Northern Suburban Special Education District (NSSED)
The Northern Suburban Special Education District (NSSED) is a special education cooperative providing programs and services to eighteen (18) member districts throughut the northern suburbs of Chicago. NSSED operates three programs. The Early Childhood Program serves students age 3-5 with a myriad of strengths and needs in both classroom and inclusion settings. The Educational and Life Skills Program serves school age children 5-21 (up to the day before their 22nd birthday) with more profound and multiple areas of need. The North Shore Academy serves students age 5-21 (up to the day before their 22nd birthday) with needs related more to emotional and behavioral issues. NSSED nurtures relationships with its students, parents, staff and other stakeholders to develop and provide educational programming within these three programs as well as offering services to support students within their local district’s programs and Interns spend time working collaboratively with all.
NSSED provides numerous support services to member districts including coaching support related to Problem-Solving/Response to Intervention. Interns at NSSED spend approximately half of their time in one of the programs mentioned above (separate match codes) and the remainder of time is spent within the additional programs and services. Interns work with their supervision team to more fully develop their internship activities based on their goals and the district’s needs.
Interns receive ongoing training and supervision from both licensed and certified psychologists focusing on developing meaningful and effective intervention components through best practices in assessment, prevention/intervention, consultation and supervision. Opportunities for research and other interest areas are limited only by what is in the best interest of students. Interns avail themselves of the many professional development opportunities afforded on a nearly daily basis throughout our cooperative.
Interns receive a stipend of $17,000 and a competitive benefits package as part of their compensation. The Interns hours are the same as the programs that they work in, typically 8:00-3:30 with some variation and follow the District calendar.
A typical week:
2 hours direct supervision with licensed psychologist
2 hours direct supervision with certified school psychologist
12 hours direct service (e.g., individual/group therapy, individual/group intervention)
12 hours indirect service (e.g., individual/systems level consultation, meetings)
4 hours report writing and other paperwork responsibilities
3 hours professional development activities
3 hours prep time (e.g., intervention planning, research, case notes)
SUPERVISORS
Melissa Brown, PhD, serves as the licensed and certified supervisor of interns interested in the early childhood setting. Dr. Brown received her doctorate from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (2004). She has been a School Psychologist in the district since 2004 and has been a licensed Clinical Psychologist (IL) since 2006. Prior to working with the ECP in Glenview, she worked as a School Psychologist and Extern/Intern with NSSED Early Childhood Program, at North Shore Academy (both High School and Elementary School) and at Indian Trail Elementary School, Highland Park, Illinois. She has been a School Psychologist since 1994 and was also employed with the LaGrange Area Department of Special Education (LADSE) prior to receiving her doctorate. She also has a CAGS in School Psychology from Tufts University, Medford, MA. Her interests include Conjoint Behavioral Consultation with preschool age children, Parent and Teacher-Child Interaction Therapy, and Implementation of RtI within the Early Childhood setting. In addition, Dr. Brown is a member of NASP and has recently been invited to speak nationally and locally (www.illinoisaeyc.org) regarding Response to Intervention and Early Childhood programs.
John Dominguez, Ph.D. is both a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Certified School Psychologist. He has a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University (1993), an M.A. in Psychology from University of Houston (1998) and a Ph.D. Clinical Psychology from University of Houston (2000). He completed his Internship with Houston Independent School District and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychology. Dr. Dominquez is the supervisor at North Shore Academy where interns spend roughly .80 time per week in the North Shore Academy building, supporting and delivering the academic, socio-emotional, and behavioral services to its student. In addition, the intern will spend roughly .20 time in a general education setting in one of NSSED’s member districts supporting RtI development, RtI infrastructure, new SLD state-required assessment using the RtI process.
Videoclip: Andy Piper, Director of Personnel, describes the internship setting & opportunities: