Meet Korey Renshaw, Early Intervention Behavior Specialist

Happy Heart’s newest team member, Korey Renshaw, was introduced to early intervention as a child. Her mother worked with deaf and hard of hearing babies and toddlers, and Korey often accompanied her mother to sessions during summer break. Later, both her sons went through early intervention. While she’s spent her career helping children and families, she’s had many different roles before becoming an early intervention behavior specialist.

After growing up in Bucks County, PA she majored in Special Education with an emphasis in Behavioral Support at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. After graduation she taught for a year at a school outside Charleston. She then spent five years in the emotional behavior support classroom at a Title 1 school, where she worked with a mix of students in K-5, with many different ages and abilities. 

“It was a really good experience,” she shares. “I met kids that had needs that I wasn't familiar with. And I had an excellent mentor who taught me how to go beyond the textbook and connect with students. That job was a shaping moment for me.”

When her boyfriend–who is now her husband–got a job in California, he asked her to go with him and she got a job working in the resource classroom at Edwards Airforce Base. After two years there, the couple moved back to Pennsylvania. She taught for a year, then had her first son in 2016 and decided to stay home with him.

Three years ago when her youngest son started preschool, Korey asked whether they needed any help. They did! After two years as an assistant, she now teaches there full time.

Because both her boys went through early intervention, she also wanted to use her experience to work with that population. “For nine years I got to see what early intervention looks like as a parent. That made me want to help parents who don’t know what services are out there or what to do for their child.” She began looking for early intervention positions, saw a posting for Happy Hearts on Indeed, and applied. She was hired in November 2025, went through the training process, and started seeing clients in January.

While she’s technically the “expert” in the parent/coach relationship, she wants the caregivers she works with to know that she’s been on their side too. “I’ve had those tough moments of thinking, Oh my gosh, what am I going to do now? What does this report mean for my kid? I have a good understanding of both sides of the coin and I want to be an advocate for them as much as their child.”

She also loves working with the birth to age three population because so much growth takes place during that time. “So much of what can happen beyond that is shaped in those first three years. I like the opportunity to be involved in that in a positive way.”

Korey encourages parents to remember that while early intervention can seem scary, overwhelming, or hard to manage at first, they’re doing the best thing for their child and giving them the best opportunity to reach their potential success. “Be involved,” she advises, “and don’t be afraid to ask questions or speak up if you need to.”

When she’s not working, Korey reads a lot - typically about 100 books per year. She enjoys books of all kinds. While she read a lot of rom coms over the holidays, she’s now moved on to thrillers. She also loves musicals, and has taken her kids to see a few Broadway shows to share that love with them. Her favorite show is Merrily We Roll Along, which she won fifth row tickets to see in New York City a few years back.