Mrs. Newton
Intervention Specialist
Grades 6-8
(847) 251-3138 ext. 175
[email protected]
About Me:
I serve as the Intervention Specialist for Marie Murphy School. I began working for Avoca School District 37 at the start of the 2015-2016 school year. Prior to working at Avoca, I have worked in public school settings with students ages preschool to high school. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Child Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and my Master's and Educational Specialist degrees in Educational and School Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I am an Illinois Licensed and Nationally Certified School Psychologist.
Statement of Philosophy:
I believe that an important part of each child's education is access to academic, behavioral, and mental health support. I collaborate with parents, teachers, students, support staff, and administrators in order to identify students in need of these supports and to implement effective programming in the areas of learning, behavior, and social emotional development. I teach students necessary skills in order to foster self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. I work to increase students' independence with these skills in order to help them experience success at school, at home, and throughout life.
Support for Students:
I work with students directly in individual and group settings who may be experiencing behavioral or social emotional challenges that impact their functioning during the school day. I also provide consultative services to school staff. Areas of focus for student support at the middle school level include: identifying and managing emotions, developing positive coping strategies, managing stress, developing social skills and social cognition, managing peer relationships, social problem solving, building empathy, perspective taking, developing executive functioning skills, goal setting, and self-monitoring.
Students may access support through an Individualized Education Plan, a 504 Plan, or through a parent, teacher, or student referral. The decision to provide services is made in collaboration with parents, school staff, and students. If you believe your child may be experiencing challenges that are impacting their functioning during the school day, please reach out to me directly.
I am available to students throughout the school day. Any student may make an appointment by stopping by my office or sending me an email. Students may drop-in before school, during lunch, or after school.
My office is a safe space for students to share their feelings, thoughts, and experiences. In order to build trust and promote open communication, things shared in sessions will remain confidential. Exceptions to confidentiality include instances when a child's safety may be at-risk (e.g. when a student reports thoughts of harm to themselves or others or when a student reports that someone else is causing them harm).