Veteran Educator Appointed
CPSE Chair
A familiar face has been appointed chairperson of the Huntington School District's Committee on Pre-School Special Education. Huntington School Board members have named Renee Jones Vaughans to the post. She is already busy carrying out her new responsibilities.
Mrs. Jones Vaughans said she is "excited" about her new position. In addition to chairing the district's CPSE, she will also handle special education related administrative duties in two primary school buildings.
The new administrator obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics at Long Island University-C.W. Post College in 1980 and a Master of Arts degree in clinical/school psychology at Adelphi University in 1995. She obtained an advanced graduate certificate in educational leadership/state administrative certification at Stony Brook University in 2010.
Mrs. Jones Vaughans came to the district in 1998 as a school psychologist. At the time of her recent appointment, she was working at Washington Primary School, conducting educational and psychological evaluations, interpreting evaluation data and serving as a consultant to teachers, administrators and parents, providing counseling to children, staff and parents and chairing the school's committee on special education.
The veteran faculty member has been co-chairing Washington School's response to intervention and instructional support team, observing and assessing classroom behavior and performance, developing behavioral strategies, individual education plans, leading the building level special education team, partnering with community agencies to provide additional support to students and their families, developing and implementing functional behavior assessments and behavior intervention plans and participating on various school district teams, including ones on mental health and crisis intervention, among others.
During the 2009/10 school year, Mrs. Jones Vaughans completed an administrative internship with Washington School Principal Marsha Neville. She was a psychotherapy intern at Nassau County Medical Center in 1997/98. She has also worked as an adjunct professor at SUNY College at Old Westbury.
Mrs. Jones Vaughans joins a district special education department team headed by Nancy Wilson, who took over from Vicki L. Mingin, the longtime executive director who retired earlier this summer.