Laura Kate Hoggard, Riverton Elementary

Updated nomination: February 2023

“Laura Kate is an incredibly patient Special Education teacher. She works with students with varying medical, behavioral, and social educational needs. Laura Kate has worked at Kauri Sue and has been at Riverton Elementary for the past 6 years sharing her light in the cluster unit teaching 1st through 3rd graders. Regardless of the students placed in her class, she makes accommodations and behavior plans that are individual to each student. Especially when dealing with a student with difficult behaviors, she structures their behavior plan around goals that interest them to help them succeed.”

-Sheri Tzvetcoff

Original nomination: December 2021

“Ms. Hoggard teaches a cluster class at Riverton that includes students with special needs from 1st to 3rd grade. We were very nervous for our non-verbal son to start all day first grade. He has had behavioral issues in the past and we considered sending him to a more restrictive environment.
But his kindergarten teacher and Ms. Hoggard agreed his does better when he can be with his peers in a big community. Ms. Hoggard and her aides have made our son so happy. He’s doing amazing at school, he’s so much happier at home and he is being included with his neurotypical peers. Inclusion is so important and we are beyond grateful for Ms. Hoggard for the amazing job she does to ensure our child has a great school experience like any other child. We know how difficult it can be to teach a class with such a wide range of abilities but she makes it seem so easy.
Her easy going attitude when we met her put us right as ease. We can’t say enough good things about her. We appreciate all she does!!”

Nominated by Alix King