My name is Tara Brand. Two fun facts about me - I am a Colorado native and winter is my favorite season.

In high school, I was fortunate to volunteer in an inclusive preschool classroom, and I knew that was what I wanted for my career. In the weeks that I worked in that classroom I was in awe of the teachers, enjoyed the challenge of differentiated planning and was impressed by the life experiences the kids got from learning to work together and support all of their classmates.

I graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor’s in Human Development and Family Studies, with a focus on Early Childhood Education. From there, I started my teaching career. I taught a general education preschool classroom for four years, while working on my Master’s degree. I then graduated from the University of Denver with my Master’s in Early Childhood Special Education.

My special education career was in preschool, while also supporting Kindergarten transitions. After seven years, I decided to stay home with my own kids and focus on my family. During this time, I thought about how I would do things differently if I went back to teaching, and the main thought that kept coming back was communication. The hustle and bustle of a classroom makes the days and months go by fast. I know that I could have done a better job with communication and supporting families, but I also know that was a constant struggle in the education world. I decided that I wanted to create something to bridge the gap between the classroom and home environments. From this, I created Parent Voice.

I want to support families navigating the special education world. There is so much information to decipher, while also finding ways to be a family at home. My goal is to bridge school and home successes, help families feel confident in their special education knowledge and create lasting partnerships so that every child finds what works for them.

In addition to my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, I am also a coach for the Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment model, trained in the Nuerosequential Model for Education, used Teaching Strategies Gold as both a general education teacher and in special education, and have conducted many assessments and screening tools throughout my career.