EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANTS OF BOSTON - Key Persons
Professional experience includes teaching, administration, consultation and professional development for teachers. Barbara has taught both English and reading and, as a faculty member at Lesley University, has developed and taught courses in special education curriculum development, behavior management, and consultation and collaboration. She served as Program Director of the Special Education teacher preparation programs in the School of Education at Lesley, where she led in course and program revisions, development of an online Special Education program, and development and implementation of a Lesley program in Tacoma, Washington.
Barbara's particular areas of interest and expertise include instruction for struggling readers and students with disabilities, Response to Intervention, Universal Design for Learning, adolescent literacy, learning strategy instruction and urban education. In addition, Barbara has done considerable work designing institutional and program assessment systems to align with state and national standards. She has delivered presentations and workshops for MACTE, NEEAN, and numerous systems and educational organizations.
Barbara earned her BA in English from Bucknell University, her MEd in Reading from Temple University, and her CAGS in Special Education from Lesley University.
Erin graduated with a Masters in Speech/Language Pathology from Boston University. Since then, she has worked in public schools in Needham, Weston, Walpole, Stoughton, and Westwood providing treatment and evaluation for students in Pre-K through 12th grade. Erin has experience with a variety of speech and language delays and disorders including: articulation delays/disorders, language learning disabilities, non-verbal learning disabilities, expressive and receptive language deficits, and augmentative and alternative communication programs. Erin also had private speech and language clients. She has provided home-based services for students, as well as support for parents in navigating the way through the IEP process and creating realistic and achievable expectations for meetings with various school systems.
Frank A. Gagliardi, Ed.D. has recently retired as Executive Director of the League School of Greater Boston. Frank has been in the field of Special Education for over 30 years. He has held a variety of Administrative positions including Administrator of Special Education, Elementary Principal, and Title 1 Director has consulted to a number of Public Schools and was a CSPD trainer for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. He has been on the Board of the Massachusetts Association of Approved Private Schools and is on the Audit Committee and a number of sub-committees. Frank is a graduate of Northeastern University and holds a Doctorate in Educational Administration. He has been an adjunct faculty member at Wheelock College and Massasoit Community College. Frank consults to schools and families.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Janine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Massachusetts. She earned her Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from Boston College. Janine has experience in a variety of school settings, ranging from substantially separate classrooms to public school settings. In addition, she has worked with children in outpatient and social group settings to help support children's social and emotional growth and has particular experience using Michelle Garcia Winner's Social Thinking®. She currently sees children and teens for individual and small group therapy in private practice.
Janine is the author of the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, designed to help elementary school students learn how to deal with stress, anxiety, and anger in healthy ways. Recently, she became a national speaker for PESI® and presented full-day seminars in New York and Chicago on the topic of Anxiety, ADHD and Anger in the Classroom. Janine is the founder of Encourage Play, a website dedicated to teaching children social skills through play, and Coping Skills for Kids, focused on teaching children healthy ways to cope with big feelings.
Dr. McDonough has been a special educator for over 40 years acting as an advocate for children in school systems throughout the commonwealth. She recently earned her doctorate in Special Education at Boston University. She holds a CAS from Harvard University, M.Ed from Rhode Island College, and a BS from Lesley University. Dr. McDonough began her career as a Resource Room Teacher and a Teacher of Students with Disabilities in the Seekonk Public Schools. Most recently, she worked as an Inclusion Specialist in the Weston Public Schools. She has worked as Adjunct Faculty at Lesley University, Simmons College, Lasell College, and Bridgewater State University, teaching courses as well as doing student teaching supervision.
Dr. McDonough specializes in inclusion and guiding teams with placement decisions for students and their families. Dr. McDonough has expertise in the use of paraprofessionals due to her extensive experience supervising paraprofessionals in inclusive settings and because her doctoral research and dissertation focused on the utilization of paraprofessionals.
Dr. McDonough recently served as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Council for Exceptional Children. She is on the League School Board of Directors as the Chairperson on the New Directions in Education Committee.
Melissa is an experienced Occupational Therapist, spending over 20 years working directly with children, their caregivers, and educators across school, home and community settings. Utilizing a whole-child approach that integrates play with purpose, Melissa specializes in developing customized programs to improve a child's participation at home and in community. Melissa assists a child and family in working together to develop functional routines around emotional regulation and executive function by demonstrating how to integrate an array of tools and techniques into everyday activities. Additionally, Melissa provides training and child-centered program consultations to educators and parents on a variety of topics including: Sensory Processing and Regulation, Behavior Management at Home and School, Executive Function and Project Management, as well as Universal Design in Education.
Melissa received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of New Hampshire in 1999. She obtained her Masters of Education Degree with a specialization in Assistive Technologies & Universal Design from Simmons College in 2009. Melissa lives in Milton, MA with her two sons.
Vickie Alleva has been a licenced Speech/Language Pathologist since 1993. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Emerson College in Boston. She very much enjoys her work in elementary special education for the Milford Public Schools, where she provides speech and language evaluations, treatment, and classroom consultations for students in grades 3-5. Vickie has experience working with children of all ages and abilities. She has particular experience working with children with a variety of communication disorders, including social pragmatic disorders, language learning disabilities, non-verbal communication disorders, articulation delays/disorders, stuttering, and the use of augmentative/alternative communication programs. Vickie also works privately with clients, where she provides home-based services and support for families to ensure skills and progress translate across the child's entire day. Vickie lives in Dedham with her husband and family. She enjoys hiking, biking, and everything about Cape Cod.