BIOGRAPHIES
Niko Semerzakis
I have worked with school age children since 2000. In 2007, I began working directly with students receiving special education services as paraprofessional. In 2013, I was hired as a special education teacher at Hall Memorial School in Willington. During my time in Willington, I worked with students with diverse needs. My belief of focusing on a student's strengths in order to build confidence, and focus on the whole student was validated by the success of many of my students as they moved through high school and beyond.
For the past three school years my focus has shifted to students with emotional and behavioral needs. My approach has led to success with this population of students, and many who did not attend school consistently or go to general education classes. The emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the needs of children and their families, and I have a passion of helping people overcome their barriers to success.
In 2018, I began homebound tutoring high school students who struggled to attend school and perform in the general education setting. Using knowledge gained from my years of teaching, I began to collaborate with school districts to develop plans that helped students meet their high school credit requirements. Currently, I work with students from middle school into college level and help with a diverse set of skills. This line of work has become a passion project and I hope to continue helping students make growth needed to find success in the future.