Hi Friends and Families,

Welcome to Ms. Cat’s Classroom page! This is my fourth year teaching at Columbia Elementary and I absolutely love it here!

I grew up in California, the daughter of two educators and granddaughter of two more educators. I have a BA in Elementary Education, Master’s Degree in Education, a School Counseling and Social Work certificate as well as an Early Childhood Special Education teaching certificate. I moved to Washington in 2017 and taught in Tacoma before moving to this area. I have an English Cream Golden Retriever named Ivy and a tuxedo cat named Max. My son Ryan graduated from the University of Washington and lives nearby.

I’ve been teaching preschoolers with an array of delays and disabilities and have continued my education so that I am better informed about teaching with different modalities. My classroom is very structured and students use visual schedules so that students learn to follow a routine as independently as possible using their schedules. We also have 6 learning centers for students to rotate through: art/sensory center, literacy/language center, free play center, math/fine motor center, play kitchen and our communicative snack center. Our 2 paras, Ms. Dina and Ms. Shamima, help students throughout the day and are a wonderful asset. Our activity rotation is set up so that students are assigned with a buddy to visit a "work" area where an adult assists them, then they transition to a play area, back to a "work" area, then play, and so on. Our communicative snack area is a fun place to be as students practice making choices for desired snacks from around 10 options. Our occupational and speech therapists join us in the classroom and help in a work or play area so students maximize their learning opportunities. Every 1-2 weeks we talk about a new study area and the classroom and library are transformed into a new adventure every Monday. 

Please contact me any time! I love supporting families and working together to make sure students are on their own journeys to success!

Cat -