Gillian Boudreau, Ph.D.

School Psychologist, Clinical Psychologist-Doctorate Chittenden Central Supervisory Union 1/2/13 To Whom It May Concern, Kaitlyn Barnard has asked me to write a letter of recommendation on her behalf and I do so with pleasure. I have known Ms. Barnard for a year and a half. During the 2011-2012 school year I served as Ms. Barnards direct supervisor. She was a Behavior Interventionist in a program I directed (Succeed Program) for children in grades K-5 with intense emotional and behavioral challenges. Ms. Barnard continues to work as a Behavior Interventionist for the program this year, however my role is changed so that I no longer supervise her directly. In her role Ms. Barnard works 1:1 throughout the school day with children demonstrating significantly challenging behaviors. She is responsible for following a behavior plan and administering all behavioral interventions for her student. She also attends regular team meetings which include classroom teachers, special educators, principals and parents. In addition she attends regular trainings on topics particular to students with emotional and behavioral challenges and receives weekly individual and group supervision from a school psychologist. As far as behavioral interventions, Ms. Barnard has shown herself to be remarkably consistent, clear, creative and calm in her delivery. Over the years Ms. Barnard has served two students; one a second grade boy with ADHD and emotional and behavioral challenges and one a fifth grade boy also with ADHD and emotional and behavioral challenges as well as symptoms of post traumatic stress and reactive attachment. Both boys have difficulties trusting adults and can become intensively dysregulated to the point of bolting or physical violence when upset. In both cases Ms. Barnard has been able to form a strong bond with her students such that they trust her and are willing to work collaboratively with her even if they have not historically been able to collaborate with many other adults. She has excellent boundaries and is able to maintain close relationships with students while remaining level-headed and committed to her professional role. It is notable that the student with whom Ms. Barnard worked in her first year made so much progress that he was able to graduate from the program in the spring because he no longer required individualized support. Ms. Barnard is an excellent supervisee and team player and is open to direction and willing to adhere closely to the behavior plans as written. She is also very talented and creative as far as crafting behavior interventions, however, and I have welcomed her changes to behavior plans as she has gotten to know her students. Ms. Barnard is also a naturally joyful, compassionate, intelligent and funny person. This is a huge strength and all students and adults with whom she has worked closely have shared with me how much they enjoy having Ms. Barnard on their team.

Interventionists in the Succeed Program are not always trained educators themselves, but Ms. Barnards background in and talent for education has been a true asset to her students. She has been consistently willing to go above and beyond her job description to attend to her students specific academic needs in addition to their behavioral needs. Ms. Barnard is a gifted educator and has been very effective in providing one-on-one teaching both in and out of the classroom to her students. Ms. Barnards students consistently become more engaged in and available for academic work the longer they work with her. The Interventionist role is challenging for many reasons, in part because it is a complicated job and one that interfaces closely with school building staff and parents. Ms. Barnard has done an excellent job of understanding sometimes challenging issues of confidentiality and boundaries. All of the families with whom Ms. Barnard has worked have been challenging, and she has consistently managed to navigate potentially difficult situations with grace, humor and professionalism. Ms. Barnard has also shown a strong capacity to understand complicated psychological and emotional dynamics present in families and to work with her students with these in mind. This year Ms. Barnard has worked in conjunction with a special educator in our district in order to complete her special education training. In this capacity, I have had the privilege of sitting with Ms. Barnard in several Evaluation Planning Team meetings and eligibility meetings for students with whom I have conducted psychological assessments. In these meetings Ms. Barnard has been consistently competent and professional and has shown herself to be an asset to a special education team. Ms. Barnards work ethic is excellent overall. She is always willing to come in early or stay late if needed and has often missed her own breaks if they fell at a time when a student she was working with was in crisis. Ms. Barnard has also done a wonderful job serving other students in the program rather than the one to which she has been assigned when needed. Ms. Barnard has excellent follow-through as far as tasks she is given, and also shows outstanding initiative as far as noticing tasks that need to be done and completing them on her own. She is a very dependable professional. In sum, Ms. Barnard is an extremely talented and compassionate educator and I recommend her with no hesitation. Please feel free to contact me directly if I can answer any further questions at gboudreau@ccsuvt.org, or 802-528-9950. Sincerely, _______________________________________________ Gillian Boudreau, Ph.D. Licensed School Psychologist Clinical Psychologist-Doctorate

Chittenden Central Supervisory Union