About Me.
My job is to listen and help you fight for educational rights ranging from Kindergarten to the College level. I have the honor to meet with dynamic and fascinating families who tell me about heartbreak, lost opportunities, and their experiences encountering barrier after barrier when negotiating with the educational system. That's where I can come in and be your game-changer. I will scour your documents, analyze verbal and written notes, research education laws and cutting-edge educational approaches to champion individual plans into successful programming and top notch response plans. I measure my own success by the success of those who tell me their stories. Let me join you in your new journey toward educational success.
As a person with a life-long physical disability, I know what it's like to live and learn in a world that just does not fit or care to fit. I know what it's like when people see my disability first and make assumptions that they know best. I made a professional career of studying educational law and administrative educational systems to make a positive difference from within those systems for the students and families who were like me. I've been on the inside, now I want to help from the outside ... because I know what they are not telling you.
I am committed to transparency which means I'll be honest about your expectations, the school's agenda, and what I believe is realistically possible. If I think I can't make a positive difference for your situation, I reserve the right to decline your offer. I offer a 30-minute free consultation so that you can get to know me, and so I can determine if I can make a measurable difference in your situation. I will not accept offers from parents who are in denial about their child's abilities. I will not string along and mislead parents. I am a mandated reporter and will always report abuse.
My goal is to empower my clients with a thorough understanding of the elements of their situation, teach them how to advocate within their systems, attend meetings upon request to champion the cause, be an "on-call" resource for future needs, or be a referral for other friends or family members in need of similar help.
Fun pictures at the bottom of this page!
Career
2023
Rochester Institute of Technology
Associate Director of Disability Services
o Collaborated with campus stakeholders to meet changing student and faculty accessibility needs and improve accessibility and inclusion on campus, in alignment with both university goals and legal requirements.
o Co-led the office’s data management initiatives, including a leading role in the configuration and ongoing management of the office’s data management system.
o Access coordination, which included the determination of appropriate academic, residential, and co-curricular accommodations as well as ongoing support and mentorship of a secondary caseload of students with disabilities.
o Maintained an active and current working knowledge of socially just practices related to accommodation coordination and access on college campuses.
o Assumed leadership for Disability Services Office functions and acted in the stead of the Director when needed and was supervisor of the Access Coordinator with data management specialization, the Test Center Coordinator and the Senior Staff Assistant.
2019 - 2023
State University at New York
Brockport
2018 - 2020
State University at New York
Brockport
Assistant Director of Student Accessibility Services
o Seventeen years’ experience orchestrating a cohesive unison of departmental assets, campus partners, and community resource providers to ensure wrap-around student support to directly address needs related to retention and persistence.
o Dynamic and engaging leadership style resulting in the development of intrinsically motivated teams committed to the academic, social/emotional, and management needs of their shared students.
o Attainment of a SP22 to FA22 persistence rate of 91.1% for SAS registered students as compared to the 87.6% persistence rate for the non-SAS students.
o 80% increase in the usage of campus-wide assistive technology to positively enhance student notetaking subsequently resulting in a departmental savings of tens of thousands of dollars per year.
o Primary point person for students with intricate, escalated complications requiring robust and precise supervisory-level management.
o 30% increase in registered SAS students resulting 13% of the University being served by SAS due predictive data mining, development of engaging recruitment programming such as Tik-tok videos, learning management pop-ups, Starfish early alert responses, and more.
o Strategic cross-divisional collaboration with faculty Chairs to provide assessment-based professional development workshops for professors on the topics of harnessing the power of Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education, Supporting Students during COVID, Strategies for Online Learning during COVID, Accessibility & Inclusion 101, and more.
o Active participant and subject matter expert serving on 23 committees such as the Committee on Accessibility, Student Behavior Conduct Team, Academic Appeals, Facilities & Planning, Personal Safety, Title IX, and more.
o Funds sourcing and attainment through grant writing and engagement with SUNY systems to remain informed and quickly act on creative funding opportunities to expand programming.
Adjunct Professor - Special Education Instructional Methods
o Provided teacher candidates research-based and peer-reviewed instructional tools and pedagogical methods to reach and motivate all learners in an inclusive classroom environment and yield positive, measurable student-based results.
o With deep consideration of students’ styles of learning and psychoeducational data, the teacher candidates wrote Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), developed consecutive lessons using EdTPA guidelines, and co-taught lessons using various models of co-teaching delivery methods.
2018 - 2019
Webster Central School District (Public School Sector)
Third Grade Special Education Inclusive Classroom Teacher
o Provided special education tools to students with individualized learning needs so they could access the general education curriculum within the third grade inclusive classroom environment.
o Case manager for students with Individualized Education Plans, students with RtI services, and students who were being referred to the Instructional Support Team for further evaluation.
o Ensured that students IEPs and 504s receive all federally mandated supports and services through data collection and goal monitoring.
2006 - 2018
Hope Hall School
(Private School Sector)
High School Principal
o100% graduation rate for a student body that was identified as having 58% of students living at or below the poverty level in conjunction with having learning disabilities that result in IQs ranging from 60 – 85 (Standard Score).
o Envisioned, created, and continually improved the Hope Hall post-secondary transition program, school Handbook and Code of Conduct, reading intervention program, substitute teacher program, and the student teacher program.
o Promoted and supported opportunities for distributive leadership through facilitation of needs assessments and promotion of individuals who demonstrated desirable qualities for leadership.
o Provided targeted, data-based interventions, and implementations of multi-layered school and community-based supports to ensure student achievement of skills needed for life and post-secondary goals.
o Directed a school-wide curriculum improvement overhaul to meet and exceed Common Core standards for Regents and local diploma attainment.
o Social and emotional curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation to instruct students in the 5 competencies of self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness and relationship skills.
o Promoted the school vision and mission through social media platforms to engage with all stakeholders.
Director of Special Education Services
o Advocated for students and families at over 400 Committee on Special Education meetings.
o Wrote over 90 Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students with Learning Disabilities, Autism, Intellectual Disabilities, Traumatic Brain Injuries, English Language Learners, Attention Deficit Disorder, Multiple Disabilities, Prader-Willie and Speech/Language Impairments.
o Directed over 100 teachers, service providers, and staff members to ensure student goal attainment and State and Federal mandates were met.
Reading Department Head
o Researched, complied and trained teachers on various pedagogical resources to support teachers in identifying students’ needs, scaffold the students’ learning, and reach the students’ zone of proximal development for targeted reading interventions.
o Evaluated various peer-reviewed and research-based assessment and instructional programs for school-wide, cross-curricular implementation.
Inclusive Elementary & Middle School Teacher
o Taught remedial reading, remedial writing, science, social studies, math and technology skills to general education students and special education students using differentiated unit plans that included individualized modifications and accommodations for each student.
o 100% passing rate for all students in all subject areas.
o Wrote, monitored, and analyzed student classroom and IEP goals for observable and measurable student academic, physical, social and emotional success.
Education
Niagara University
Educational Leadership Certification
GPA: 4.0
Roberts Wesleyan University
Special Education, Master's Degree
GPA: 4.0
State University at New York, Brockport
Elementary Education & English Literature, Bachelor's Degree
GPA: 3.68
Image Gallery
Take a few minutes to look through some meaningful pictures of me serving the students and families that I adore (with my really awesome friends).