About Us

Academy Health and Learning opened its doors in October of 2013. Salli Ford and her team have served families and students from the Greater Sacramento area and now serve the Greater Boston area.  The Academy has years of experience with traditional one-on-one tutoring, Study and Organizational Skills sessions, Test Prep, and “AfterSchool Advancement” programs for students seeking an academic edge. Today’s needs have inspired the Academy to adapt and focus on student and family whole child health and learning success. What makes Salli and her team at the Academy stand out is their philosophy to collaborate with the parents and education. Salli sees a key role for the Academy to leverage every possible resource available to help a child succeed. As a parent herself, Salli recognizes what a daunting challenge parents of school-age children sometimes face. She says her reward is hearing parents say “Thanks for giving us back our family time.”

The process here at the Academy begins with a student assessment and interview to identify strengths and weaknesses, then an interview with the parent and finally a face-to-face visit with the classroom teacher(s) and ongoing e-mail interaction. The first visit with the Academy for students includes an organizational skills exercise called “the backpack dump” during which Salli works with the student to evaluate, improve and organize their daily school habits, how they track their assignments, and organize their notebooks and planners. Salli is then ready to help the student set short and long-term goals which include developing study skills that become established habits for academic progress. The incentive for the student is that disciplined study habits ensure success and more free time. 

Salli Ford graduated from Creighton University in Omaha, NE and earned a B.S. in Environmental Science with a Minor in Spanish. She then moved to Boston to work in an innovative all-girls middle school called Mother Caroline Academy (MCA). The mission was and is to intervene in the lives of at-risk, inner-city girls with intensive academic formation in order to prepare them for very competitive high schools and colleges. MCA demonstrated to Salli the importance of the 5th-8th grade years in preparing the student to become lifelong learners and of parent involvement. “My passion to teach started with my students in Boston.” says Salli. “I was with them from early morning, through after-school activities and into an evening study hall. Motivating them to succeed was my whole life.” 

Salli Ford later enrolled in the Lynch Graduate School of Education at Boston College. By the time she completed her M.Ed., she had gotten married and started a family. Salli taught science in an inner-city high school and Biology as a Teaching Assistant at Boston College. She later worked as a Director of Admissions and as an Administrator with special needs students at Lesley University. Over several years spent raising her children in Dallas, Salli founded her own Summer Science Camps before going back to the classroom to teach Science to grades K-5.  After these inspiring and influential experiences, Salli then decided to open the Academy.

The process here at the Academy begins with a student assessment and interview to identify strengths and weaknesses, then an interview with the parent and finally a face-to-face visit with the classroom teacher(s) and ongoing e-mail interaction. The first visit with the Academy for students includes an organizational skills exercise called “the backpack dump” during which Salli works with the student to evaluate, improve and organize their daily school habits, how they track their assignments, and organize their notebooks and planners. Salli is then ready to help the student set short and long-term goals which include developing study skills that become established habits for academic progress. The incentive for the student is that disciplined study habits ensure success and more free time.