhaber

Music Therapist and Administrative Coordinator

Tracey Puckhaber has been a board-certified music therapist for more than 20 years, including more than 10 in a special needs preschool. She joined Nourishing Minds in 2024 and now also serves as administrative coordinator. In 2025 she launched Tracey’s Twinkle Tunes, a music program for children under five.


Fawn

Fawn Montanye

Director of Strategic Partnerships and Growth

Fawn Montanye leads strategic partnerships and growth at Nourishing Minds Tutoring. She brings experience in fundraising, communications, and community engagement, with work recognized at the state and federal levels. Fawn builds partnerships that expand access to quality tutoring for young people.

Find the Right Tutor for Your Child

Filter by subject to see who’s the best fit, then meet them.

Allison - tutor

Allison

Math, Reading, Writing, Special Education
Tziona

Tziona Rose

Math
Andy - tutor

Andy

Math, Science, Social Studies
Gorman - tutor

Gorman Ruggiero

Special Education
Alexandra - tutor

Alexandra

Special Education
Lauren - tutor

Lauren

Reading, Writing, Math, Social Studies
Ashley - tutor

Ashley

Special Education
Jeff - tutor

Jeff

Elementary Education, Special Education
Sofia - tutor

Sofia

Math, Reading, Writing, Philosophy, Language
Hannah - tutor

Hannah

General Education, Special Education
Migyon - tutor

Migyon

English Language Arts, Math
Abby - tutor

Abby

Math, Science, Regents Prep, SAT Prep
English, Special Education tutor - Nick Barone

Nick Barone

English Language Arts, Special Education
Liz - math tutor

Liz

Math
Shannon West - tutor

Shannon West

Elementary Education, Special Education, Literacy
Joe - tutor

Joe

Science
Jeff - tutor

Jeff

History
Dora - tutor

Dora

Early Childhood, Elementary Education, Special Education
Renee - General Education tutor

Renee

General Education
lara - tutor

Lara

Early Childhood
Theresa - tutor

Theresa

Special Education
Bill - tutor

Bill

Elementary Special Education
Aricka - tutor

Aricka

Elementary Education, Special Education
Laura - tutor

Laura

English Language Arts, Elementary Education, Special Education
Raebeth - tutor

Raebeth

General Education, Social Studies
Heather - tutor

Heather

Special Education
Julianna - science tutor

Julianna

Science
Bryan - tutor

Bryan Geary

Special Education, Elementary Education
Stephanie - tutor

Stephanie

Special Education
Patti - tutor

Patti

English, Special Education, Business
Ebony - tutor

Ebony

General Education, Special Education
Kathleen

Kathleen

Reading, Special Education
Holly

Holly

Elementary Education
Ann

Ann

General Education, Special Education
janel - tutor

Janel

General Education, Special Education
christine - tutor

Christine

Reading Literacy Interventionist
christine - tutor

Stephanie

Special Education and Literacy
Melody - tutor

Melody

Special Education and Behavior Analyst
Christine

Christine

Math
Brittany

Brittany

Early Childhood, Special Education, Reading, Writing, and ELA
Casey

Casey

English, Social Studies, Language and Communication, Music, Science
Nicole

Nicole

Biology, Chemistry, Special Education
Jim

Jim

Any Subject, Special Education

Here’s what our clients say about Nourishing Minds:

Red Quote

Chris has been a lifesaver for us! He started tutoring our son 2 summers ago, when we found out he was behind and at risk of having to repeat a year of math.

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Chris came to our house and tutored our son twice a week that summer and got him to where he needed to be by the fall, no repeating a year of math!! He is knowledgeable about the various school curriculums, great with the kids, instills confidence and gives you a report after each session.

Almost two years later, Chris is still coming on a weekly basis and it helps to keep our son on task…. plus, we’re not ready to let Chris go just yet!

– Lindsay, Wilton NY

We have used Nourishing Minds for six years for math tutoring. Our tutor, Tziona, is excellent and both my kids really enjoy working with her.

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She is skilled in all courses of middle school and high school math. Tziona is also flexible with schedule changes when things come up, which is great, so we don’t miss a beat.

I have recently requested a physics tutor and he will be coming next week. I would highly recommend Nourishing Minds for Tutoring.

– Brittany

Chris tutored my young son for several years, following a dyslexia diagnosis. He was very patient and implemented several strategies to improve my son’s reading and phonics ability.

