For teachers & specialists
Recognize a paraeducator you work with
If you're a teacher, SLP, OT, BCBA, school psychologist, or nurse who works alongside a paraeducator who's genuinely good at the job, you can put their name on record for it. It takes about 30 seconds. You name one thing they do well, and that recognition travels with them — even if they change schools or districts.
What happens after you nominate someone
- One nomination on its own does nothing visible. The paraeducator isn't told, isn't contacted, and receives no recognition from a single name. This is deliberate — we're not in the business of forwarding compliments.
- Recognition only goes out once at least 3 different people have independently named the same paraeducator. That bar is the whole point: it means the recognition reflects a real, shared reputation for skill — not one person's say-so. Nominations from teachers, specialists, fellow paras, and families all count toward it.
- Then a person reviews it, and a letter goes out. When someone clears that bar, we send them a letter letting them know colleagues recognized their work. The letter never says who nominated them.
- Everything after that letter is their choice. They can set up a profile, decline any further contact, or — later, as paid openings to mentor other paras appear — say yes. No obligation, ever.
Why your nomination carries weight
You see this work up close. A teacher knows which para can read a room and head off a meltdown before it starts; a speech-language pathologist (SLP) or other itinerant specialist sees the same para across many classrooms and can tell who's genuinely skilled versus who's just familiar. That cross-setting view is exactly the signal that's hardest for a paraeducator to get credit for through ordinary channels — most paras are handed real responsibility with little training and almost no recognition.
Does the paraeducator ever find out it was me?
No. Your name isn't attached to the recognition unless you specifically choose to add it. By default the eventual letter says colleagues recognized their work, not who. And nothing is sent at all until that 3-person bar is cleared — so a nomination is a quiet vote of confidence, not a message you're putting in front of them.
Recognize a paraeducator you work with →
The same paraeducators can also take a free self-assessment and use the resource library to build the specific skills they don't get trained on — no cost to them, and no catch.