St. John’s Enhances Student Support with New Psychologist/Learning Support Specialist Role

TAMPA—At St. John’s, we believe each child should benefit from the strongest possible support – not just with their academic learning, but also with their physical, emotional, social, and mental well-being, which is equally important. We have already taken several steps to better ensure that we support the “whole child.” For example, we’ve added the School Nurse and we’ve implemented the Responsive Classroom, a teaching approach that integrates academic and social-emotional skills.

To continue enhancing student support services, we've added a new role: School Psychologist and Learning Support Specialist. 

This role is being filled by Mrs. Amy Patenaude (pronounced Pat-Node), who joined us in March. Drawing on her previous teaching experience as an elementary school and special education teacher, Amy will work closely with students, teachers, parents, division leaders, and the school nurse to bring a comprehensive, team approach to student support at St. John’s. This will include working with students in grades K(4) through Grade 4 who need additional support and enrichment in the areas of math, reading, writing, and organization.

In addition, Amy will provide school-wide support for student mental health needs in her capacity as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and Licensed School Psychologist. She will be available to students who may benefit from social, emotional, behavioral, or mental health support.

Responsibilities

Some of the specific responsibilities of the School Psychologist and Learning Support Specialist include:

• Providing learning support for K4 through Grade 4 students in math, reading, writing, organization, and citizenship
• Working with faculty, administration, and parents on evaluating students for mental health needs and/or learning support 
• Offering mental health support (available to meet with and support K4-Grade 8 students)
• Prevention planning related to physical, relational, emotional, and online bullying
• Training and support to St. John’s faculty and families
• Participating in parent conferences, as needed
• Providing and assisting in individualized testing, as needed
• Supporting the implementation of the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum
• Assisting with providing year-long reading assessments to all students in the lower grades and with administering the Education Record Bureau (ERB) test to those who require accommodations
• Providing testing environments structured to give students the time and tools needed to ensure that their test scores truly reflect their unique strengths and abilities
• Working with teacher(s) and division director to design a process for determining when private tutoring is appropriate and necessary, and serving as a liaison between faculty, division director, and any private tutor(s) hired by St. John’s families

Amy is a Tampa native with a longstanding history with St. John’s, as she is a current parent, alumna of the school, and church parishioner. Amy earned her master’s and educational specialist degrees in School Psychology from the University of South Florida. Currently, she is working towards her Ed.D. in School Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Amy holds a Florida Department of Education Professional Teaching Certificate in Elementary Education K-6, Exceptional Student Education K-12, and School Psychology.