Welcome I want to welcome everyone to the Yosemite Valley Special Education Department website. We believe that this is going to be a great year as I have a team of educators passionate about working with students with special needs. We do not quite have the Pandemic behind us, but it is currently business as usual for in-person services. I am confident that my team will continue to offer the best education and supports that will meet the needs of all of our special needs students. My team believes that every student can succeed at a high level, and we will push them to places that you and your child might not have believed they could reach. Learning is hard and as educators it is our job to ensure the supports are in place. These supports must not be a crutch, but a tool or resource that will bridge and narrow the gaps between our students and their general education peers. We must always remember that a special education student is a general education student first. I am entering my 26th year in education and my eighth working with special education and related departments. I have had the wonderful opportunity to be a classroom teacher in social science and intervention mathematics. I began my career as a special education teacher working on an emergency credential and my assignment had me assigned to a Residential Treatment Center (RTC) in San Diego. Page 5