Congratulations to Michelle Kretz, LMSW on her new position in the South Huntington School District as Chairperson of Special Education, grades 9-12! Ms. Kretz comes to us from the Elwood School District where she spent seven years as a school social worker, and then Special Education Coordinator.
“I'm very excited.” shared Ms. Kretz. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about South Huntington. I can't wait to get in there, start to meet the families, the staff, and the students.”
Ms. Kretz earned her Masters of Social Work from Stony Brook University, and completed her Educational Leadership Program there as well. Before transferring her talents to the education system, she worked in adolescent residential programs where she provided counseling, developed treatment plans, supervised and hired staff, developed programs, and collaborated with education systems and referral agencies.
While at the Elwood School District, Ms. Kretz was fully involved in guiding the district under the regulations of the Individuals with Education Disabilities Act (IDEA) including services, testing and community resources, and the development, implementation and management of Individualized Education Programs (IEP). She also developed a mental health website for the district.
Now she hopes to share with Walt Whitman High School’s Special Education programs a lot of what she’s learned. “In my previous experience, we had very many different models that we used and interventions and accommodations to help support students and get them to succeed,” she explained. “So I'm hoping that some of that background I can bring over here and help students to be successful, think outside the box, and get creative.”
Ms. Kretz always knew she wanted to work with kids, whether it was her previous work in residential programs, or now in schools. What drew her to special education is this thought: “ I think that every child has the ability to learn, given the right tools. And I feel like it's our job as educators to be able to give them those tools to help them to be successful.”