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About the Instructor

Introduction

As an extensively trained and certified professional instructor, I serve as a mentor who guides your children through their work while also providing direction, support and encouragement. I create an at-home study plan in addition to monitoring classroom assignments, and I emphasize the importance of accurately completing each assignment within a designated time frame. This has helped many of my students increase self-confidence, thus becoming more self-reliant. Like all Kumon Instructors, I have a true passion for education and an earnest desire to help children succeed.

Biography and Background

Miles Payne

I am excited to introduce myself as the new Owner and Director of Kumon Alamo Heights! Although I was born and raised in McAllen, Texas, my family is deeply rooted in Alamo Heights. My grandmother was a teacher at St. Peter’s Catholic School, and my father, along with many aunts, uncles, and cousins, graduated from Alamo Heights High School. I graduated from Texas State University, majoring in Mass Communication with a focus on Broadcast Journalism. After three years in journalism, I was called to pursue my love of working with children. Now, with over 20 years of experience in education, I bring the knowledge and a passion for learning to my new role.

I began my career teaching Kindergarten, a role I cherished for seven years. For the remainder of my educational career, I served as a Reading and Writing Instructional Coach for Kindergarten through 5th grade at Lackland AFB Elementary. In this capacity, I facilitated the Success for All curriculum, an ability-based approach to reading instruction, where I meticulously tested and placed approximately 600 students each quarter. I coordinated and analyzed the testing data to ascertain each student’s appropriate reading level. I contributed to the curriculum alignment and lesson design of curriculum resources, ensuring they met grade-level state standards.

This role allowed me to focus on the whole child, ensuring each student’s confidence and success through multiple measures. The transient military population I served challenged me to meet each child where they were and develop a plan to intervene and accelerate their learning in the short time we would have them. Armed with this knowledge of an ability-based approach, I will seek Kumon’s principle of the “just-right” level of study for every student.

My approach has always been hands-on, working closely with teachers across all grade levels, modeling lessons, and providing professional development. I had the honor of being nominated by my colleagues and selected for the KENS-5 EXcel Teacher of the Year; it was an honor to receive the accolade from my peers. I am passionate about all types of learners and continually update my training in gifted and talented education, special education, dyslexia, and safety care.

I am deeply committed to fostering an environment where all learners can thrive, a philosophy I am excited to bring to Kumon Alamo Heights.

Outside of my professional life, I am a wife to Chris and a mother to our 13-year-old son, Preston. My family is my greatest source of joy and inspiration, and we love spending our time together. We are a Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lego building, Beach, Golf, and Labradoodle-loving family!

As I embark on this new journey, I am eager to apply my extensive background in education to drive the success and growth of this community I serve. I look forward to meeting our families and working together to achieve great things!