Sara Prete, M.Ed., C-SLDI
Co-Founder
Hi, I'm Sara, co-founder of The Bearings Collective. I believe education should give children opportunities to discover who they are and what they are capable of becoming. Learning happens in the classroom, but it also happens through music, athletics, leadership, relationships, creativity, challenge, and the experiences that allow children to uncover their own strengths and interests. When a child has a learning difference, that information can be incredibly valuable for understanding what they need. But it is only one part of their story. A child should never come to see themselves primarily through a diagnosis, test score, or area of difficulty. I want children to know themselves as confident, capable, curious people with strengths to develop and something meaningful to contribute.
That belief is deeply personal for me. I first began searching for answers as a mother, trying to understand why my bright, happy, curious son was struggling to learn to read and what I could do to help him. His eventual diagnoses gave us important information, but they did not change who he was. He was still the same thoughtful, capable child he had been before the evaluation. What changed was our understanding of how he learned and what he needed in order to thrive. That experience shaped the way I came to think about education: identification and intervention matter, but they should open doors for children, not narrow the way we see them.
That search changed the direction of my professional life. I became a classroom teacher and, over time, pursued advanced training in reading, dyslexia, and structured literacy so I could better understand how children learn and how to respond when they need something different. I earned a master's degree in Reading and Literacy, completed graduate study in dyslexia assessment and intervention, trained in Orton-Gillingham methodology, and became a certified dyslexia interventionist through the Center for Effective Reading Instruction. Today, I work with children and families as an educator, interventionist, consultant, and advocate while pursuing my doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Florida. My research focuses on the experiences of caregivers navigating the path from concerns about reading difficulty through diagnosis, intervention, and the school years that follow.
The Bearings Collective grew from my belief that academic intervention is only one part of helping a child flourish. A child may need explicit instruction in reading or mathematics, but they also need opportunities to experience success, take appropriate risks, pursue interests, develop independence, build relationships, lead, create, and discover where they feel genuinely capable. My passion is helping families understand that larger picture and make thoughtful decisions about what their child needs now while keeping sight of the person they are becoming. Sometimes that means targeted academic intervention. Other times, it means interpreting an evaluation, preparing for a school meeting, coordinating support, developing self-advocacy, or creating opportunities for leadership and growth. Whatever brings a family to Bearings, the goal is not simply to remediate an area of difficulty. It is to help children develop the confidence, skills, interests, experiences, and sense of self that allow them to participate fully in their education and see possibility in what comes next.