We believe that a Jewish day school education can be a reality for every child, regardless of academic and learning needs. We realize this vision by partnering with day schools across the Boston region to offer direct support services to meet students’ diverse learning needs. Gateways’ therapists and learning professionals work with students individually and in groups both in and outside the classroom and collaborate with teachers and other educators to enrich classroom instruction and foster a school-wide culture that embraces differences.
At Gateways, we’re working to de-stigmatize youth mental health in the Jewish community and beyond through understanding and education. Ali joins Gateways following six years as the Director of Support and Counseling at Schechter Boston. She has worked as a school psychologist in both the public and private sector, providing comprehensive mental health supports. Ali has experience working with a broad range of students from kindergarten through eighth grade, conducting a wide array of assessment methods, employing multiple consultation techniques, and implementing therapeutic and behavioral interventions. Her past experience also includes ACCEPT Education Collaborative, where she worked in a substantially separate therapeutic program for K-8 students who were unable to make adequate social and emotional progress in traditional classrooms, and also co-developed a program to provide short-term stabilization, assessment, and instructional services to students who were temporarily excluded from their educational placement due to emotional and behavioral challenges. Ali believes that if all children feel safe and loved, and are given the supports they need, they will thrive.
