ABOUT René
A Massachusetts native, René is a graduate of Boston College and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where she received her degree in school counseling. Over the past 15 years, René has worked in a variety of public school settings supporting students and families wrestling with a number of social and emotional concerns, such as depression, anxiety, suicidality, ADHD, divorce, incarceration, substance use, and self-esteem concerns. It is René’s genuine belief that when given the proper supports and services, all children will thrive. René believes in a holistic approach to social and emotional support for her clients that addresses all of the elements of who they are and all of the stakeholders involved in their lives. Depth of services, rather than breadth of services, is a core element of René’s approach to care. All children deserve to feel loved. All children deserve to feel heard. All children deserve to feel respected. This is the foundation of René’s approach.
When she is not coaching children, families, or teachers, René enjoys cooking, knitting, running, getting outside, home improvement projects, and her favorite 90s hip hop playlists. On the weekends she can be found spending plenty of quality time with her husband, Ali, sons, Casey and Ryder, and playful pup, Maggie.
EXPERIENCE
René has experience in a number of educational roles across a wide net of cities and schools, including Brooklyn, New York, Paterson, New Jersey, and multiple districts within Massachusetts. Before relocating to her home state of Massachusetts, after serving as her school’s founding counselor and social worker, René served as the Dean of Culture for Philip’s Academy Charter School in Paterson, New Jersey. In this role, René was responsible for the planning and teaching of the school’s Character Education program, behavior management implementation, and the planning and execution of professional development sessions on cultural competency, social/emotional support, trauma-informed classrooms, and various other school-wide social and emotional initiatives. In addition, a key element of René’s role was the promotion of a positive school climate through weekly classroom observations, social and emotional planning meetings for all teachers, and the development of a culturally competent, consistent, and restorative discipline approach.
In her twelve years as a school counselor, René has had a tremendous amount of experience working with students between the ages of 4 and 18 in reaching their ability to thrive at school and at home. René has extensive experience in both individual and group counseling for children, as well as support sessions for parents, mental health workshops for families, and collaboration with outside agencies. René has experience working with children who identify with a variety of diverse backgrounds, and is passionate about working with all children, regardless of their individual identifying needs or characteristics. René currently works as an elementary school counselor in the suburbs of Boston.
testimonials
“You inspire me every day with your commitment to children - to always, no matter what, put them first. You remind me constantly that they are why we are here. I am thankful for your insight, your intelligence, but I think most of all for your love. You know that none of this work can be done without fiercely loving our children and their potential. You teach us how to be better teachers and better people.”
“I appreciate her because she keeps things to herself—she’s not like others. She makes the time your time. She always listens. She never stops you from saying how you might feel about a teacher or what’s happening in our lives. She keeps it and relates. She’s the best.”
“She is thoughtful, articulate and extremely knowledgeable about the complexities that inform a child’s life. When Rene speaks, as gentle and soft-spoken as she may seem, other people listen because they know that she will impart some great wisdom. She is unassuming and never showy with how much she knows, but her contributions are always of the highest caliber. Rene’s feedback is respectful and well informed. She is quite capable of asking the hard questions, but does it in such a way that makes others feel heard and not alienated.”
