About the Teacher

                                   TEACHING BACKGROUND AND FAMILY LIFE

I was born and raised in southern New Jersey and taught on the East Coast, serving as a general and special educator in the public school setting; grades K-6 in New Jersey and Virginia. I taught in Fairfax County, Virginia, and received my M.Ed. from the University of Virginia in Special Education. After a move to California, I taught 5th and 6th grade for seven years in Orange County.  My husband's career brought us to Oahu, Hawaii for two years where I taught 5th-8th-grade language arts in a middle school model. We moved to Dublin about 10 years ago and I worked as a special education Resource Specialist in the San Ramon Unified School District.  I was thrilled for the opportunity to join the teaching staff at James Dougherty and am now entering my eleventh year in fifth grade. 

Moving on to more about the Bray Family, my husband and I have three children, with my oldest in law school, a college aged daughter, and a present Dublin High senior: Sarah - 22 years, Corinne -19 years, and Liam-17 years old. In addition to our children, we have two adorable dogs, a labradoodle named Alfie and a Maltipoo named Emmet.  We are obsessed with these canine cuties! I'm quite the storyteller and look forward to sharing all my family's crazy adventures. You can usually find me reading, walking/hiking, singing in Livermore Valley Chorale, traveling, and enjoying concerts and theater.  We are big travelers and have been to many different countries and states. I am a huge Warriors fan and love learning about new technology from my children and students. Over the past two years, my husband and I self-published eight children's books with a National Parks Service theme centering around a loveable tumbleweed named Tripp.  We are writing books with classrooms and donating a portion of our book proceeds to teachers.  We have worked with many different classrooms, school districts, and extended learning programs across the country that help us write the books.  

As a student in my class, you will learn from the first day of 5th grade, that this year is a journey of getting "Middle School Ready!" The goal is worked on from the first day of fifth grade.  Creating middle school-level responsibility, independence, and social skills is embedded into our daily routine.