About
Kelly Clement - ISEE/SSAT Tutor & MindMine Education Founder

Hi there! I’m Kelly.

Working with students preparing for the ISEE and SSAT is not ONE of the things I do.

It’s THE thing I do.

I hear from colleagues, parents, students, and truly, just about everyone, that they hate the ISEE. Of course they do. It’s hard. It’s scary. I felt that way, too, in my first year of working with the ISEE. Maybe even in the first 3 or 5 years of working with this exam, I was still grumbling about it. 

But when you stick with a problem long enough, and you watch it become less hard, you kind of learn to love it.

The ISEE is both a reasoning and an achievement test. That means that it’s measuring not just what students know, but more importantly trying to assess what students will do when they DON’T KNOW some of the questions.

When I’m preparing my students for the ISEE, I’m the teacher, the tutor, and the coach. One of the luxuries of 1-to-1 test prep is that I can gain an understanding of the student: his or her likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, habits, etc. My job is to take the experience of the ISEE and optimize it for the student, according to all of these individual characteristics.

I have been an educator for my entire career, which means I deeply understand the developmental needs of younger students. Forcing adolescents to adapt to an approach used for SAT and ACT is challenging at best–demoralizing and counter-productive at the worst.

An exam like the ISEE or SSAT comes at a time when students are forming their academic identities. As the test prep coach, I am committed to creating a successful outcome that goes beyond a competitive score on the exam; an experience that contributes positively to your student’s identity. Your student will be armed with a better understanding of him- or herself as a learner, and will feel empowered to take on future academic challenges.

Test prep is a game, after all. I’m here to help you and your child win.

My teaching philosophy has its roots in my charter school teaching experience in New Haven, CT. In its early days as a high-performing model charter school, Amistad Academy was where I developed my practice, my beliefs, and my passion for education. Following that experience, I taught middle school at the Punahou School in Honolulu, HI, and the American School in London. Since 2011, I have been working with students internationally and in the US to prepare for the ISEE and SSAT.

I am fully dedicated to my profession as an educator and test prep expert. When I’m not working with students who are preparing for their ISEE and SSAT, I am liaising with other professional educators and test prep experts, and other leaders in my industry. I edit test prep materials, I stay current with trends and research on independent schools, neurodiversity, neuropsychology, educational technology, and I am committed to continually deepening my effectiveness by reading books and articles that challenge and improve my teaching. Most recently, I’ve begun creating my own materials for test prep as well. I have proudly launched my first product, Watermelon Math, which can be found here.