Alina holds a Master of Education degree from the University of Bridgeport and started as a middle school mathematics and bilingual teacher in Connecticut. She later taught and mentored students at an innovative middle school in New York City with a reputation for engaging academically troubled students. Alina also founded two programs while serving her students in the classroom. One, a widely popular afterschool arts program. The program served at-risk students and filled the need for a productive and engaging alternative to the sports programs typically offered. Alina also co-created a program that seeks scholarships to elite boarding schools for deserving and underserved students. Alina’s teaching approach has always been to empower her students in the ways that best fit their needs, despite their circumstances.
Since moving to California over ten years ago, Alina has worked with many wonderfully bright, creative, and struggling students. Their needs vary with learning challenges such as attention deficits, dyslexia, dyscalculia, executive function deficits, trauma, as well as, newcomers/English language learners. Through the process of educational therapy, her goal is for each of her students to find success using strategies that fit their unique learning profiles and to develop into confident and independent lifelong learners.
Alina received her post-graduate training in Education Therapy at Holy Names University and is also trained in a multitude of instructional methods for reading, writing, mathematics, and executive functioning skills. She uses a variety of evidence-based approaches of instruction depending on each student’s unique learning profile. Some of the programs that she is trained in include: The Art of Inspiring Students & the Anti-Boring Approach to Power Studying, Executive Functioning Success, Seeing My Time, Multisensory Math (Marilyn Zecher), Making Math Real, Singapore Math, Orton-Gillingham and Structured Literacy, Lindamood-Bell Reading and Math Programs, among other multi-sensory teaching approaches. Alina is also a native Spanish and English speaker.