Mary Ellen Lavelette

Mary Ellen has been working in special education for 21 years.   Her bachelor degree is from Southern Connecticut State University and she holds a masters degree from St. Josephs College in West Hartford.   Her post masters professional development centered on Multi- sensory Structured Language courses.   As a special education teacher, Mary Ellen has worked with students in Kindergarten through grade 4 in both resource room and inclusion models.   In addition to her professional experience, she served on her town's Board of Education for approximately 3 years.   Mary Ellen joined Haskins Laboratories in 2000 as a Fellow with the Early Reading Success project, providing teachers with training in research based reading practices.   Through this project, she has worked at schools in Hartford, New Haven and Bloomfield.   Mary Ellen has presented workshops for the state's Reading Excellence Act initiative with her colleagues.   In the upcoming school year, she will work as an external mentor in Norwich at Moriarty, Greeneville, and Uncas Schools and in Manchester at Nathan Hale School.