Support Personnel

Adapted Physical Education Teacher (K-8)

  • The Adapted Physical Education Teacher provides support in the physical education environment to students who demonstrate deficits within the gross motor domain. Adapted Physical Education is considered a special education service within the Student Services Department of Naperville Community Unit School District 203. The supports provided by each Adapted PE teacher include, but are not limited to:
    • Administering developmental assessments for the purpose of identifying students’ gross motor competencies, developing individual learning benchmarks and determining student progress towards objectives
    • Adapting the physical education curriculum so that students’ individualized education program (IEP) goal areas are addressed in a safe and least restrictive environment
    • Providing direct instruction to students for the purpose of addressing individual needs
    • Collaborating with general education PE teachers, occupational and physical therapists, classroom teachers, educational assistants and parents/guardians to promote students’ gross motor skill development

Assistive Technology Specialist

  • Assistive Technology Specialists provide a service that directly assists a student with a disability in the selection, acquisition, and use of an assistive technology piece of equipment or product system used to increase, maintain, or improve their functional capabilities. The service delivery is a process by which Assistive Technology is considered, selected, provided, supported and periodically evaluated to determine its effectiveness for a particular student with a disability.

Certified Orientation and Mobility Instructor

  • The Certified Orientation and Mobility Instructor provides instruction to students with visual impairments (ages 3-22) who require specialized training in order to travel safely and independently in the school, home, and community environments.

Certified School Nurse (CSN)

  • The Certified School Nurse (CSN) is a Bachelor’s-prepared registered nurse who has a multi-faceted role within the school setting. This role supports the physical, mental, emotional, and social health of students and their success in the learning process. To that end, school nurses facilitate normal development and positive student response to interventions, promote health and safety including a healthy environment, intervene with actual and potential health problems, provide case management services, and actively collaborate with others to build student and family capacity for adaptation, self-management, self-advocacy and learning. District 203 school nurses are Bachelor’s- or Master’s-prepared registered nurses who also hold a Professional Educator License endorsed in School Nursing as defined by the Illinois State Board of Education. School nurses are certified vision and hearing screening technicians through the Illinois Department of Public Health and American Heart Association CPR/AED instructors. See the School Nurse Roles and Responsibilities page for details.

Connections Teacher

  • Connections Teachers coordinate transition activities for students to assist them to as they prepare to pursue their post-secondary transitional goals. These activities could include providing students with opportunities to learn skills such as social, shopping, budgeting, vocational, and transportation and then to practice them in real-life settings. For other students the activities could include opportunities to increase independence in daily living skills. Teachers strive to provide activities which will increase student independence across their individual day. Connections Teachers also connect students and their families with appropriate adult service agencies.

Classroom Nurse

  • Classroom nurses are registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who provide direct nursing services to medically fragile students and assist students in educational activities as directed by the classroom teacher and/or facilitator. All duties are performed in accordance with district/state Board of Education policies and procedures and state law regarding nursing practice.  All classroom nurses are CPR/AED certified. Classroom nurses work under the direction of the Certified School Nurse.

Health Technician

  • Health Technicians provide clerical assistance and technical support in school health offices and optimize the delivery of comprehensive school health services. Health Technicians work under the direction of the Certified School Nurse.  All health technicians are CPR/AED and First Aid certified.  Health technicians may also be certified vision and hearing screeners. See the Health Technician Roles and Responsibilities page for details.

Hearing Itinerant

  • The Hearing Itinerant Teacher serves students who require educational services due to a hearing impairment. The Hearing Itinerant Teacher addresses the educational, communication, and social/emotional needs of the student and provides guidance to the student’s family and school personnel. The Hearing Itinerant Teacher travels to multiple buildings to directly serve students and collaboratively works with staff to monitor the impact the hearing loss may have on the student’s educational progress.

Learning Behavior Specialist (LBS Teacher)

  • LBS Teachers provide specialized instruction and support by serving as a teacher with specific responsibility  to students eligible for special education services. LBS Teachers work to increase academic and social-emotional skills of students within the classroom or other assigned areas. They develop lesson plans and deliver group and individual student instruction within established curriculum guidelines and Individual Education Programs, while collaborating with other teachers, related services personnel, parents, paraprofessionals and administrators to develop instruction and monitor student progress. LBS Teachers also work in the capacity as case manager to facilitate IEP meetings, write appropriate goals and objectives, collect data, and report progress for the purpose of assessing goal attainment.

Itinerant Teacher of the Visually Impaired

  • The Itinerant Teacher of the Visually Impaired provides diagnostic, consultation and instructional services to identified visually impaired students. Itinerant Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) travels throughout the District to provide direct and consultation minutes for students at all levels (EC-Transition). The TVI supports core academic instruction and provides direct instruction in expanded core curricular areas. The TVI is responsible for adapting materials including the use of Braille and Nemeth codes. This includes ordering of large print, Braille and other tangible teaching materials. The TVI is a member of the IEP team and is responsible for performing and documenting results of Functional Vision and Learning Media assessments as well recording data and reporting on IEP goals.

School Social Worker

  • School Social Workers serve as a link between home, school, and community. School social work is a specialized area of practice within the broad field of the social work profession. School social workers bring unique knowledge and skills to the school system and the educational support team. In particular, school social workers are trained in mental health concerns, behavioral concerns, positive behavioral supports, academic and classroom interventions. Through on-going consultation, school social workers assist classroom teachers, parents, and administrators in identifying potential barriers to students’ academic success and social/emotional well-being. School social workers provide support through crisis intervention, individual or group counseling that may address a variety of concerns, including:
    • Developing positive peer relationships
    • Mediating conflicts
    • Improving social skills
    • Learning problem-solving, decision-making, and coping skills
    • Developing strategies to increase academic success
    • Providing crisis intervention
    • Managing stress
    • Identifying symptoms of depression, anxiety, and reactions to loss or trauma
    School social workers are well-versed in the numerous resources available in the community and are able to link families with appropriate agencies and service providers.

School Psychologist

  • The School Psychologist works with students to:
    • Provide counseling, instruction, and mentoring for those struggling with social, emotional, and behavioral problems
    • Increase achievement by assessing barriers to learning and determining the best instructional strategies to improve learning
    • Promote wellness and resilience by reinforcing communication and social skills, problem solving, anger management, self-regulation, self-determination, and optimism
    The School Psychologist works with students and their families to:
    • Identify and address learning and behavior problems that interfere with school success
    • Support students' social, emotional, and behavioral health
    • Teach parenting skills and enhance home–school collaboration
    • Make referrals and help coordinate community support services
    The School Psychologist works with teachers to:
    • Identify and resolve academic barriers to learning
    • Design and implement student progress monitoring systems
    • Design and implement academic and behavioral interventions
    • Create positive classroom environments
    • Motivate all students to engage in learning

Speech & Language Pathologist

  • The Speech and Language Pathologist works with the educational team to identify students with communication disabilities that adversely impact the student in the educational environment. The Speech and Language Pathologist develops and implements appropriate Individual Education Programs according to IDEA, collaborates with others, including parents, to communicate information, provides training to assist in generalization of skills in other environments, provides appropriate communication technologies when appropriate, and collects data to ensure compliance with established guidelines and legal requirements.

  • School Nurse

    Mary Dermos
     

    School Social Worker

    Erin Las 
     

    School Psychologist

    Sara Zuffrano
     

    Speech Therapists

    Bridgett Riverol Golz
    Alison Shin
     

    School Occupational Therapist

    Karen Most
     

    Physical Therapist

    Tiffanie Pontow 
     

    Adapted PE

    Aaron Maschman