About US

Educational Support Services ("ESS") is owned and operated by Jean Bakos. Ms. Bakos has many years of practical and classroom experience educating children. It is this experience that showed her unmet needs in children and young adults living in or around the Elk River area. We hope you will take a few moments to read this summary of Ms. Bakos' past career and present vision for ESS.

Ms. Bakos is married and the mother of four wonderful children. She graduated from ARCC in the winter of 1992 with an Associate of Arts degree. Thereafter, Ms. Bakos transferred to St. Cloud State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in the spring of 1994. Ms. Bakos' educational pursuits include specialization in the field of education. She currently holds teaching licenses in elementary education, middle school math, and middle school science.

Ms. Bakos began her teaching career by substitute teaching in the Elk River and Anoka school districts. This allowed her the opportunity to spend time in many different grade levels. Ms. Bakos taught a full semester of seventh grade math at Oak View Middle School and was then offered a full-time teaching position at PACT Charter School in Anoka.

At PACT Ms. Bakos had the opportunity to expand her knowledge and pursue a number of different educational areas and topics. During the six years Ms. Bakos spent at PACT, she taught math for grades seven through ten, science for seventh and eighth graders, computer skills for students in grades three through ten, and led an advisory group (homeroom) with students in grades seven through twelve.

Ms. Bakos' love of learning is contagious and she made every effort to build fun into the things that she taught in class. This was evident through the number of students that continued to seek after school assistance even when she was no longer their teacher.

In the spring of 2003 Mrs. Bakos resigned her teaching position at PACT Charter School. She was looking for a change and wasn't sure where it would lead. In the fall of 2003 she began tutoring students in the Elk River area and then began to explore other options in the education field. It was through her quiet times that she caught the vision for Educational Support Services ("ESS"). By owning her own business, Ms. Bakos would be able to provide hands-on activities to home school children and tutor students struggling in math or science. The vision for ESS began to grow and take shape while sharing with family and friends.

ESS got its official start by offering several weeks of day camp in the summer of 2004. Then, in the fall of 2004, Ms. Bakos will begin offering hands-on math and science labs to home school children. Ms. Bakos is actively supplying a portable science lab to provide hands-on activities to the home school community. There are microscopes, rulers, meter sticks, calculators, an incubator, worm farms, petri dishes, dissecting kits, rock samples, light and sound equipment. maps and other equipment.

Ms. Bakos' credentials are available upon request.