Laurel Garcia

Director Of Continuing Education at Texas Charter Schools Association
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Contact Information
us****@****om
(386) 825-5501
Location
Austin, Texas, United States, US
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Credentials

  • Duolingo Spanish Fluency: Intermediate (Estimated)
    Duolingo
    Dec, 2015
    - Nov, 2024
  • Licensed Specialist in School Psychology
    Texas State Board Of Examiners of Psychologists
    Nov, 2007
    - Nov, 2024
  • Nationally Certified School Psychologist
    National Association of School Psychologists
    Nov, 2007
    - Nov, 2024

Experience

  • Texas Public Charter Schools Association
    • United States
    • Public Policy Offices
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Director Of Continuing Education
      • Jun 2020 - Present

      Connecting charter school leaders and school boards to resources for high quality continuing education. Connecting charter school leaders and school boards to resources for high quality continuing education.

  • KIPP Texas Public Schools
    • United States
    • Primary and Secondary Education
    • 700 & Above Employee
    • IEP Manager
      • Jul 2013 - Jun 2020

      At KIPP, this has been my first chance to work as a district lead for compliance at a larger charter school district. Before the KIPP Texas merger (2018), KIPP Austin was its own district serving over 5,000 students with over 500 of those receiving special education. When I first started in 2013, there were only 200 students in the special education program and around 70 protected by Section 504. As KIPP Austin has grown, it now has three different campuses with 10 schools serving students from kindergarten to 12th grade. This expansion has given me the opportunity to manage the speech therapy team, occupational therapists, LSSPs and the student care liaison. I still monitor the SPP indicators and other compliance aspects for the district as well as fill in for LSSP duties when needed. At our monthly professional development days, I train new special education staff on topics such as STAAR decision-making and accommodations, individual education plan (IEP) best practices, progress reporting, and confidentiality. I am currently the Transition and Employment Services Designee (TED) so I support the secondary schools with post-secondary planning and preparation. Finally, I also collect and analyze data reports for the director of special education for the Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System (PBMAS). Show less

  • East Austin College Prep
    • Austin, TX
    • Intervention Specialist and Licensed Specialist in School Psychology
      • Jul 2011 - Jul 2013

      Similar to Austin Can! Academy, I was the district department head for special education and Licensed Specialist of School Psychology (LSSP) at East Austin College Prep (EAPrep), which is a part of Promesa Public Schools currently. My experience was different in that I had the flexibility to teach my own intervention class and co-teach with the English department for 6th through 8th grade. Before joining EAPrep, I was contracted by them to conduct an audit of their special programming. After presenting the results to the principal, I worked with her to create a plan to correct the issues I found to be out of compliance. Since they were expanding at the time, I was able to join their team the following school year. I was able to quickly correct all compliance issues as well as start a professional development series for the staff on best practices in special education. Show less

  • Austin Can! Academy
    • Austin, Texas Area
    • Special Education Coordinator and Licensed Specialist in School Psychology
      • Aug 2006 - Jul 2011

      I was the department head for special education at Austin Can! Academy for 5 years. My tole there included not only conducting all the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) and 504 meetings, but also acting as the campus Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP). This required me to manage the special education staff as well as perform the psycho-educational evaluations and counseling for the campus. During this time, I led an initiative to reform the operating procedures and academic practices for students receiving special education services there. Before I began at Austin Can! Academy, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) had conducted an audit of the special education department and left the school with 22 indicators that required corrective action. By the time TEA came back to audit the department again, they were pleased to announce that all 22 indicators were resolved and left congratulating us. We no longer had to maintain our corrective action plan. In addition, I was able to report each year that our state performance plan (SPP) indicators for Child Find, initial evaluations, transition planning, and post-secondary outcomes were in full compliance. Show less

Education

  • University of Central Arkansas
    Master of Science, School Psychology
    2004 - 2006
  • Arkansas Tech University
    Bachelor of Arts (BA), Psychology
    2000 - 2004

Community

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