Katherine Schrock

After completing Special Education Advocate Training 2.0 (SEAT) through the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) I established Child Focused Solutions CT to help parents advocate effectively to obtain educational services for their child. I am passionate about this work and available to help. 

As a former classroom teacher, homebound tutor, and mom of twins who receive special education services, I know your frustration with trying to fight for the educational services your child needs and is entitled to. I also have the training and experience to assist you in identifying goals and truly understand how to navigate the process.  

I began my career as a classroom teacher after receiving my Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Science in Elementary Education from the University of New Haven in Connecticut.  

I spent my teaching career in urban school districts that primarily served low-income, underprivileged families. Many students were struggling with overwhelming barriers to success. I made it my mission to assist students in my care to get what they needed to learn. I often met with parents and students to develop plans that would strengthen the relationship between home and school, with the goal being student success both academically and emotionally.  

After having twins, I left the classroom and became a homebound tutor, working with students who were medically fragile or pending expulsion. I found I was often working with the parents of my homebound students to advocate for a more meaningful plan for the student’s learning which recognized their capabilities, while accommodating their challenges. Often, the parents had been dismissed by their school district and told to “take it or leave it” when it came to discussing their child’s education plan. This didn’t sit well with me, and I eventually determined that I could be most effective by becoming an education advocate who parents could count on to work with them to achieve appropriately ambitious Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for their child.  

To augment my professional development, I completed SEAT 1 & 2 (Special Education Advocate Training) provided by the Council of Parents Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) https://learn.copaa.org/SEAT. There is no other training in the field as in-depth as the SEAT program. This training consisted of over 40 classroom hours with written assignments, a capstone project, and 60-plus hours of a supervised internship.  

With my hands-on experience as a teacher, knowledge of school system operations, and experience and 

training as an advocate, I have the experience, tools, and passion to; help understand your child’s situation; work with you to develop an appropriate plan focused on addressing your child’s unique needs and providing appropriately ambitious goals; aggressively advocate for the adoption of the plan; and monitor and maintain adherence by the district. See the services page to see which may be the best fit for your needs.