I grew up in Westchester, New York. When I was in third grade my mother knew that something wasn’t right and she began investigating and searching for a reason that reading was so challenging for me. After tons of tests and hours of frustration, she discovered that I had a learning disability. In the 1980’s there was little communication about learning differences like there is now. My mother searched long and hard until she finally found an amazing school that offered smaller class sizes and more individualized attention. And one catch, I had to repeat 6th grade. In the end, Rye Country Day School was the perfect fit for me educationally and I went onto college first at Towson State University and then to the University of Maryland at College Park. I majored in Elementary Education determined to specialize in informal education like youth groups and camps. Thankfully I fell in love with teaching and working with children who struggled just like I did.
In 1998, I moved to Boulder, Colorado to be with my boyfriend and started substitute teaching. Six months later, I started a 3rd-grade teaching job at Superior Elementary School as a PIE Student. Partners in Education (PIE) is a program through the University of Colorado at Boulder that provides a mentor to new teachers and I earned my Masters Degree in Literacy. I taught at Superior for 14 years until I had my second child in 2013. Turns out that little baby had Sensory Processing Disorder. Once again I became a student and started to learn all I could about how to help my son learn, grow and enjoy life. I am so thankful that I had my background as a teacher because the Child Find process is confusing, scary and can be extremely helpful in getting your child the services they desperately need.
A few years later, I had my daughter tested in Fourth Grade because she just wasn’t performing to her potential and we discovered that she had ADHD. All of these experiences have helped me to be a better mother, teacher, and tutor.