Guidance & Child Study Center 32

PROFILES IN SUCCESS: Dr. Letitia Payne, Assistant Principal, Putnam Valley High School

To suggest that Dr. Letitia Payne has gotten as far as she has because of BOCES would deny her very obvious natural gift as an educator, but she is the first to acknowledge that the organization has certainly helped.

The Assistant Principal at Putnam Valley High School first took part in a BOCES program as an 11th grader at Walter Panas High School when she participated in Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers, a program designed to attract high school graduates to the field of education. It certainly worked with Payne, who went on to become a special education teacher in Ossining for 16 years and an administrator for Special Education in Rye before moving to her current position in Putnam Valley.

She has participated in a variety of BOCES programs along the way including receiving School Business Leader and School District Leader certificates through BOCES Center for Educational Leadership. In 2018 she was awarded her doctorate through the PNW BOCES/Manhattanville Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership.

“BOCES has helped me in more ways than I can say,” she says. “They offer cutting-edge topics that are happening in the educational community, and we’re able to hear from leaders in those fields.”

“Every time I go to a BOCES workshop I bring back practical strategies to my district,” she said. “The workshop strategies are easily transferable to the classroom.”

Payne also applauds BOCES for its continued support to workshop participants. She recently participated in a Woman in Leadership workshop, and Putnam Valley is now working with the workshop leader to continue the process.

But Payne also gives back to BOCES, and her work with the Guidance and Child Study Center is making a difference.

“Dr. Payne is an expert administrator and leader in Response to Intervention (RtI) and Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS),” says, Dr. Andrew Ecker, former BOCES Guidance and Child Study Center coordinator.

Her work with the department included a review of MTSS and RtI strategies around the country, which concluded with a presentation at the state level, when she represented the region by contributing to the NYSED Office of Special Education’s State Systemic Improvement Plan work around MTSS.

Payne continues to lead MTSS implementation at the district level and has brought it to Putnam Valley, where all three schools are now aligned.

“She is a tremendous partner of our department, BOCES, and to all in the region,” says Ecker.

PNW BOCES PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS

Service and Innovation Through Partnership