• Meet our ESE staff

    Elementary Resource Teacher

    Teacher wearing a light top with a scarf smiling.

    Ms. West-Bowlson

     Ms. West-Bowlson is the Elementary Resource teacher for grades K-5 to help with student improvement. Her function is to provide additional academic support for students with mild to moderate learning disabilities. She is responsible for monitoring, assessing, and recording their individual progress. Mrs. West-Boulson's goal is to include these students in the general education setting as much of the school day as possible. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. West-Boulson via email at rosemary.west-bowlson@detroitk12.org or call the office at 313.494.8820.

     

     

    Middle School Resource Teacher 

     

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    Ms. Stafford

    Ms. Stafford is the Middle School Resource teacher for Grades 6-8 and she has 21 years of experience in the area of Exceptional Student Education.  Ms. Stafford is a product of Detroit Public Schools and she is a member of a family of educators.  Her duties consist of helping students overcome or adapt to their different styles of learning. She serves as a facilitator between the students and their general education teachers to ensure that their educational needs are being met. Ms. Stafford is a team player and she has a great rapport with students, staff, and parents. With her teaching duties at Thurgood Marshall Elementary-Middle School, she serves on the following committees:

    • Leadership team
    • Co-Chair of Resource Coordinating Team (RCT)
    • Co-Lead teacher of the Special Education team
    • The school’s medical Crisis team
    • Co-Mentor for the all-female club “Butterflies

    Ms. Stafford absolutely loves the students.  Watching the children grow socially and academically brings her pure joy.  You can reach Ms. Stafford at 313.494.8820 or via email at sharrain.stafford@detroitk12.org.

     

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     Ms. Mitchell

    Ms. Mitchell is the Early Childhood Development Delay classroom teacher for Lower Elementary at Thurgood Marshall. She started as a Resource Teacher, then transferred to her current role in September 2012.  Ms. Mitchell's other duties include:

    • Serves on the leadership team
    • Lead ESE teacher
    • Coordinator for the Resource Coordinating Team (RCT team 

     

     Please contact Ms. Mitchell at 313.494.8820 or via email at kimberly.mitchell@detroitk12.org for any questions...

     

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    Ms. Dye                                                                                                            Ms. Ali

     

    Ms. Tanya Dye and Ms. Jassmyne Ali are the School Social Workers for Thurgood Marshall Elementary-Middle School. They are an integral part of the educational team that provides direct as well as indirect services to students, families and school personnel to promote and support student's academic and social success (DPSCD 2019).  They assess students and collaborate with other members of the Resource Coordinating Team (RCT) to create interventions.  They participate in the development of functional assessment, Behavior Intervention Plans, and crisis planning. They help with the management of social and emotional issues that affect appropriate functioning within the educational environment. They also help the staff and students with the following concerns: truant problems, social withdrawal,  over-aggressive behavior, and rebellion (Barker 2003).

     If you have questions for Ms. Dye and Ms. Ali, can be reached at 313.494.8820.   You can also contact them via email at tanya.dye@detroitk12.org or jassmyne.ali@detroitk12.org.

     

     

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    Mrs. Taylor

    Mrs. Taylor is the ASD teacher for lower elementary at Thurgood Marshall Elementary-Middle School.  She works with an ASD assistant to complete a plethora of daily educational, social and emotional tasks throughout the school day. Mrs. Taylor’s main goal with her assistant is to prepare their students for life outside the classroom.  She will learn the student's communicative style and, with the help of Ms. Lewis gently introduced them to a more socially acceptable way of communication. In her class, sign language and pictures are apart of their daily schedule, especially for non-verbal students.  She implements a lot of modeling throughout the day to help show students the appropriate way to handle difficult situations as well as teaching socially acceptable behaviors. Students are involved in small steps in daily educational task analysis.  The task analysis is often repeated until the ASD students can complete the task independently.  Mrs. Taylor utilizes a SMART Interactive board in her classroom. She had noticed more student engagement and increased comprehension.   With this technology, students with limited coordination and mobility can feel successful because the board is controlled by touch.  Their technology is very beneficial to her visually impaired students. Mrs. Taylor looks forward to the milestones being reached with this latest technology in her class.  Please contact Mrs. Taylor by telephone at 313.494.8820 or via email at marjo.taylor@detroitk12.org.

