Special Services

Danielle Drish

Hi! I am so excited to be the new school psychologist at Carson this year! I was born in Chicago, Illinois. My family moved to Longmont, Colorado when I was 5 months old. This will be my 5th year in Denver Public Schools. I earned my Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology from Fort Lewis College and my Educational Specialist Degree in School Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado. Prior to coming to DPS, I worked in Morgan County School District for 2 years and 12 years in Adams 27J.

In my free time, I enjoy spending time outdoors adventuring with my chocolate lab, Huxley. I love camping, hiking, knitting/crocheting, brunching with friends, cooking and reading. I am also a HUGE Denver Broncos fan!!

Joshua Garza

Deaf-Bling Intervener
joshua_garza@dpsk12.net

Kayley Hoag

Speech Language Pathologist
Kayley_Hoag@dpsk12.net

My name is Kayley Hoag and I am the new speech language pathologist here at Carson. I am so excited to be a member of the Carson Cougar team! I am originally from Houston, Texas. I then moved to Austin and received my bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Austin with a minor in American Sign Language Studies. After graduating, I worked as a teaching assistant in an inclusive preschool. It was there that I discovered that I wanted to learn more about all aspects of communication. I soon moved to Colorado and graduated with my master’s in Speech Language Pathology from CU Boulder. There I gained clinical experience working with (and learning from) incredible individuals in areas including AAC (augmentative and alternative communication), speech, language, and multimodal communication! I decided to stay in the mountains (and avoid the humidity from back home). In my freetime, I like to explore all that Colorado has to offer, read, and connect with my friends and family.

Andrea Metzger

PT
Andrea_Metzger@dpsk12.net

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska until I made my way to Colorado to attend Colorado State University. Although I had a brief stint back in the Pacific Northwest, I came back to Colorado to attend the Physical Therapy Doctorate program at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. I have been a Pediatric Physical Therapist for over 14 years. Much of my career was spent in Early Intervention until I transitioned to Denver Public Schools two years ago. I enjoy working with children and watching their independence, confidence and excitement grow when acquiring new skills.

My efforts to keep a healthy work/life balance include running and spending time with my husband, our two daughters (7 yrs and 9 yrs) and our dog Otis. We like to spend as much time outdoors as possible; camping, biking, skiing, listening to live music and spending time with friends and neighbors.

Kori Moinat

OT
Kori_Moinat@dpsk12.net

Joelle Hernandez

MLE
Joelle_Espina@dpsk12.net

I grew up in Arkansas and received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville. I then graduated with my Master of Science in Education of the Deaf from Texas Woman’s University and moved from Texas to our beautiful state of Colorado. I’ve been teaching at Carson for four years now and have enjoyed the incredible experience of teaching across K-5 grades.

In my downtime, I love playing with my three dogs: Atticus, Gracie and Shipley. I also enjoy reading, paddleboarding, hiking, going to concerts and spending time with my fiancé, Jesus.