Kimberly Tierney grew up in Highland, California, about halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs. As a student, Kim was bright, organized, and generally successful in school. The catch? School came easily enough that she never really had to learn how to study or manage her time effectively until graduate school. Now that experience helps her connect with many of the students she works with today, especially those who are intelligent and capable but struggling to turn their potential into consistent success.

Kim attended the University of California, Irvine, where she initially planned to study Biomedical Engineering. After about four days, she realized she wanted to work with people and not in a lab (also, see above about underdeveloped study skills), so she switched to Cognitive Science. The field was a perfect fit, combining her fascination with the brain and human behavior with a desire to understand why people think, learn, and act the way they do.

Her interest in educational psychology and special education advocacy was shaped in part by watching family members navigate difficult experiences within the school system. Kim knew she wanted to be someone who could advocate for students from the inside. She went on to earn both a Master's degree and an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Psychology from Chapman University before beginning her career as a school psychologist.

Kim worked as a school psychologist in Burlington, Vermont, before moving to State College in 2014 when her husband, James, accepted a teaching position at Penn State. She then spent more than a decade in the Mifflin County School District supporting students, families, and educators across a wide range of academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs.

While school psychology allowed her to wear many hats, her favorite part of the job was always working directly with students and helping them solve problems. She especially connected with what she affectionately calls the "squirrely kids,” students who weren't bad kids, but who struggled to be successful in traditional classroom settings. Whether a student was dealing with ADHD, executive functioning challenges, motivation, anxiety, or simply learning how to manage increasing independence, Kim loved helping the team identify what was getting in the way and develop a plan to move forward.

One of Kim's core beliefs is that "lazy" is a dirty word. In her experience, students are rarely underperforming because they don't care. More often, there is a missing skill, an ineffective system, or an underlying challenge that hasn't yet been identified. Rather than focusing on what students are doing wrong, Kim focuses on understanding why they are struggling and helping them build practical solutions.

After years of serving as an unofficial consultant to Tierney Education (a perk of being married to the founder), Kim joined the company full-time in Fall 2025 as Director of Academic Coaching. The move allowed her to spend more time doing what she enjoys most: working one-on-one with students and families to build the habits, systems, and confidence needed for long-term success.

Kim's coaching style is both encouraging and direct. She is often her students' biggest cheerleader, but she also believes growth requires action. As she likes to say, she's in the business of problem-solving, not problem-admiring. Her goal is not simply to help students earn better grades, it is to help them become independent learners who feel confident and in control of their academic lives. She likes to say that her goal is to “work herself out of a job.”

Outside of work, Kim can usually be found with her nose in a book, “clowning” for new Taylor Swift announcements, searching for gluten free donuts, finding new ways to clean things, or helping behind the scenes at Happy Valley Improv and the Blue Brick Theatre. Kim and James live in State College with their two rescue dogs, Penny and Dakota, who are simultaneously the best dogs and the worst dogs in the world (read: spoiled rotten!).

If you're looking for a coach who will support, challenge, and advocate for your student while helping them build skills that last long after graduation, Kim would love to meet you. You can schedule a free introductory session and say hi!