Miranda Orbach

A second and third grade head teacher at The Chapin School, Miranda has tutored students of every major profile in grades K-5. Miranda works with students across subjects, skillsets, and grades; she is a certified dyslexia practitioner and has coordinated curriculums ranging from Math to Social Studies to Literacy (reading, writing, and phonics). In her tutoring, she offers every level of support from remediation of literacy and math issues to implementing the Wilson Reading System to providing math and writing enrichment for those students who seek additional challenges.

As a teacher and tutor, Miranda always puts the child at the center of her work. Fundamental to her practice is building a relationship with every family that’s customized not only to the student’s learning profile but personality and interests—so that students know they are partners with her on a learning journey. Because she knows that students learn best when concepts from one subject link to another, she seeks to build connections among disciplines and is always willing to partner with a student’s teacher and parents.

As a teacher, Miranda makes it an essential goal to spark curiosity, to see relevance, and to focus on process as essential to end results. Indeed, a Growth Mindset philosophy (popularized by Carol Dweck) is core to Miranda’s approach: she works to show students that struggling with work is the best way to make progress, that persistence and room for occasional failure are what will allow them to overcome hurdles and soar to new heights. Miranda works to help students cultivate resilience (rather than just results) to help students get themselves unstuck and develop a positive attitude about learning. Above all, she works hard to persuade even her youngest learners that they are agents of their own learning.

In her spare time, Miranda is always learning. She has mastered the pandemic art of sourdough and loves to cook, bake, and bike. Perhaps most significantly for her students, however, she also has a miniature dachshund named Zoey, who enjoys exploring Manhattan with her.