Educational Stepping Stones
What began as Pathways to Learning has grown into Educational Stepping Stones, built on a simple belief: kids don't need to be managed into better grades; they need to be understood, validated, and guided toward their goals and aspirations. We work at the intersection of academics, executive functioning, and social-emotional development, translating what we see into nuanced insights for growth, with a particular focus on serving Los Angeles families who need more than just a glorified tutor.
When frustration turns into avoidance, or the demands of school outpace a child's executive functioning, we help them find stable footing in turbulent moments: building the skills for emotional regulation, responsibility, and problem solving that no worksheet can teach.
Some students are also navigating more complex situations and have been formally diagnosed with disorders such as anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, divorce, suicidal thoughts and feelings, OCD, and/or AUDHD (ADHD combined with level 1 autism spectrum, formerly known as Asperger's). In those cases, we work in close coordination with a student's therapists, psychiatrists, and other providers, so the support at school and at home stays aligned with the care they're already receiving. If no formal diagnosis has been provided yet, we work with families to find the right clinician to formally assess the student.
Above all, we prioritize the individual over the curriculum: protecting the client through advocacy and guidance centered on what is truly important for that student in that moment, even when it means stepping back from what a syllabus or schedule says should come next.
The people behind the practice.
Josh Perry, M.Ed.
As a Launch Coach, I focus on preventing a failure to launch, drawing on educational therapy resources, executive functioning skills, social-emotional support, and other targeted approaches to course correct each student and get them back on the right trajectory. I have spent my entire career working in education, and I'm a product of the private school community myself: a K-12 lifer at Oakwood. Starting in 1997 as a kindergarten teacher, I moved through different grade levels, teaching for 8 years in private schools before becoming an educational therapist and opening my own practice, Pathways to Learning, in 2006. Now, 20 years later, I am expanding this work with Lisa so we can better reach our community and provide stronger support together, helping students move from feeling overwhelmed and lacking confidence to achieving greater independence, success, and a genuine sense of pride.
I'm also a parent, whose son recently graduated high school and successfully gained admittance to the college of his choice. Like most of us, he also needed to overcome his own personal roadblocks to find stable footing during various moments in his life. That experience gave me a firsthand understanding of what is truly important in times of struggle, a foundation for recognizing developmentally appropriate behaviors, and knowledge of how to navigate them to find success. Something I bring to every family I work with.
- Educational Specialist, Child Advocate
- M.Ed., Educational Therapist
- Specializing in preventing a failure to launch
- Extensive experience collaborating with private schools, therapists, and psychiatrists across Los Angeles
- 30+ years working with students; 25+ years providing educational therapy, academic remediation, and social-emotional support
Lisa Mamos, M.A., M.A., ET/A
I've spent more than 25 years in special education as a classroom teacher, learning specialist, and school administrator, including recently serving as Director of Academic Support and Director of Student Support. That experience taught me that real progress starts with understanding the whole child, not just the grade on the report card: identifying the ADHD, dyslexia, executive functioning gaps, or emotional regulation struggles getting in a student's way, then building the practical skills and confidence to take ownership of their own learning.
I'm also a mother of three, and I understand firsthand that academic struggles rarely stay contained to homework time. That experience shapes how I work with parents too, translating evaluations, IEPs, and accommodations into strategies that actually work at home and at school, so every family I work with walks away with a child who feels understood and equipped to move forward on their own.
- B.A. Psychology, University of Southern California
- M.A. Special Education, Loyola Marymount University
- M.A. Child & Adolescent Literacy, Loyola Marymount University
- Associate Member, Association of Educational Therapists
- Extensive experience working in and collaborating with both public and private schools, parents and outside allied professionals
- 30+ years working with students; 25+ years providing academic and social-emotional support
Josh and Lisa have worked together for more than a decade supporting students on school campuses, and over that time discovered they share the same core belief: academics stop being the priority the moment a student's emotional regulation, executive functioning, or overall well-being gets in the way of learning.
Together, Josh and Lisa bring more than six decades of combined experience across school campuses and private practice. Both understand how schools operate, how to build collaborative teams with teachers, therapists, families, and other professionals, and how to turn concerns into meaningful, measurable growth. Just as importantly, both know when and how to advocate for a student when expectations exceed what is fair, appropriate, or developmentally realistic.
Josh and Lisa take their clients and the work they do with them very seriously, but approach that work with perspective and humor. A little levity can go a long way when helping students and families navigate challenges, overcome roadblocks, and keep moving forward.