Dr. Petty received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.  She is a licensed Physical Therapist by the NJ State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners.  Her clinical work includes experiences at Concentra Medical Center, the Hospital at UPenn, Trinitas Hospital, and the Jardine Academy.  She have worked as a school-based PT in the Madison and Elizabeth school districts and as both an inpatient and outpatient PT at Hackensack University Medical Center. Her continuing education includes courses in sensory integration, balance, orthopedic rehabilitation, and school-based PT under IDEA.

Dr. Petty has been a faculty member in the Franklin Lakes school district since September 2007.  She is very happy to be working here.  In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and sons.

The Occupational and Physical Therapists of the Franklin Lakes Public Schools use their unique expertise to help children prepare for and perform important learning and school-related activities and to fulfill their role as students.  In this setting, OTs and PTs support academic and non-academic outcomes, including social skills, math, reading and writing (i.e., literacy), behavior management, participation in recess/PE, navigation throughout the school, self-help skills, prevocational/vocational participation, and more.  Practitioners are particularly skilled in facilitating sutdent access to curricular and extracurricular activities through supports, adaptations, modifications, and planning.  Additionally, they play a critical role in training parents, other staff members, and caregivers regarding educating students with diverse learning needs.

Our services include direct instruction, small group instruction, integrated instruction in the classroom, and consultation with the classroom teachers.  We work collaboratively with the classroom and special educaton teachers to help children generalize skills across different settings.  Every student who receives Physical and/or Occupational therapy services follows a program of annual goals and individualized benchmarks for measuring progress.  These are derived from his or her own Individualized Education Plan (IEP).