Margaret Garvey

• Serves as the Department Head for Special Education staff, overseeing all aspects of the department’s operations, ensuring alignment with district goals, and best practices.
• Evaluates and supervises special education teachers, related service providers, and paraprofessionals, providing guidance, performance reviews, and professional development opportunities to ensure high-quality service delivery.
• Ensures all IEPs are compliant with state and federal guidelines, while meeting the diverse needs of students, and ensuring effective and individualized support.
• Oversees specialized programming for students with intensive special needs, language-based disabilities, and therapeutic needs, including curriculum development, staff coordination, and tracking student progress to ensure these programs effectively support a wide range of student needs.
• Chairs all IEP Team and Transition meetings, facilitating discussions among educators, parents, and service providers to develop comprehensive plans that foster student growth and successful transitions.
• Designed and implemented a therapeutic program focusing on skill building and creating a supportive environment that addresses students' emotional and behavioral needs.
• Expanded co-teaching models, increasing inclusive educational opportunities, and fostering collaboration between general education and special education teachers to enhance student outcomes.
• Builds the special education schedule, ensuring that all necessary services are provided, and effectively utilizing available resources to meet student needs.

• Managed and oversaw the delivery of special education services for grades 6-PG, ensuring the needs of students with disabilities were met in alignment with IEP requirements.
• Supervised, evaluated, and provided ongoing support to a team of educators and related service providers, fostering professional growth and high standards of service delivery.
• Collaborated with building coordinators to establish and implement uniform procedures, creating consistency across schools.
• Assisted in the development of the master schedule in both buildings, optimizing access to services and resources for students on IEPs.
• Contributed to the development of district-wide processes and procedures in collaboration with the Director of Student Services.
• Attended and actively participated in weekly clinical, department, and administrative meetings.
• Coordinated communication and collaboration with home-based service providers to ensure a seamless support network for students.
• Initiated and managed co-teaching training, scheduling, and ongoing support at the high school level, promoting inclusive instructional practices.
• Planned and implemented professional development sessions on topics including executive functioning, differentiation, Special Education eligibility, and co-teaching.

• Chaired special education annual reviews, reevaluations, and transition meetings across grades 7-12.
• Coordinated timely and accurate completion of documentation, including IEPs, transition plans, amendments and progress reports.
• Collaborated with administration to develop special education schedules and determine staffing allocations.
• Facilitated professional development sessions on co-teaching strategies and building strong executive function skills in students with disabilities.

Language-Based Classroom Teacher (Grades 6-8), 2013-2015.

Inclusion Teacher (Grade 6), 2007–2013.

• Taught pull-out and inclusion ELA and math classes for grades 6–8, adapting instruction to diverse learning needs.
• Designed accessible lesson plans and materials aligned with IEP goals and state standards.
• Administered, scored, and interpreted standardized achievement tests (Woodcock-Johnson R, WIAT-III, KeyMath, TORC, TOWL) to support eligibility determination and IEP development.
• Developed IEPs and progress reports in compliance with state and federal regulations.
• Collaborated with the department to create a compliant special education schedule, optimizing resource allocation.

• Developed and implemented IEPs tailored to students with behavioral challenges in a substantially separate classroom.
• Created and executed individualized Behavioral Support Plans (BSPs) to address diverse student needs.
• Facilitated inclusive opportunities, ensuring student engagement in the least restrictive environment.
• Collaborated with a multidisciplinary team, including classroom aides, a school adjustment counselor, tutors, and a 1:1 nurse.
• Designed and delivered differentiated lesson plans and instructional materials for both large and small group instruction across all subjects.