Welcome!   

I'd like to familiarize you with my roles as the Sag Harbor Elementary School Psychologist. 

Committee Roles:

I serve as a standing member on many of our school’s mainstream and special education committees. I am a member of our Response to Intervention (RTI) team, which is a structured forum composed of educators from different specialty areas, which meet regularly to devise strategies to alleviate difficulties a student is experiencing in the classroom. The premise of the RTI is to identify and focus on the student’s individual strengths and adjust instructional strategies and approaches to support the student’s unique needs.  I also serve on the Committee on Special Education (CSE) and Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE). At these meetings, committee members collaboratively discuss a student’s strengths and weaknesses, review the student’s progress, and develop the student’s individual education plan. I additionally chair Section 504 meetings, which function to “level the playing field” for students deemed to have a handicapping condition under specific anti-discrimination law. My goal as a member of the RTI, CSE, CPSE, and Section 504 Committees is to identify and focus on each child’s unique strengths, advocate to provide necessary interventions to meet the student’s needs while maintaining an appropriate balance that facilitates individual growth and independence.

Counseling Services:

I provide individual and group counseling services, as well as crisis intervention and follow-up services. For mandated counseling, sessions are driven by specific goals stated on the child’s individual education plan. Coping skills, anger management, empathy, assertiveness training, functional communication skills, social skills, bereavement issues, and self-reflection are some of the areas addressed within the counseling realm. With a focus on teaching, modeling and role-playing specific classroom survival skills, my continued goal as a counselor is to empower students to reflect on and modify their behavior, build positive relationships, and function more independently across a variety of settings. These skills are critical not only in elementary school, but in developing caring, responsible citizens in our Sag Harbor community.

Evaluations:

I conduct psychological evaluations of children with special needs, as well as unidentified students who are experiencing significant difficulties learning despite documented pre-referral interventions. A psychological evaluation typically consists of intelligence testing, achievement testing, a classroom observation, social-emotional testing, visual perceptual screening, a social/developmental history, as well as interviews with the child’s parents and teachers. My goal in the area of assessment is to convey information that is easily understood and meaningful to parents and teachers regarding the student’s current abilities and needs.

Consultation Services:

I provide consultation services and collaborate with parents and teachers to develop functional behavioral assessments, positive support plans, and individualized instructional strategies. Additional indirect services include classroom observations, data taking, and facilitation of referrals to area community agencies. As a school psychologist and former behavioral specialist, service coordinator, family caseworker and college disability services worker, I enjoy advocating for others and fostering positive change. I find myself continually asking myself “what if” questions to continue to grow. This leads me to read a lot, observe, ask questions, and gain new knowledge. I am simply fascinated by the endless amount of information to learn in my roles as a consultant, evaluator, and counselor and find great satisfaction in my helping role as a school psychologist.

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