More About Heather

Hello, I am Heather Cisowski, a special education teacher with 19 years of experience! In that time, I have worked at the most reputable schools in the South Bay Area. I am an Ivy League graduate, University of Pennsylvania '05, with a masters degree in Special Education, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas '07.  I went on to clear my mild to moderate Special Education teacher credential at San Jose State University and receive my certification in teacher students on the Autism Spectrum.

 

In addition to having expert knowledge on implementing academic interventions, I truly care about and value each individual I teach. This makes THE difference in achieving success! Empowering young people and watching the light bulb go in - witnessing the "AHA" moment - is what drew me to teaching. I began working in schools in West Philadelphia during my undergraduate college days. I fell in love with teaching and chose to apply to a program called Teach for America. I was accepted and the program placed me in Las Vegas, Nevada teaching special education in middle school while earning my masters degree. When my time was done, I moved back to my hometown of Los Gatos and began teaching a program for Therapeutic Special Day Class at Los Gatos High School. After 15 more years of teaching, I felt drawn to provide my individualized support for students by opening my own tutoring and education consult business. Thus, I began Authentic Learning Solutions so that I could support students in individual and small group situations.

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I provide in-person tutoring - either in your home or a library - to students living in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell and San Jose. If you are out of my area, I am happy to provide services via Zoom. I can tutor reading, writing, math (through Geometry), and executive functioning for students of all ages.

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I can also serve as a Special Education Advocate and advise parents on how to navigate the public school system in order to secure the services your student needs in order to have greater success at school. After sitting in hundreds of meetings for students and writing hundreds of IEP's and academic testing reports, I know the process! I know the laws and I know what a well written IEP or 504 should look like. I am happy to read testing reports from the school, help draft emails, and attend meetings. For this support, I work for Mosaic Minds Consulting - please refer to that website - https://mosaicmindsconsulting.com/

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I also have a 14 year old daughter who is neurodiverse. I have walked the journey of qualifying for an IEP as a parent and experienced the powerlessness of watching my child struggle in public education. With the support of experts outside of the school, she is now thriving. The experience taught me the true importance of the work I do - it is truly from my heart.