Meet Our Interns

Cleary McKenzie, M.Ed.

University of Massachussetts-Amherst

I am a current school psychologist intern at Greenbrier Elementary School in the Deer Valley Unified School District pursuing my Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. I have an interest in exploring how to address and eliminate racial and ethnic disciplinary disproportionality within schools, promoting social-emotional learning practices for marginalized students, and growing the diversity of the population of practitioners in behavioral health sciences. I am interested in investigating systems-level, multi-disciplinary efforts to achieve these goals. I chose DVUSD because of the district’s reputation of effective team collaboration to promote school-community collaboration and prioritizing the wellbeing and success of all students. I am very excited to grow my skills in intervention, assessment, and consultation this year.

Lexi Bird, M.S.

University of Kentucky

I am a school psychologist intern at Inspiration Mountain School in the Deer Valley Unified School District. I am pursuing my Ph.D. in School Psychology at the University of Kentucky. I chose DVUSD because of the opportunities to collaborate and work closely with families and school personnel, provide systems-level services, and support students in the school setting. As an intern at DVUSD, I feel supported by my supervisors, school staff, and cohort of interns. In addition to learning from the unique perspectives and expertise of my supervisors, I also have plenty of opportunities to explore and develop my own professional interests, such as implementing social skills interventions and collaborating with my school counselor to promote mental health initiatives on our campus. I am looking forward to what the rest of my internship year brings!

Erin Brennan, M.A.

University of South Florida

Current DVUSD Psychologist

I am a former school psychologist intern at Canyon Springs STEM Academy in the Deer Valley Unified School District. I am pursuing my Ph.D. in school psychology with an emphasis on pediatrics at the University of South Florida. I chose DVUSD because of its student-centered focus, the opportunities to broaden skills in school-based evaluation, intervention, and supervision, and its reputation for providing supportive training for interns. As I'm navigating my internship year, my supervisors at DVUSD have been incredibly supportive. On top of frequent and regularly scheduled supervision throughout the week, there is always someone available and willing to offer their expertise, help me work through day-to-day problems that arise, and answer any questions I have. At DVUSD, in addition to your primary supervisor, you will be assigned multiple different school psychologist supervisors throughout the year to allow you the opportunity to learn a variety of different approaches to addressing problems. As an intern, I feel like a valued and respected member of my school and of the school psychology team. As a result of such amazing supervision, a positive work environment, and the many professional development and training opportunities across topics, I have already greatly broadened my skills in evaluation, intervention, and consultation, and I am confident that the training here at DVUSD will prepare for a successful career in psychology in any setting I find myself in in the future.

Hongyi Wang, Ph.D.

University of Arizona

Current DVUSD Psychologist

I am a former school psychologist intern at DVUSD pursuing my Ph.D. at the University of Arizona. I choose DVUSD because of the amazing opportunities the district provides and the wonderful supervision and support I receive from staff and colleagues. I am enjoying my internship not only because I have plenty of opportunities to work with students, parents, and staff from various backgrounds, but also the positive and meaningful relationships I am able to build with the district, at my school, and in the community. The internship at DVUSD has broadened my knowledge and skills in assessments and interventions. I am very excited for the remainder of the year and look forward to starting my career as a school psychologist after I complete my internship at DVUSD.

I am a former school psychologist intern in DVUSD pursuing my PhD at the University of Arizona. I choose DVUSD because of their great reputation and their unique teams created to service students in special education and children identified with autism spectrum disorder. The opportunities and supervision provided has been an enjoyable experience that will help prepare me for my career working in the school and clinical settings. I have broadened my skill set in both assessment and intervention, strengthening my overall abilities as a psychologist in training. I'm excited for the remainder of the school year and look forward to bringing my skills gained through internship training into my career long term.

Hello! I am a former intern at DVUSD and a Clinical Psychology doctoral student at Midwestern University. I have an interest in working with chronic and terminally-ill children. I chose DVUSD because I wanted to learn about the assessment and interventions that occur in the school setting with students of all needs. Children spend a large portion of their lives at school, and it is pertinent to understand how schools work as well as the educational laws in place. The supervisors at DVUSD work hard to provide a cohesive learning environment and support the needs of their interns. I am confident that my training at DVUSD will prepare me for a career in pediatric psychology, both in a clinical and school setting.

I am a former Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD) doctoral-intern during the 2021-2022 school year. I attend Texas Woman’s University in the school psychology Ph.D. program. My interests in psychology are primarily around assessment and consultation. My focus is to translate assessment results for parents and teachers to better understand a child’s strengths and weaknesses and how those strengths and weaknesses translate to the classroom and home environments. Additionally, I am completing my dissertation around better understanding the school experience for children and adolescents in the Emotional Disturbance category. Here in Deer Valley USD, you will receive a wide variety of experiences within the school system, including assessment for a diverse set of presenting problems, group and individual therapeutic interventions, classroom and peer consultation, and direct behavior interventions. School staff also treat interns with respect and as the experts in the building. As an intern, you will also receive excellent individual, secondary, and group supervision. There is a wide variety of populations (ELL, SES, Ethnicity, etc.) within the school district so that you can tail your experiences towards your personal goals. This internship has been a wonderful experience and has prepared me to work within the field of psychology.

Beckett Tobak, Psy.D., CAGS, NCSP

William James College

Nicole Outman, Ph.D.

Central Michigan University

Courtney Lavadia, Ph.D. 

Texas A & M