TESTIMONIALS

When my daughter Valentina and I first met with Ms. Baker we knew she would be the person to help us learn with our learning differences. She has not only impacted my daughter Valentina but our entire family. Not only has Valentina learned to write better but she is blossoming into an ELA loving girl. Nicki works not only with the students but guides the family as well. Valentina is blessed to have found not only a passionate learning specialist but one that is also compassionate about children with learning disabilities. Her professionalism speaks volumes about her experience. I look forward to Valentina's future with clarity because of Ms. Bakers' help. Thank you!

Dear Nicki, When our family moved to New York City, we hired Nicki, a highly recommended learning specialist, to work with our special-needs son, Ben, who was entering the third grade. Nicki proved to be an outstanding tutor and worked relentlessly implementing a research and Orton Gillingham-based program that taught Ben to read and write while building his self-esteem. Most importantly, Nicki advocated for transferring Ben to a more appropriate school, and today I am proud to say he is very successful at one of the best private schools in Manhattan. Nicki also helped our family to understand why Ben’s educational progress was different from our other children. And she assured us that with hard work and the right instruction, he would achieve and succeed, one step at a time. She was right.

Dear Nicki, I just wanted to express my sincere appreciation for the support you gave Reena during her formative years. You’ll be happy to know that she’s an A student in English. I also want to say thank you for always keeping in touch and reaching out to us, years after you completed your support program with Reena. You had a way with Reena which made her feel comfortable and eager to engage with you. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Dear Ms. Baker, Thank you for your continued dedication and support with the sharing of information to help us be better parents and to understand our child’s needs and growing capacity. You have been a lifesaver and your belief in our child has strengthened our belief and commitment.

Nicki Baker is a talented and caring teacher. She puts her heart and soul into improving writing skills. Her professionalism is impeccable, and her knowledge is vast. Not only has Nicki helped my son become more than ready for each grade, but she has also helped him develop as an individual. Educators like Nicki are few and far between and I highly recommend her.

Dear Nicki, Thank you very much for your sweet email. You are such a fundamental part of the success of our boy. You are doing an amazing work. I wish you a fantastic rest of the summer. We spoke with him about his commitment to your class and he wants to keep working with you. We are looking forward for another great year. With love and gratitude,

Dear Nicki, Thank you for your kind and encouraging words! You really helped a lot with you work with our son. You taught him how to read and write when he could hardly sit still for 2 minutes. You engaged him and went the extra mile by collaborating with his other teachers and tutors to help him reach his potential.

Dear Nicki, Thanks for your email. I didn't realize that you wouldn't be at the school come September. I meant to email you all summer regarding your various, detailed emails of feedback on Nini. I really appreciate your input and effort and all the good work and words. Nini has learned a lot from working with you and grown immensely last year and this summer. Thank you for being patient with her and for steering her toward so many great projects, including writing poetry! I will keep in mind that you run your own private service as well. I hope you had a great and relaxing summer and that you found time to recharge the battery. We certainly did and it is a little sad to see it come to an end.

Hi Nicki, NOOOOOOOO!!!! I will miss you so much!! Thank you for everything you did for Jason this past year. I was looking forward to seeing you for his last CPSE meeting. I hope the new Administrator will be just as patient, helpful and a great advocate as you have been for Jason. Good luck in your new position. If you know who I could call with any situations I may find myself in the next few months, please send me their name and number-- I'd greatly appreciate that. Mary may need to get in touch with someone also regarding the FM system. Wishing you all the best-- HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Thank you, Nicki, for your words! You really helped a lot with you work with Daniel, your care for him and for going the extra mile for working with Brittany, his other tutor. Have a good holiday!

I have known Nicki for many years and respect her collegial manner, her wide knowledge base, and her commitment to providing high quality work in whatever pursuit she follows. Among her many assets, she brings a wealth of experience at the administrative level from her work with the New York City Department of Education. I also know and respect her direct interactions with struggling students of all ages as both a teacher and a mentor. Nicki has always worked on developing and refining her own skills and she is more than generous in sharing what she knows with others. Her warm, encouraging manner combined with her deep understanding of how children learn will enrich your program.

