Born in New York and raised in Colorado, Nina Simons lived overseas on the island kingdom of Bahrain for three years during high school. Afterwards, she returned to the U.S. to finish her B.S. in Speech and Hearing Sciences and her masters in Speech Language Pathology. After graduating, she popped around the West Coast as she worked with students from K-12, while also working as a teletherapist centered in Portland, her “home base” since 2012.

Simons said, “my students call me Mrs. Simons. I recently got married, but my last name stayed the same. I don’t mind if students call me by my first name either, Nina is just fine with me.” Simons also prefers she/her or they/them pronouns.

A lover of performing arts, Simons describes herself as “a jack of all trades,” who enjoys dance, singing, storytelling, acrobatics, trapeze, aerial silks and cyr wheel. She also dabbles in photography, and loves outdoor activities in general. Recently she tried out metal smithing and making her own jewelry.

  A fun fact about her is that she likes to do handstands everyday, Simons said, “It’s important to have a practice of balance in your life and see things from new perspectives.”

Simons lives with her husband and two cats- Delilah and Bunny- near the school campus. This is her first year working as a special education teacher. She looks forward to getting to know her students, telling great stories, teaching and learning new skills and building community with her coworkers.