Samantha Bracy, MEd, CAGS
Samantha Bracy began her career as a special education teacher in Winthrop, her hometown, in 2009. She spent several years in the Winthrop Public Schools teaching in a range of programs, including a substantially separate program for students with cognitive impairments. She then moved on to Newton Public Schools, where she was again fortunate to gain experience in several different special education roles, including co-teaching a Language-Based Learning Disabilities classroom in 5th grade. It was then that Samantha realized she was often working with students who were reading multiple years below grade level and she didn't feel adequately prepared to help these students grow, and grow as quickly as they needed to in order to catch up to their peers. She decided to go back to school at Bridgewater State to get her Reading Specialist license and obtained a CAGS in Reading. This experience made her a better teacher and also fostered a passion and expertise for working with students who have language and reading-based disabilities, including dyslexia.
Samantha's interests in both reading disabilities and inclusion led her to wanting to work more closely with adults. She firmly believed that all students can be included in the classroom in meaningful ways but she saw many general education teachers struggling to make that happen. In order to gain the experience she was seeking in providing professional development and coaching work, she transitioned from Newton to Match Community Day, a charter school in Boston, as the Director of Special Education for their PreK - 5 school. At Match, Samantha led a team of special education teachers and related service providers through intensive 1:1 coaching and development work. Samantha retained 100% of her team in her years there. After working at Match, Samantha moved to the Public Schools of Brookline as a district-wide Director of Special Education PreK-12, overseeing programming and developing teams of teachers across four K-8 schools. Most recently, Samantha made a full circle transition back to Newton, where she is now the Assistant Principal for Student Services at Brown Middle School. She is excited and eager to join the team there.
Samantha holds degrees from Northeastern University and Bridgewater State.
