Academic Approach
Alexandra Vasilou is a dedicated professional in the field of mental health counseling, currently serving as a Psychotherapist Intern at Catalyst Clinical Group, Inc. since 2022 and as an Emerging Scholar at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. With a background in education as an Instructor at Academic Approach since 2015 and experience as the Founding STEAM Teacher at Ryan Banks Academy, Vasilou combines instructional expertise with a strong foundation in mental health. Previous experience includes work as a Professional Caregiver for the Illinois Department of Public Health from 2014 to 2015. Vasilou holds a Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Loyola University Chicago.
Academic Approach
The idea for Academic Approach was born 13 years ago at Columbia University in New York City. While earning a PhD in English and teaching college freshmen in Columbia's core curriculum, I was at the same time tutoring New York City high school students for the standardized tests. I noticed an evident gap between the level of readiness my highschool students exhibited and the academic standards they would be expected to live up to on the college level.It occurred to me that the most meaningful way to offer test preparation was to create an academic curriculum that bridged these two levels of education, high school and college. Such a curriculum would allow me to use standardized tests in an innovative way: as a means to produce both better high school test takers and better college freshmen. We refer to this essential academic mission as "Teaching Beyond the TestTM."