Heather Brace
Room 104
I always wanted to be a special education teacher…this is year 24.5 for me! I have two sets of boy/girl twins and a best friend for by husband. Lucy and Gibson are 16 and juniors at DFHS. Gibby plays on the baseball team and is a wrestler. Lucy is on the cross country team, band, and track. team. Penny and Paddy are 4 years old and keep me on my toes. They love eating, swimming, and playing with their older brother and sister. My favorite thing to teach is reading/writing and social emotional regulation.
My assistant Suzie Blackburn and I have known each other for almost 20 years!! We worked together at Harbison West for 10 years and when I moved back to SC we paired up again! We both have 25 years experience in the field of special education. That’s 50 years of experience combined!! Blackburn and I are “family”. That is also how we run our classroom. We prioritize building our classroom family and building genuine relationships with our students AND their families. We strive to make our students feel seen, heard, loved, safe, and protected each and every day.
Brace and Blackburn
2011 vs 2025
Daily Schedule:
7:10-7:35 Breakfast/Arrival Routines
7:35-7:40 Morning News Show/Mindfulness/Pledges
7:40-8:15 Morning Meeting/Zones of Regulation
8:15-8:45 Reading/Writing Mini Lesson
8:45-10:00 ELA Rotations (25 min each: Brace, Blackburn, iReady)
10:00-10:10 Mindfulness/AM Behavior Check-Out/Bathroom
10:10-10:40 Choice Time/Play-Based Learning/Social Skills Development
10:40-11:00 Dreambox
11:00-11:30 Lunch
11:30-11:50 Recess
11:50-12:00 Bathroom/Mindfulness
12:00-1:10 Math Rotations (30 min each: Brace, Blackburn)
1:10-2:00 Related Arts/ Math
2:00-2:25 Adaptive Related Arts/ Math
2:25 Dismissal
BA in Special Education from Eastern Illinois University
Autism Endorsement
Read to Succeed Certificate
Trauma Informed Education Certificate
South Carolina Certified Mentor Teacher
Fundamentals of Structured TEACCHing Certificate
Universal Design for Learning Facilitator
Teacher of the Year 2024-25