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His initial assessment and advice was extremely useful when we requested Special Ed services from our district. I would highly recommend Chris, and Nourishing Minds tutoring services for any child who is struggling in school!

– Erin

Our family has been very impressed by Nourishing Minds. Chris Leuzinger, the founder and owner of Nourishing Minds, is thoughtful, kind, and very professional.

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His tutoring organization is uniquely versed in tutoring for neurotypicals but also for special needs. Chris also has extensive experience as an educator and is able to speak the language of school districts and work effectively with them.

In our case, our child has non-speaking level 3 autism and past trauma experiences around education and requires a very skilled, structured, yet loving and supportive tutor. Chris has worked with us to identify a wonderful tutor for our son. Our son indicates that he really feels like his Nourishing Minds tutor believes in him and his ability to learn and improve, something he indicates he hasn’t experienced in a long time from a teacher.

Our son’s Nourishing Minds tutor also has very unique understanding of motor issues and how these can impact the child’s ability to demonstrate knowledge and progress in the traditional school system. It has been a refreshing experience to work with the Nourishing Minds group.

– Mariah

Chris has been tutoring our son, William for two years and we are thrilled with his progress. He was transferring from a private school into the public school system.

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Through the placement exam, we discovered that William was behind in math compared to his peer group in the public school system. The goal was to help him reach grade level and pass the entrance exam into the enriched math program.

With Chris’ help, he was successful and is now taking enriched math and doing very well. More importantly, he is no longer anxious but is confident and enjoying math! Chris continues to work with William and provides an additional level of support. William can review concepts that he may not have fully understood in class in a judgment free setting. Chris also works with our schedule should conflicts arise. William looks forward to his tutoring sessions with Chris.

– Neil, Greenfield NY

Nourishing Minds is excellent. Would highly recommend their professional team of qualified tutors.

– Sine

Nourishing Minds Tutoring has been a tremendous help to our 7-year old son, and we couldn’t be happier with our decision to work with them.

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Nourishing Minds strikes the perfect balance – motivating our son to work hard and encouraging him to take pride in his work, while still keeping the atmosphere fun and loose.

In looking for a tutor we knew we wanted someone who would teach our son how to learn, as opposed to just teaching facts or information. His tutor does just that, tailoring his tutoring methods to fit our son’s personality and learning style. We feel such relief knowing that our son is gaining skills that will make him a more independent and analytical learner in the future.

– Tara

We were referred to Nourishing Minds by friends of ours, and it felt a bit like being let into a best kept secret. We are having an outstanding experience.

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Both of our elementary school aged children have gained confidence in themselves since we started working with Nourishing Minds. They’ve also learned a lot of new tactics for understanding, breaking down, and solving math problems.

Schools are teaching math in very new and helpful ways, but as a parent who learned this “the old way,” it can be difficult to support kids when I don’t even understand the new methods. In every way, working with Nourishing Minds has been the right move!

– Chloe

Two of my children had the opportunity to work with Chris regarding some gaps in their literacy development in 1st and 2nd grade. He did an incredible job working with them.

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Lessons were prepared well and information was provided to me at each session to allow me to see their progress and skill development.

They made excellent progress and filled the gaps with solid foundational understanding. They are now in middle and high school and I credit Chris with helping them to learn and reinforce those critical foundational skills.

– Nancy

Chris has been tutoring my son in math for 4 or 5 years now. We mostly utilize him so my son stays on top of his lessons and any questions can be answered as they arise.

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My son consistently earns top marks.

Chris is patient but also firm…He does not give the answers but helps him to work through problems to find the solution. He has helped build my son’s confidence. We highly recommend!

– Jessica

Chris and his team have been assisting our family with our tutoring needs for a few years. We have seen some great results with both of our kids grades. Would highly recommend.

– Robert

Nourishing Minds Tutoring has been tutoring our son since 2015. It has been a great experience for him and for us.

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My son is currently attending third grade. He has major attention challenges and finds it very hard to stay on task. Despite that, his tutor has been able to bond with him and motivate him to focus. He utilizes many creative and unique teaching techniques that have helped our son a great deal. He enjoys the sessions and his grades have improved significantly.

We highly recommend Nourishing Minds Tutoring.

– Dina, Clifton Park NY