Creative Tutors of Plano

Parents as Advocates

Parents are natural advocates for their children. Who is your child’s first teacher? You are. Who is your child’s most important role model? You are. Who is responsible for your child’s welfare? You are. Who has your child’s best interests at heart? You do.

You know your child better than anyone else. The school is involved with your child for a few years. You are involved with your child for life. You should play an active role in planning your child’s education.

Follow up:

The law gives you the power to make educational decisions for your child. Do not be afraid to use your power. Use it wisely. A good education is the most important gift you can give to your child.

As the parent of a child with a disability, you have two goals:

To ensure that the school provides your child with a “free appropriate public education” that includes “specially designed instruction . . . to meet the [child’s] unique needs . . .” (20 U.S.C. §1401)
To build a healthy working relationship with the school.

Spring is the time for many Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee meetings. I strongly encourage you to review my "Advocating for your Child" blog (Mar 2010) for tips on how to prepare and advocate for your child/young adult.

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Meet Jan Coltrain-Sapp | Owner

Jan Coltrain-Sapp is the owner of the Creative Tutors Plano. The role is a natural for her since she has always had a passion for education...both from a teaching and from a learning perspective. A Creative Tutors customer before she became an owner, Coltrain-Sapp calls Creative Tutors her "life preserver." When her daughter began having educational and learning difficulties at the age of three, Coltrain-Sapp became very active in her education. Through finding solutions for her daughter, she gained experience with the educational system and the law. She also developed heightened awareness of children's educational needs. Her experience as a working parent gives her particular sensitivity to other parents who work and want the best education for their child.

Coltrain-Sapp graduated with honors from the University of Northern Iowa with a business education major and taught at the community college level. Subsequently, she pursued an MBA in HR and Personnel Management at Northeast Missouri University and received her law degree from the University of Iowa.