Jennifer Lauria has been named to the newly-created position of Special Education Supervisor for Northville Public Schools, where she has worked for the past year as a school psychologist. The Northville Board of Education unanimously approved Lauria’s appointment at its Tuesday, August 9, 2016, meeting.
In this new position, Lauria will assist the Director of Special Services in leading, coordinating, and monitoring the district’s pre-kindergarten through 12th grade Special Education Programs to best meet the needs of individual students. Lauria also will oversee the district's Early Intervention Program, as well as support the district-wide Multi-Tiered Systems of Support initiative.
Prior to joining Northville Public Schools for the 2015-16 school year, Lauria served as a school psychologist for Wayne-Westland Community Schools where she worked with elementary and middle school students. Her responsibilities included facilitating Response to Intervention Core Team meetings; analyzing student data to support student growth; collaborating with teachers on the academic needs of students; and performing psychological assessments to determine eligibility for special education services and to help drive differentiated instructional practices.
In addition to her work at Wayne-Westland and Northville Public Schools, Lauria has served for the past 12 years as an independent, contracted outpatient therapist at Kara Lee & Associates in Plymouth, where she sees a small caseload of clients. Lauria also has participated in Statewide Autism Resource and Training (START) – Intensive K-12 Training. START is a Michigan Department of Education funded program through Grand Valley State University that trains educators to identify and work with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She also is a certified facilitator to teach Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in the school setting, and served on a The Leader in Me Lighthouse School Team while at Wayne-Westland.
"Jennifer served as a member of the Northville school community as a school psychologist for a year before being named Special Education Supervisor,” said Nadine Harris, Northville Director of Special Services “Jennifer has already built strong relationships with staff and families in the buildings she served, along with bringing extensive background in special education, data collection, behavioral analysis and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. She is an excellent addition to the Office of Special Education, staff, parents and our entire school community."
Lauria has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Central Michigan University, and a Masters Specialist Degree in School Psychology from the University of Detroit Mercy, where she also earned a limited license to practice psychology in the clinical setting.
“I'm honored to have the opportunity to continue to work with the students, staff, and families of Northville,” Lauria said. “I look forward to working in the Special Services Department to ensure our students continue to receive high quality instruction and support throughout their educational careers with Northville Public Schools.”
Lauria and her husband, Domenic, live in Brighton with their children Nicholas, 7, and Emily, 5.