Sara Collette Named Special Education Supervisor for Middle Schools
MILFORD – The Milford Public School district is pleased to announce the appointment of Sara Collette to the position of Special Education Supervisor for our middle school division. Mrs. Collette comes to us with a career as a professional educator spanning 16 years in progressively responsible roles. She will join the district on July 1st.
Mrs. Collette earned a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education and special education from the University of Hartford in 2008. She continued her studies at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford and received a Master of Science degree in special education in 2014. In 2017, Collette completed her advanced degree (092) in educational leadership through Quinnipiac University.
Collette entered the profession as a special education teacher in 2008 for the East Haven Public Schools. During her 6 ½ years in this capacity, Collette chaired and facilitated PPT meetings, created and implemented student IEPs (individualized education plans), and created daily lessons that were aligned with student IEP goals. She collaborated with her partner general education teachers to ensure appropriate accommodations and modifications were met for each student she served. During this phase of her career Collette collected and analyzed data to monitor student progress and was involved in the supervision and evaluation of her paraprofessional team.
In the middle of the 2015-16 school year, Collette was elevated to the position of Acting Elementary Special Education Supervisor within the East Haven Public Schools. During the next 7 ½ years in this role, Collette was deeply involved in many administrative and leadership functions. She served as the Birth to 3 coordinator for the district and developed the district’s play-based assessment model to determine eligibility for PK special education services. As a leader, she mentored non-tenured special education and related service staff, and served as the administrator in all PPT meetings, both in- and out-of-district. Part of her role was to also monitor the talented and gifted academic program in East Haven, and supervised the collection of data to assure timely state reporting. Her work included case management of East Haven students who were attending private, state-approved special education programs beyond the boundaries of the town.
In 2022, Collette was once again promoted, this time as the Special Education Coordinator/Supervisor for the entire East Haven school district. In this capacity, Collette has managed and served educational programming for more than 250 students with special needs. Her work included the supervision and evaluation of all special education and related service staff located across the district. In addition, she worked to develop and implement district processes and systems that strategically and effectively allocated resources. Collette continued to serve as the case manager for students attending out-of-district programs across the state. An important feature of Collette’s tenure in East Haven was to coordinate and facilitate targeted professional development for the betterment of the department and, ultimately, the district.
Mrs. Collette is looking forward to joining the Milford Public Schools community and brings a passion for working with the special education part of the district. “Milford has a long history of educational excellence and I look forward to contributing to that legacy. I am very excited to meet and develop relationships with students, families, and staff.”
Dr. Anna Cutaia, Superintendent of Schools, believes Collette’s deep experience in the field will be felt as a powerful addition to the team. “I look forward to having Mrs. Collette join our Pupil Personnel Services team bringing with her a relationships-forward approach to working with staff and families for the betterment of our students.”
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