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 Beth Mather - Director of Special Education
814-827-2715 Ext. 1481
bmather@gorockets.org
Titusville Area School District has met or exceeded all LRE areas reported, and has also met AYP for attendance, graduation, academic performance and PSSA participation. Titusville Area School District's special education teachers and paraprofessionals meet the highly qualified (HQ) criteria.
Titusville Area School District works collaboratively with Riverview Intermediate Unit (IU6), Pattan, Edinboro University, Clarion University, and the Gertrude A. Barber Center to provide trainings and in-service activities to both the regular education and special education staff.
There is a high percentage of parent participation in annual and review IEP meetings. The Titusville Area School District and IU6 offer informational meetings to The Titusville Area School District parents through brochures, and/or announcements in the newspapers about meetings and the IU6 has a parent mentoring program available to all parents of children with special needs.
Identifying Students with Learning Disabilities
Titusville Area School District offers a district-wide screening process for all children, focusing on 4-6 year old children entering school, during registration for the pre-school and Kindergarten program to identify any students who may be in need of special services. Students transitioning from Head Start and IU Early Intervention programs into District operated programs already identified as needing special services, continue to receive appropriate services, as determined by the IEP team.
Referrals made by teacher and/or parent(s), beginning in Kindergarten and extending through grade 12 are used as a means to refer students for a multi-disciplinary evaluation to determine needs for special education services. District-wide achievement test scores at various grade levels are reviewed annually by building administrator(s) and the psychologist to determine which students may be in need of special services. The Titusville Area School District uses both a significant discrepancy model and Response to Intervention (RTI) model to identify students.
Transfer student records are reviewed upon registration. Parents are asked if the student received any kind of special education services at the previous school. Complete educational records are requested from the sending school district and upon receipt reviewed. Officials from the sending school district are personally contacted to discuss student needs and services.
Printed materials are available in each building which instructs parents on how to request a multi-disciplinary evaluation. Annual announcements to parents on how to obtain assistance if they feel their child is in need of special service are printed in the district-wide school newspaper "School Matters," which is distributed to all tax payers. Information guides parents through the process of how to request an evaluation for their child. The District's student and parent handbooks contain information for parents who feel their child may have special needs, including how to request an evaluation.
Regardless of how the child is referred for evaluation all regulations, procedures, and time lines are followed by the District as outlined by federal and state law from initiation through completion of the multi-disciplinary evaluation.
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| MEGAN M BLAKESLEE |
| LEARNING SUPPORT TEACHER |
| mblakeslee@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 4155 |
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Mrs. Megan Blakeslee has earned a degree in Special Education and Elementary Education from Mercyhurst College in Erie. Mrs. Blakeslee was hired by Titusville Area School District in 2002; she has worked at Hydetown Elementary for eleven years as Special Education Teacher. Mrs. Blakeslee also had worked at Cherrytree Elementary.
Mrs. Blakeslee enjoys spending time with her family. She also enjoys quilting and working in her flower garden. Mrs. Blakeslee is active in her church. |
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| NANCY J CLARK |
| LEARNING SUPPORT |
| nclark@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 5116 |
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Nancy Clark holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from the University of Edinboro. After working in hospital administration for ten years she continued her education at Clarion University. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education on May 7, 2004 and was hired by Titusville School District on June 14, 2004.
Mrs. Clark has been the Learning Support teacher at Main Street Elementary for nine years. During this time, she earned a Masters of Elementary Reading and Mathematics from Walden University, October 2008. She is currently providing individualized instruction for students with special needs, grades one through five. |
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| DANIELLE J FRANTZ |
| SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER |
| dfrantz@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 2708 |
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| Danielle Frantz graduated from Edinboro University with a Bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education. Upon graduation, she served as a long term substitute at Titusville High School. She was then hired as a Life Skills teacher for IU6 to teach the Life Skills class at Titusville Middle School. In that time she also earned certification in Middle Level English. In 2006 she joined TASD and became a reading and language arts learning support teacher at Titusville Middle School. She has also taught 7th grade reading and language arts classes. Miss Frantz has earned her Master’s degree as a Reading Specialist from Edinboro University. Currently she is an interventionist for Titusville Middle School and teaches 7th grade reading and language arts classes. |
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| CHRISTY L. GRIMM |
| LEARNING SUPPORT TEACHER |
| cgrimm@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 |
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Mrs. Christy Grimm attended Fairmont State University and Clarion University. She received a Bachelors Degrees in Special Education, Early Childhood Development, English as a Second Language, and highly qualified status in Middle School Science. She is working on her Masters as a Reading Specialist and highly qualified status in Middle School Math. Mrs. Grimm is currently a Special Education Teacher/Interventionist at Hydetown Elementary and the Middle School. She has experience teaching preschool, Learning Support K-12, and English as a Second Language. Mrs. Grimm has taught for Franklin School District prior to coming to Titusville School District.
Mrs. Grimm lives in Oil City with her husband and two boys. |
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| THOMAS P HANCOCK |
| SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST (TMS/THS) |
| thancock@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 2432 |
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Mr. Hancock has been part of the Titusville community since 1992 and has worked as a School Psychologist in the Titusville Area School District (TASD) since 1993. Mr. Hancock was born and raised in Batavia New York and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Allegheny College. He received his Master’s Degree in School Psychology from Alfred University in 1993. His current duties are to provide an array of psychological services to students at TMS/THS.
