Hybrid Conference – Attendance Today for Success Tomorrow: Addressing School Avoidance – Oct. 8, 2024 (Registration Closed)

October 8, 2024 @ 8:45 am – 2:30 pm

REGISTRATION CLOSED

Registration: 8:15 – 8:45 am
Conference: 8:45 am – 2:30 pm

Attend In Person or Via Zoom

Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School
758 Marrett Rd.
Lexington, MA 02421

To receive PDPs, participants must attend this conference and the conference, Attendance Today for Success Tomorrow: Combating Bullying and Harassment, on October 1, 2024. Members can participate in-person, virtually or by viewing the recording.

SpeakerS

Description

Many Massachusetts schools grapple with the issue of how to minimize school avoidance. At this hybrid conference, Secretary of Education, Patrick Tutweiler will share Massachusetts’ statewide initiatives to increase school attendance. Participants will learn best interventions, practices, and strategies to help students to re-engage in academics and school.

About the Speakers

Patrick Tutwiler, Ph.D.,(he/him) is the Secretary of the Executive Office of Education, and the first Black person to ever hold that role in Massachusetts’ history. As Massachusetts Secretary of Education, Tutwiler directs the Executive Office of Education, which oversees early education, K-12, and higher education. Secretary Tutwiler sits on each of the boards governing the Commonwealth’s education agencies, as well as the University of Massachusetts system. He is Governor Maura Healey’s top advisor on education and helps shape the Commonwealth’s education agenda.

Before being sworn in as Secretary, Dr. Tutwiler served as the senior program officer at the Boston-based Barr Foundation, a grantmaking organization focused on arts, climate and education, where he specialized in developing new high school models that will have a positive impact across the entire school system. He has more than twenty years’ experience in public education as a high school history teacher, as a high school principal and as the superintendent of the Lynn Public Schools. As Lynn Superintendent, Secretary Tutwiler led a collaborative, equity-centered effort that resulted in increased graduation rates, decreased push out rates, a more racially diverse faculty and staff, and the establishment of Massachusetts’ second largest early college program. He earned a B.A. in history from The College of the Holy Cross, a master’s in education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. He lives in Andover with his family.

Wendy P. Bamatter, Ph.D., (she/her) is the founding Program Director of McLean Hospital’s Child Partial Hospital Program. Prior to this role, she served as Program Director of McLean’s 3East Cambridge Residence and before that, as a Staff Psychologist within the 3East DBT Intensive Residential Program at McLean. As a licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Bamatter works primarily with children, adolescents, young adults and their families. She has developed expertise in treating individuals struggling with emotion dysregulation, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicide ideation and behaviors. She has also focused significant efforts on providing, and training others in the provision of, gender-affirming care to transgender and gender diverse individuals. She also has extensive training in delivering culturally sensitive individual and family therapy in Spanish.

Maria Champigny (she/her) has worked for Peabody Public Schools as a Social Worker/School Adjustment Counselor since 2017.  Maria is currently working at an elementary school that has welcomed newly arrived immigrant students living in shelters. As a School Adjustment Counselor, Maria provides direct counseling services including groups, individuals, social skills, and crisis intervention. She has experience and expertise in the areas of childhood and adolescent care, crisis response, trauma informed care, cognitive behavioral therapy, de-escalation, psychosocial assessments and interventions, medical and educational mental health support systems. Maria is a Crisis Prevention Intervention Instructor and is a member of the district’s Crisis Response Team, Newcomer, English Learner, and SEL Core Teams. Maria serves on the board of the Peabody Education Foundation and is a member of the Peabody School Safety Task Force. She has previously worked at the North Shore Physicians Group and Boston Medical Center.

Sheilah Gauch, M.Ed., LICSW, (she/her) holds a Masters in Educational Organizational Management and is licensed as a Principal, Special Education Administrator and School Adjustment Counselor through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Sheilah has been working with children with significant mental health needs for over 20 years. She is currently the Principal and Clinical Director of Dearborn Academy, a Chapter 766 Private Therapeutic Day School. Dearborn Academy serves students with significant social/emotional and learning challenges. She has supported the school in the creation of a robust academic and clinical milieu to support students with the highest level of need. Sheilah began her career working with children, ages 5-18, in an outpatient treatment setting. Sheilah then moved to work as a clinician at a residential treatment program, where she stayed for close to ten years. From there, she moved to join a public school setting as a Special Education social worker. Here she supported students in sub-separate programming and went on to develop and oversee the district’s Tier 3 off-site transitional program. Sheilah served for 5 years as the Chair of her local Special Education Advisory Council (SEPAC) and has two children of her own who required special education services. Both of her children were ultimately diagnosed with Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Strep (PANDAS). Sheilah is an active advocate for PANS/PANDAS awareness. She co-founded the Massachusetts Coalition for PANS/PANDAS legislation. This group led the grassroots advocacy effort in Massachusetts that supported the passage of S2984, a health care bill that included both the creation of a PANS/PANDAS Advisory Council and a mandate that insurance companies must provide coverage for the disease. Sheilah attended the University of Texas where she was an All-American swimmer as well as an Olympic Trial participant. Her experience as a collegiate athlete reinforced for her the value and importance of teamwork, perseverance and resiliency – all values she feels are essential to her work in supporting children, and their families and systems, with complex mental health needs.

Mark Higgins, Ed.D., (he/him) has served as the Assistant Superintendent of the Peabody Public Schools since 2022.  Prior to this position, he worked as an elementary school principal for 18 years in both Peabody and Salem.  He has also worked as an assistant principal, adjunct professor, teacher, and coach.

