Meet Tia Bergman, Early Intervention Special Instructor

Though Tia Bergman has held many roles in her career, they’re all connected to her love of children. “Children make me laugh,” she shares. “Every day is a new adventure with them.”

While Tia has been in early childhood education for over thirty years, she almost became a pediatric nurse. She was working on a nursing degree at Reading Area Community College when she took a job at the college’s early childcare center. After her colleagues encouraged her to change degrees to Early Childhood Education, she fell in love with the field. She now holds dual associate degrees for Early Childhood Education Teaching and Early Childhood Education Management, and a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from Kendall College with a minor in Special Education.

While she started as a student at RACC, she later became a teacher’s aid, a teacher, and an evening care supervisor at the early childcare center and mentored new teachers and other students in the program. She then became a childcare center director for 17 years, where she wore many hats.

In April 2026, she saw that Happy Hearts was looking for special instructors and knew this would be a new way she could use her knowledge and expertise to help children. “I have lots of experience with toddlers. That's one of my favorite age groups. They’re constantly learning. I love to see children celebrate when they accomplish something.”

Although she’s just begun seeing clients, she already enjoys interacting with the children and getting to know them and their parents. Her favorite part of the job is showing caregivers how to help their child succeed and then seeing the whole family use the tools and strategies they were provided to meet their goals. She wants her future clients to know that her goal is to build a trusting relationship with them. “I’m low maintenance. Together we'll watch your child succeed.”

Tia recognizes that parents may be concerned about what starting early intervention might mean for their child, but encourages them to take this important step anyway. “When I was a childcare center director,” she shares, “when we talked to families about needing a little extra help they were often afraid their child would be labeled for the rest of their life. But early intervention is not meant to label your child. Our goal is to make sure your child is as successful as possible when they head to kindergarten. We’ll work together to make sure that they have the ability to be a good learner so they can move forward through school without issues. The earlier you start services, the better your child's learning experience will be in later grades.”

When she’s not working, Tia likes to go to the beach, including Bethany and Ocean City.  Although she loves listening to the sound of the waves and taking in the relaxing view, she doesn’t like sunbathing and summer is not her favorite season! If she’s not at the beach, she likes to stay home with her two rescued tuxedo cats, Jeffrey and Reno.

Think Your Child Might Need Early Intervention?

Early intervention helps children develop the skills they need to thrive throughout their lives, and trains and equips parents to be part of this important process. The first step to receive early intervention services is to request an evaluation. If you believe your child might benefit from early intervention, learn more about the evaluation process and how to get started.