WESS Support Staff

Teams

• Leadership

• Arts

• Counseling

• ELA

• Foreign Language

• Math

• PE & Health

• Support Staff

• Science

• Social Studies

• Learning Specialists

• College Readiness

Jennifer - Speech

Jennifer was born and raised in New Jersey but has called New York City home since 2009. She has always had a passion for working with children and adolescents and wanted to become a teacher since childhood. During her time in high school, she participated in her school's Teaching Laboratory, where she learned how to plan, teach and observe children.. Throughout high school and college, she would spend her summers working as a camp counselor with several campers receiving Speech & Language as a related service. Jennifer was lucky enough to observe some of her campers’ sessions with their SLP and knew that becoming a speech pathologist was the career for her! Jennifer graduated with her MS in Speech-Language Pathology from Seton Hall University and started her career in the Newark Public school system, working with students in PreK-8th grade. She has been working for the NYC Department of Education since 2014 and is beyond thrilled to start this school year at WESS. When she is not working, you will find her running through the streets of NYC or in and out of Central Park, as she is usually training for a ½ marathon or a marathon. In fact, Jennifer will be running the NYC Marathon for the 3rd time this year! Jennifer also loves to spend her free time snuggled up with her rescue pup, a black lab mix named Ivy.

Laura - Speech

Laura was born and raised on Long Island. Seeking warmer weather, she attended the University of Florida, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in Educational Studies. There, she spent many mornings and weekends volunteering at local schools and Speech-Language clinics. After college, Laura moved back to New York City to pursue a Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Queens College. Laura has been working for the NYC Department of Education since 2019. Laura works across two schools in Manhattan with differing populations and various diagnoses. Laura is very excited for another year as a part of the WESS community, as well as to help each of her students achieve their goals. Outside of school, Laura can be found outside walking with her rescue dog, Zoey, reading a book, spending time with family, or on the couch watching the latest season of The Great British Baking Show.

Kerry-Kay - School Psychologist

Kerry-Kay has been employed with the Department of Education (DOE) for ten years as a school psychologist. She currently works across multiple schools with differing populations. Prior to her work with the DOE, she was employed by the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) and the Office of Mental Health (OMH). Her experience and education is varied and extensive, as she has attained multiple advanced degrees and completed substantial post-graduate work. Throughout her career, she has provided services to toddlers, children, adolescents, young adults, and adults. She discovered that her passion is children and has elected to specialize in students K-12. Kerry-Kay is excited to begin her seventh year at West End Secondary School as she has come to treasure her colleagues, the young scholars, and their parents. She is looking forward to continuing to develop and foster those relationships in this upcoming school year.