Dear Nicki, Thank you for your very hard effort in resolving problems at the school level. I know that the students will benefit from your careful thought and from the time that has gone into preparation and design. Your efforts are noticed and appreciated. Sincerely,

Dear Nicki, I've just read through your report. You are amazing! The depth and breadth of your knowledge is not only un-matchable by us, we can barely put into use a fraction. I am so grateful for your help. Thanks again,

To Whom It May Concern: It gives me great pleasure to recommend Nicki Baker for prospective employment. I have known Nicki for many years and respect her collegial manner, her wide knowledge base, and her commitment to providing high quality work in whatever pursuit she follows. Among her many assets, she brings a wealth of experience at the instructional and administrative level from her professional work with private school children and her public work with the New York City Department of Education. I also know and respect her direct interactions with struggling students of all ages as a teacher, coach and a mentor. Nicki has always worked on developing and refining her own skills and she is more than generous in sharing what she knows with others. Her warm, encouraging manner combined with her deep understanding of how children learn will enrich your program. I know you will enjoy welcoming Nicki Baker into your program. I have absolutely no doubt that she will be a tremendous asset to you.

As a teaching fellow at Hunter College, I was fortunate enough to have Nicki Baker assigned to me as my mentor, coach and field supervisor for two semesters. During this time Nicki gave more than 100% of her time and effort in helping me to become a more confident and effective educator. Nicki is a professional who is passionate about ensuring effective teaching and learning practices are implemented in the classroom and to that end she works relentlessly to make it happen. My job was challenging, and Nicki helped me by providing hours of professional development in best practices, teacher modeling and observation with meaningful feedback that improved my practice and my students’ performance. Nicki was always growing, herself and kept up with current research on special education and technology to support and enhance student learning. She encouraged me to begin small group differentiated instruction, tiered lesson plans and authentic and summative assessments aligned to standards. Although empathetic and compassionate, Nicki was enthusiastic, and excited about her work and believed in my students and my ability to succeed. Nicki continues to offer her aid well past our allotted time together. She is truly a dedicated professional committed to the development and improvement of teachers and student welfare. Anyone who has the opportunity to work with Nicki Baker is truly a fortunate person.

Nicki, you are still to this day the only person who I have had observe me who I truly felt supported by and who believed in me and was able to give feedback that was helpful and tangible for my context. Thank you so much. You gave me hope when I was feeling overwhelmed and hopeless.

Nicki is absolutely amazing and gave me great suggestions. We talked a lot about how becoming a great teacher does not happen overnight. It takes time and lots of practice. She informed me that I should focus on one thing and really try to master it. Some things I can focus on are: active engagement, more tactile learning, and more open ended and discussion questions.

Hi Nicki! It was my sincere pleasure having you in the classroom today! 🙂 I meant to email you first, but you beat me to it. I feel extremely appreciative and lucky about all the passion you brought and GREAT recommendations you offered! Thank you so much for the time you set aside to thoroughly debrief with me. I look forward to next time! Have a great evening,

Dear Nicki, Thank you for coming by yesterday, and for your detailed observation notes. I appreciate all of your feedback and really feel it will contribute to my practice. Thanks again! Best,

To Whom It May Concern: I am writing this letter to express my recommendation of Nicki Baker, as a supervisor, mentor and/or teacher trainer. I had the privilege of working with Ms. Baker for the academic year 2012 – 2013, as a 2nd year teacher at the New York City High School of Arts & Technology in Manhattan. I became a teacher through the New York City Teaching Fellows program in 2011, which assigned me to Hunter College to earn a Masters Degree in Special Education. It is through this graduate program, that I met Nicki Baker. Ms. Baker was assigned as my Hunter field supervisor, to mentor, coach and supervise me through my second academic year (2012 – 2013) where I served as a high school Collaborative Team Teacher. In this capacity, I teamed with a certified HS Earth Science teacher, to plan and implement an Earth Science for credit course that would meet the needs for all learners. Upon meeting Ms. Baker, I was struck by her professionalism, attention to detail, and knowledge of the teaching profession that was vital to my professional growth. Ms. Baker always took the time to explain to me what my strengths were and the areas/s in which I needed to improve my practice –in a manner, which expressed genuine care and encouragement. Furthermore, I always felt comfortable asking Ms. Baker for guidance and/or advice either during business hours or after, for which she was always available to provide clear and thorough explanations. It has been a genuine pleasure working with Ms. Baker as my field supervisor. I believe my practice of pedagogy, especially in the field of meeting the needs of struggling students in a high school general education classroom, has improved exponentially because of Ms. Baker’s supervision and I can not recommend Ms. Baker more highly.