In addition to his academic duties, Mr. Hancock has been a strong proponent of student extracurricular involvement. He has coached football, wrestling, and/or both at all levels for the better part of two decades. Currently, Mr. Hancock is an assistant coach for the Varsity/JV football team and coaches the middle school wrestling program. He is a member of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), Titusville Education Association (TEA), National Wrestling Coaching Association (NWCA) and the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). Additionally, he is a member of the Crawford County Suicide Task Force (CCSTF) and the Crawford County Educational Subcommittee (CCES). He and his wife live in Pleasantville with their three sons. |
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| CAROL S LASKEY |
| LEARNING SUPPORT |
| claskey@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 6017 |
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Mrs. Laskey has worked for Titusville Area School District since 1999. She provides Learning Support services to students at Pleasantville Elementary.
Mrs. Laskey is a native of McConnellsburg, PA. In 1999 she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Clarion University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Rehabilitative Sciences and Special Education with a minor in Gerontology. Mrs. Laskey also graduated from Clarion University with a Masters Degree in Special Education. She earned the Outstanding Graduate Student award in 2005.
Mrs. Laskey worked for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) from 1999-2012.
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| BETH F MATHER |
| DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EDUCATION |
| bmather@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 1481 |
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Before becoming the Director of Special Education for Titusville, Beth was employed with the Intermediate Unit in Edinboro and worked with economically disadvantaged high school students in the Union City and Corry area to develop job readiness skills, career training and assisted in locating job sites and employment opportunities for the students. She also was a special education teacher in Brunswick, OH at the high school where she taught students with learning disabilities. Upon her return to Titusville and Beth was a special education teacher at Hydetown Elementary School for 16 years. In 2011-2012, Beth participated and completed the Pennsylvania Fellowship Program for Special Education Leaders through the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education. |
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| K.C. MILLER |
| SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST |
| kmiller@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 6430 |
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Mr. Miller earned a Bachelor Degree in Psychology from Allegheny College; a M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from Edinboro University of PA; and a M.S.Education Specialist School Psychology also from Edinboro University of PA.
He has worked in a variety of settings in the mental health and education fields since 2005 and has been at Titusville Area School District since 2011. Mr. Miller is currently responsible for conducting psychoeducational evaluations and other services at the Early Childhood Learning Center and the district’s three elementary schools. He has been the assistant boys soccer coach at THS for the past two seasons. Outside of work, Mr. Miller stays busy with snowboarding, snowmobiling, skateboarding, wakeboarding/wakesurfing, hunting, and fishing. Favorite saying
“Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. “ - Viktor E. Frankl |
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| LESLIE A ROLF |
| SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER |
| lrolf@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 2809 |
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| Leslie Rolf has been teaching at Titusville Middle School since the 2010-2011 school year. She earned her B.S degree in Elementary Education and Special Education from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in the Spring of 2010. Ms. Rolf is also highly qualified in the areas of Mid-Level Language Arts and Mid-Level Mathematics. She is currently working towards her M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from Clarion University. Miss Rolf is also the Student Council advisor at Titusville Middle School. |
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| SCOTT TENNEY |
| GIFTED EDUCATION TEACHER |
| stenney@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 2124 |
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After serving four years in the United States Marine Corps, Mr. Tenney used the Montgomery G.I. Bill to further his education as an undergraduate student. He took courses at both the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville and Clarion University of Pennsylvania. In April of 2007, Mr. Tenney graduated from the Clarion University of Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree. Over the summer of 2012, he obtained his Master of Education Degree, in Middle and Secondary Instruction, from the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Tenney started his career, in 2007, as a Social Studies teacher in the Titusville High School. Since 2011, he has coordinated the gifted services for students in the Titusville Area School District. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Mr. Tenney coaches the 7th and 8th grade Titusville Rockets football team and serves as the freshman class advisor.
Mr. Tenney and his wife Laura, have two children, Stephen and Tyler. They enjoy spending family time. Mr. Tenney is a huge fan of the sport of football, especially the Cleveland Browns. It's an honor to work with the 7th and 8th grade Titusville Rockets football team. He also enjoys running, hiking, camping, skiing, hunting, fishing, bowling and playing the PS3. |
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| KATIE A WITOSKY |
| LEARNING SUPPORT |
| kwitosky@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 7021 |
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Katie is a 1998 graduate of Titusville High School. She graduated from Mercyhurst College in 2002 and received duel certification in Early Childhood Educations and Special Education. She also earned a Master's degree in Educational Development and Strategies from Wilkes University in 2011.
Katie has been employed with the Titusville Area School District since 2008. She is currently the Learning Support teacher at the ECLC. Before coming to Titusville, Katie taught 1st grade in Palm Beach County, Florida. Outside of teaching at the ECLC, Katie enjoys teaching dance classes to your children at A Dancer's Reflection in Titusville and spending time at home with her husband and little boy. |
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| NANCY L WRIGHT |
| SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER |
| nwright@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 1202 |
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Mrs. Wright graduated from Titusville High School , completed a B.S. and M.Ed. from the University of Pittsburgh, and taught nine years in the deep south. After returning to the Titusville Area School District in 2006, Mrs. Wright continues to enjoy working with the high school students. GO ROCKETS ! |
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| TERESA T ZDARKO |
| SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER |
| tzdarko@gorockets.org |
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| Office Phone: (814) 827-2715 x 2102 |
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Teresa (Tracey) Zdarko is a native of Titusville, Pennsylvania having graduated from THS in 1989. After graduating from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, she went on to Virginia to teach for 3 years in a life skills classroom. She then returned to Titusville in 1997 and began teaching between the Junior High, Cherrytree and Hydetown elementary. She currently teaches 8th grade science and 6th grade science as well as being an intervention specialist at Titusville Middle School.
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| Pennsylvania Secondary Transition Guide |
| The website is organized by secondary transition topics that cover key areas, including post-secondary education and training, employment and community living. Information on the website is designed to highlight important subjects and activities based on |
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