Faculty & Staff

Tina McCourt, LCSW, M.S. Ed, SAS, SDA
Director

Tina received her Master’s in Social Work from Wurzweiler School of Social Work and her Master’s in Education from Baruch College. Prior to coming to the Rebecca School, Tina was the Program Director at the Early Intervention Center of Brooklyn. She first began attending DIR® trainings in 1994 and has continued to participate in annual ICDL conference for the last 8 years. She received intense ongoing training from Dr. Greenspan from September 2005 – March 2010.

Melissa Fenice M.A. CCC-SLP, M.S. Ed, SAS, SDA
Assistant Director

Melissa has been with the Rebecca School since July 2006. She received her Master’s Degree in Speech/Language Pathology from NYU and her Master’s Degree in Education from CUNY Baurch. Prior to working at Rebecca School, Melissa was a Speech/Language Pathologist in a variety of settings with a variety of populations including in the NYC Board of Education, McCarton school where she was also the SLP Department Supervisor and home based EI. In addition Melissa taught at Marymount Manhattan College in the Communication Science and Disorders Departments. Melissa’s DIR® training is vast and includes attending annual ICDL conferences since 2006.

Dr. Gil Tippy, PsyD
Clinical Director

Dr. Tippy received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Long Island University, C.W. Post.  He recently co-authored a book with Dr. Greenspan, Case Studies in DIR®/FloortimeTM Model in the School Setting: The Rebecca School Casebook for Parents and Professionals. He also co-authored a journal article, Attachment and Autism: Parental Attachment Representations and Relational Behaviors in the Parent-Child Dyad (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2010) as well as contributed a chapter on DIR®/FloortimeTM in the book, Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism 2010-2011 (Siri & Lyons, 2010).  He has represented Rebecca School in three presentations at ICDL annual conferences.  He currently heads the Rebecca School research team, which is actively involved with generating research to empirically demonstrate the effectiveness of the DIR® model.

Supervisors

Rachel Leeper, M.A.
Educational Supervisor

Rachel has been with the Rebecca School since 2006. She received her Master’s Degree from Columbia Teachers College in Special Education.  She has a background working in schools and developmental settings including students ranging in age from birth to adolescence.  Prior to the Rebecca School, she was working as an Early Intervention Specialist using Floortime model in Massachusetts.  She is certified as an Advanced DIR® floortime provider through ICDL.  Rachel feels when she first began reading Greenspan’s work she felt that she had finally found the theoretical framework that feels instinctually right about working and playing with children.

Kristin Srp, M.S.
Educational Supervisor

Kristin received her Master’s Degree from Hunter College in Speech/Language Pathology. She was the Educational Director of an Early intervention Center that serviced children with autism-spectrum disorders and other developmental delays before transitioning to the Rebecca School in September 2008. She has worked with children with autism -spectrum disorders for over eight years. This work includes treating children of various ages and abilities in home-based settings, school age settings and Early Intervention centers.  She is certified as an Advanced DIR® floortime provider through ICDL.  She has been attending DIR® training and conferences hosted by ICDL since November 2003.  Kristin received her Master’s Degree from Hunter College in Speech/Language Pathology.

Dr. Miriam R. Aframe, Psy.D
Clinical Coordinator

Miriam has been a psychologist at Rebecca School since 2009. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The George Washington University. Prior to coming to Rebecca School she worked with a broad range of child, adolescent and adult populations, providing individual and group counseling as well as psychological assessments. She has worked in residential, day treatment, foster care and school settings, including beginning to work with children with autism-spectrum disorders in 2001. She is currently a DIR® Certificate Candidate.

Ashley Lyons, MA, CCC-SLP, TSSLD
Speech and Language Supervisor

Ashley received Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from The George Washington University and her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from James Madison University.  Prior to working at Rebecca School, she worked in a special education preschool for students 3-5 years old, a residential facility for adults with developmental disabilities, and she currently provides early intervention services to children birth to 3 years of age.  She has been the speech-language pathologist in the transitions program at the Rebecca School, for students aged 14-21, since September 2010.  Ashley is certified in DIR Floortime™, trained in PROMPT, and has attended a number of conferences related to oral motor and feeding therapy.

Meghan Collins, MPT
Physical Therapy Supervisor

Meghan has been with the Rebecca School since 2007. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the University of Scranton. Along with her extensive training in DIR®, Meghan is trained as a CPI Certified Instructor. She has also attended trainings with The Components of Movement and Principles of Neurodevelopmental Treatment with Lois Bly, Yoga for the Special Child: A therapeutic approach for infants and children with Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Learning Disabilities with Sonia Sumar, and Therapeutic Listening with Sheila Frick.

Lynne Kalvin, LMSW
Social Work Supervisor

Lynne received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University, Garden City, NY. Her post graduate training is in Family Therapy where she attended the  Family Institute of Westchester in Harrison, NY. Prior to the Rebecca School, Lynne worked for twelve years in an early intervention preschool program with children and families with special needs in White Plains, NY. She also has an private practice in Irvington, NY.

Toni Sheridan, MS OTR/L
Occupational Therapy Supervisor

Toni received her Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from SUNY, Downstate Medical Center and her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She has worked at the Rebecca School since 2008 and has extensive training in DIR Floortime™. She is currently a DIR® Certificate Candidate, a CPI certified instructor and has taken many sensory integration courses. Toni currently lectures at graduate level programs about DIR® and occupational therapy, and how to understand child’s individual differences, the “I” in DIR ®.

 

Stacey Hensel MA, MT-BC, LCAT, NRMT
Music Therapy Department Coordinator

Stacey is a Licensed and Board-Certified music therapist. She has extensive experience as a clinician working with a wide range of ages, developmental levels and social-emotional challenges. She received her BA in Music Therapy at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas and graduated from New York University’s Master’s degree program in Music Therapy. Following this she completed her post-graduate advanced clinical training at The Nordoff-Robbins Center at NYU. Stacey is currently pursing advanced certification in Vocal Psychotherapy at the Music Psychotherapy Center in NYC. Stacey had an instrumental role in developing the music therapy department and clinical training program at SDTC-The Center for Discovery in Harris, New York. Here she gained broad experiences as a clinician, instructor and supervisor in a music-centered music therapy model. In addition to providing music therapy services Stacey coordinates Rebecca School’s music therapy internship program and provides supervision for staff music therapists. She has also taught parent trainings on using music and elements of music in Floortime™ session, for engagement and supporting emotional development. Stacey has presented at numerous regional and national Music Therapy conferences as well as internationally at the European Music Therapy Conference. Her presentations have included case studies on Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, DIR ® and Creative Music Therapy, Music Therapy as a mental health service in a school setting and using music to engage for parents and caregivers. In addition she has provided experiential workshops, and taught continuing education courses on clinical improvisation and using music in supervision.

 

Marguerite Cohn, MSEd.
Transitions Program Supervisor

Marguerite has been employed at Rebecca School since September 2006. She received her masters in both general and special education grades 1-6 from Bank Street College of Education and is a NYS certified teacher. Additionally, Marguerite completed the TARA program, a postmasters course of study at Pace University that focuses on the education of children with severe and multiple disabilities, earning her an advanced certificate on her certification. Marguerite has experience working with students with autism and other neurodevelopmental delays ranging in age from 9 to 21 years old.