Saint Clare Learning Specialist Program

Colleen O’Mahony is originally from Tacoma, WA, where she attended Bellarmine Preparatory School. After graduating from Stanford University, Colleen entered the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, working with children who had survived abusive homes. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of British Columbia in Canada and a Hewlett Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley.

After obtaining several academic degrees in child development, history and education, (and teaching pre-K and kindergarten) Colleen spent several years as a “Master Teacher” in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. She went back to school to become an educational diagnostician with a master’s degree in special education. At her graduation, Colleen gave the Graduate Valedictory Address at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA, and was honored as the Education Department’s Outstanding Scholar, serving as a guest lecturer there after graduation. Colleen continued to work for the Archdiocese of San Francisco as a learning specialist.

Upon moving to Portland, Colleen initially taught at Thomas Edison High School, where she continues to consult on assessment and serve as director of the summer school. As an itinerant assessor in the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, Colleen offers low-cost assessment for students in Catholic schools and in-service for teachers. In 2004, she began a special education program at St. Clare School in Portland, with the idea of creating a model that could be replicated; assessment remains the focus of her work there, along with coaching teachers and supporting parents. Colleen and her husband Frank are members of St. Clare Parish, and have three children in their schools.