Dr. Higgins is on the board of the Peabody Education Foundation, is an active member of the Mental Wellness and Peabody Cares Committees, and is the former treasurer of the Salem Children’s Charity.

Deb Jackson, M.Ed., (she/her) has 25 years of diverse experience in K-12 ESL, General, and Special Education, and has dedicated her career to enhancing educational outcomes for ALL students. She has worked for Peabody Public schools since 2019. With a B.A. in English, M.Ed. in Reading Curriculum and Instruction, and M.A. certifications in ESL and Administration, Deb has a solid academic foundation to support her professional endeavors. Throughout her career, whether as a teacher, instructional coach, department head, coordinator, or director, she has consistently demonstrated her commitment to educational excellence and leadership.

Steven Magno, M.Ed., CAGS, (he/him) is entering his 27th year in the field of public education and his fifth year with the Peabody Public Schools. He has extensive experience working with non-traditional student populations.  As Director of Student Services, Steven has focused on school safety and security, restorative practices, bullying investigation processes, 504 plan implementation, and student support. He also serves as the district’s homeless liaison engaging district and community partners to support newly arrived immigrant families and students living in shelters.  Prior to working in Peabody Public Schools, Steven spent 22 years in the Revere Public Schools having served as a special education teacher, team chairperson, assistant principal, principal, and lacrosse coach. 

Dayna Mann, LMHC, (she/her) is a clinician at Dearborn Academy and works with all ages across the developmental lifespan. She is a graduate of Boston College where she received her Masters in Mental Health Counseling. Dayna has experience working in multiple therapeutic backgrounds such as hospitals, schools, and in outpatient clinical settings. In her clinical practice, Dayna has experience working with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, School Refusal, Anxiety and Depression, and PANS/PANDAS. Dayna recognizes the importance of honoring the intersecting identities of each student, and reflects on how culture and identity on the larger social scale, impacts the individual. 

Nancy Rappaport, M.D., (she/her) is a graduate of Princeton University and Tufts University School of Medicine. A board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, Rappaport is currently a part-time associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her research, teaching, and clinical expertise focus on the collaboration between education and psychiatry. After graduating from Princeton, Rappaport worked as a science teacher at an innovative elementary school in Harlem, New York where she advocated for support for struggling families. Her life-altering experiences in Harlem inspired her to enter medical school and would help launch a robust career. Graduating from Tufts School of Medicine in 1988, Rappaport completed an internship in pediatrics and a residency in adult psychiatry, both at Massachusetts General Hospital, before completing a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Cambridge Hospital. It was during this fellowship that Rappaport forged a longstanding relationship with the Cambridge Public Schools. Dr. Rappaport received the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Sidney Berman Award for the School-Based Study and Treatment of Learning Disorders and Mental Illness in 2012. She also received Cambridge Health Alliance’s Art of Healing Award in 2013 – an award given to one who “transcends boundaries, joyfully embraces humanity, and profoundly inspires the healing of body and spirit.” Rappaport is the author of the memoir In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother’s Suicide (Basic Books, September 2009), winner of the Boston Authors Club’s 2010 Julia Ward Howe Prize. In a starred review, Publisher’s Weekly called the book “Fearless … a stunning narrative of perspective, profound sadness and unrelenting hope.” She is also the author of The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students (Harvard Education Press, April 2012), written with behavioral analyst Jessica Minahan.

Hannah Sycks, M.Ed., (she/her) is a Special Education and English teacher at Dearborn Academy. She holds a master degree from Lesley University, where she focused on literacy and social-emotional learning. Hannah started working at Dearborn as an assistant teacher, but quickly became passionate about helping students feel successful at school in order to return to their public schools. Hannah also advises the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, and believes strongly that building relationships with her students is key for them to feel comfortable and successful in her classroom.

Josh Vadala, Ed.D., (he/him) has served as the Superintendent of the Peabody Public Schools since 2020. Before coming to Peabody, Dr. Vadala was an Assistant Superintendent in the Revere Public Schools. He has also worked as a special education teacher, assistant principal, and principal. A member of the North Shore Superintendents’ Roundtable, Dr. Vadala has served on the Professional Development and Legislative Committees. He is also a member of the Emergency Shelter Task Force that supports districts serving newly arrived immigrant families living in shelters.

Membership Information

Most MPY webinars are available ONLY to current staff from member districts and organizations. Public school memberships include police and fire personnel. Former and retired employees and members of committees, including but not limited to, PTO/PTA, PAC, School Improvement Councils, Health Councils, Drug/Alcohol Councils, and school volunteers, are not considered MPY members.

PDPs and CEUs

MPY is an approved Professional Development Provider through the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (Provider No. F20180079). Professional Development Points (PDPs) are offered for most MPY professional development webinars. PDPs are issued in 10 hour increments, per DESE requirements.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for clinical staff through the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association, Inc. (MaMHCA). The NASW and the MaMHCA approve each event individually. CEUs may be given in hourly increments.

To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must pass the quiz. The PDP quiz will be made available only to participants who have registered for and attended both conferences.

Event Cancellation Policy

If you are unable to attend a MPY webinar you must cancel, through Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org, one business day before the webinar.

For MPY hybrid conferences, the date in-person registration closes will be posted on MPY’s website. Virtual conference registration will close one business day before the hybrid conference. You cannot cancel or switch your registration from in-person to virtual after in-person registration closes. Please email Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org with any questions regarding registration.