Support Staff
The Support Services Team – Who we are & how we can help
MISSION STATEMENT: To assist students and families who are experiencing emotional, psychological, social and developmental difficulties which may affect their academic performance.Juana Rivera – School Counselor - (845) 568-6480
My counseling services are designed to be developmental and foster optimal learning conditions for each child. I work closely with students, parents, faculty and administration to provide academic guidance, social/emotional and family guidance, as well as academic and career planning for all students at Temple Hill Academy.Craig Altmann – School Social Worker - (845) 568-6468
School social workers bring unique knowledge and skills to the school system and the student support services team. Their training, certification and licensing makes them instrumental in furthering the purpose of the schools - to provide a setting for teaching, learning, and for the attainment of competence and confidence for students, teachers and staff. Some of the tasks I am involved in are:- Consultation with teachers and administrators
- Assessment, evaluation and screening
- Counseling
- Home-School-Community liaison
- Case management/Community service referral
- Crisis intervention
- Membership on and leadership of school support teams
- Special education support services and referral
Jennifer Arroyo – School Psychologist - (845) 568-6466
Practitioner in the areas of consultation, assessment, childhood development, intervention and prevention. I provide individual/group counseling services for classified students whose IEP’s indicate the need. I also provide counseling services for non-classified students (with parents consent). Under direction of the Committee on Special Education, one of the main roles of the school psychologist is to administer a variety of psycho-educational instruments and/or consult with staff to aid students who are experiencing difficulties (academic or behavioral) in the classroom.Veronica Kay PNP & Maura Koennecke RN - School Nurse Teachers - (845)568-6481
School Nurse Teacher responsibilities are guided in a manner consistent with professional standards, the New York State Nurse Practice Act, state regulations and district polices.Our goal is to promote the education, health and well-being of all the students by using our nursing knowledge to empower our students to attain their best level of all three.
We support the students, parents, teachers, faculty, administrators, district and school community at large by:
- Providing health maintenance, education and emergency care.
- NYS mandated screenings, physical assessments, medication administration, immunization record collection and NYS mandated reporting.
- School liaison for healthcare providers of our students.
- We are also active members of the School Support Team and provide consultation and crisis intervention as needed.
- Active participants in school wide grants and activities.
Instructional Support Team (IST)
Purpose
The goal of the Instructional Support Team (IST) is to maximize individual student success in the regular classroom. IST is designed to offer assistance to those students who may be experiencing consistent academic or behavioral difficulties in school. The IST team works with students who have been recommended by parents, teachers, other school personnel, or students themselves.
How does it work?
The IST concept is based on teamwork. The team is composed of the principal, parents, classroom teacher, and instructional support teacher. Other school personnel and/or representatives from community agencies may also serve on the team depending on the need of the student. Once the student is recommended to the IST team, assessment of the student's academic, behavioral, and coping skills begins.
Team members, including parents, then meet to form an action plan for the student. Parents help decide what strategies should be tried to help the student achieve success in the regular classroom.
These strategies will then be employed for an intervention period. At the end of this time period, a follow up meeting is held to determine if the child has made adequate progress. If improvement is seen, the strategies will be continued. If needed, the team may recommend further monitoring or evaluation.
