As Director of the program, Sara is the main point of contact for parents of current students, and provides advocacy for students with faculty and others at the College. Learn more about Sara below.
Sara Sanders Gardner is the designer and director of Bellevue College’s nationally recognized Navigators program, which began in 2010 and has grown to serve over 300 students in tiered services. Sara leads a team of staff, faculty, and peer mentors, designs curriculum, and works to support students, faculty, and staff across campus. Sara recently retired from teaching after 10 years as part-time faculty in the program, and still directs the program.
Sara’s work in the field began in 2001, serving as a parent advocate for K-12 students and their families, teaching parenting classes, and growing a 600-family support group as President in Orange County, CA.
Sara holds professional certification as a Collaborative Problem Solving Trainer from Think:Kids, a program in the Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Other education includes coursework in Early Childhood Education at Coastline Community College, and post-secondary in English at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