     

     

    Teacher with plain blouse with gray blouse and she is smilingMs. Wellom smiling with glasses. She is wearing a black and blue shirt.

     

    Ms. Bean                                                             Ms. Vellom

    Our speech-language pathologists are  members of the special education team that collaborates with teachers, parents, and other professionals to help develop individualized education plans to support a student’s specific needs.  They assess, diagnose, and treat students with speech and language disorders.  Challenges can include difficulties with articulation, fluency, language, and communication in social situations.  The SLPs provide students with the tools necessary to communicate effectively and work to support language development in conjunction with curriculum guidelines. Please contact the Speech Pathologists at 313.494.8820 or via email at tristyn.bean@detroitk12.org and katherine.vellom@detroitk12.org.

     

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    Ms. Angela Chin

    Ms. Chin is the Moderate Cognitive Impaired (MO-CI) Teacher for Lower Elementary in our building.  She works with students to strengthen their social, educational and self-help skills. The focus of her classes will help students with their sensory, fine motor, gross motor and communication skills and the curriculum is designed to address each child's developmental level.   With parent participation, Ms. Chin works towards their son/daughter's individualized goals in their IEP.  (Individual Educational Plan)  Ms. Chin recently received a grant from Donors Choose to have tablets in her classroom. 

     

    The new tablets will help students experience interactive lessons to enhance reading, writing and math skills.   Please contact Ms. Chin by telephone at 313.494.8820 or via email at angela.chin@detroitk12.org.

     

     

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     Ms. Andrea Chin

    Ms. Chin is a PreK Early Childhood Developmental Delay Teacher (ECDD) in our building.  She develops and adapts lessons to meet the needs of her students. She also provides direct instructional support to students in a positive environment.  Ms. Chin meets with parents to discuss their child's progress and she makes the determination based on their individualized educational plan (IEP).  Ms. Chin recently received a grant from Donors Choose to add tablets to her classroom.  The new technology will help with lessons being taught in the classroom.  Please contact Ms. Chin at 313.494.8820 or via email at andrea.chin@detroitk12.org.

     

     

     

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     Ms. Langford

    Ms. Langford is the Teacher for MI-CI for the Middle School students in our building.  Please contact Ms. Langford at 313.494.8820 or via email at felicia.langford@detroitk12.org.

     

     

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     Ms. Poole-Caldwell

     Ms. Poole-Caldwell is the MO-CI teacher for Upper Middle in our building.  Please contact Ms. Poole-Caldwell at 313.494.8820 or via email at wendy.poole-caldwell@detroitk12.org for any questions.

     

    Teacher wearing black shirt with yellow, green and red Christmas lights.

    Ms. Brooks

    Ms. Alexis Brooks, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA is a certified Reading Specialist K-12 and Elementary teacher pursuing her certification in Autism Spectrum Disorder.   Ms. Brooks is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst working exclusively with young people on the Autism spectrum for the last 6 years.  Ms. Brooks’ mission is to provide all students with an individualized schooling experience with challenging yet attainable academic, social, and behavioral goals toward becoming well-rounded, productive members of society.  Ms. Brooks is a lifelong resident and supporter of the city of Detroit, mother of 3, and graduate (and current student) of Eastern Michigan University.  If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Brooks by calling 313.494.8820 or via email alexis.brooks@detroitk12.org.

     

    Teacher wearing a brown top and she is smiling.

    Ms. Cohen

    Ms. Cohen is the Teacher for MI-CI for the Elementary School students in our building.  Please contact Ms. Cohen at 313.494.8820 or via email at batya.cohen@detroitk12.org.