About Me.
Hi, I’m Rachel, a nationally certified school psychologist and educator passionate about ensuring every learner gets the support they need. Over the years, I’ve worked directly with students, families, and school teams, and I know firsthand how challenging it can be to navigate special education systems and balance learning needs.
So, who am I and why am I now here in Costa Rica?
I began my school psychology journey in 2011 while attending grad school at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. During that time and the three years following grad school I got valuable experience working in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. I got to see firsthand some of the many inequities in education while working in under-resourced school districts in buildings that were often so underfunded they weren't even kept clean. My experience during that time was focused mostly on conducting special education evaluations and helping teachers with writing measurable IEP goals.
In 2017, I made a big personal and professional move by heading to Denver to open a new school in Commerce City, Colorado. While at Reunion, I was the only school psychologist and mental health provider in the building who was certified to complete special education evaluations. I became skilled at crisis intervention, small group counseling, behavior de-escalation, testing for gifted evaluations, and even 504 management. Then Covid happened. Covid + needing a change led me to my final job in the United States: Eastridge Elementary.
Eastridge will always have a special place in my heart due to the wonderful families and students I got to work with. In addition, I got to really see my work make a difference by working on an amazing special education team. I got to truly see how it takes a village to help students achieve all they can achieve.
During my experiences at all of these schools, I was often privy to seeing how school districts often seem to hide things from parents or even school staff--including ins and outs of evaluation processes, processes for placement decisions, and more. These and other systemic difficulties and the desire to become fluent in Spanish and live abroad led me to pursue my TEFL certification in Samara, Costa Rica.
My mission behind opening Psyched for Advocacy is to empower families, students, and professionals in special education by providing advocacy, consultative support, resources, and personalized learning services. My vision is to create a world where every student, regardless of disability or language background, has equitable access to education and families feel supported navigating the special education system.
