Our Approach
Our Philosophy
Providing educators with the practical understanding and skills to meet the learning needs of their students means our work must be grounded in knowledge and research on teaching and learning. Our work does not stop there. While this site focuses on classroom practices, our belief is that all school personnel, from the Board of Education, admin, teachers, aides, custodians, secretaries, bus drivers, and cafeteria staff - all need to learn about ACES and how to interact with one another and our students. Trauma-informed training must impact every adult and how they view and interact with others. This includes not only instructional practices, but discipline practices and models for improving student social and emotional growth and well-being.
This type of systemic change improves the lives and work for everyone. It requires multiple targeted trainings, monitoring and analyzing results and adjusting practices accordingly. Post-training observations and ongoing discussions are essential to ensure newly acquired skills are implemented in practice with fidelity. The scaffolded support is what brings about sustainable improvements in classroom practices that lead to academic growth and success for all students. This comprehensive approach is what makes this take hold and continue to improve. For more on our schoolwide implementation, visit https://whitewaveseducation.com
Our Story
Meet the Executive Director
of White Waves Education Consulting
Focused on strong academic growth for all students, Susan Ciminelli has been an educator since 1977. Her capacity to understand school culture & organizational change comes working in a variety of capacities throughout her career. Susan has served as a public school teacher, teacher trainer, technology coordinator, Apple Education Grant author and award recipient, school principal, student data manager/analyst. Now in her current role as a consultant, Susan has received extensive training in brain-based instruction and how children and communities are impacted by poverty and mental health.
Her experience with Positive Behavioral Intervention Strategies, Response to Intervention, and Collaborative and Proactive Solutions is very helpful to the schools she works with to address behaviorally-challenging students develop the communication and social-emotional skills they need to succeed in school.
Susan brings depth, practicality, and a human touch to her work that makes the connections required to achieve lasting positive change in classroom instruction.
Susan presented most recently for the School Administrator's Association of New York State in October 2018. She has also presented at conferences for the National At-Risk Education Network in Baltimore, the Canadian Association of Principals National conference in Saskatoon, and Association of Christian Schools International in Lancaster. She also was interviewed on The Dr. Lucy Show: Perspectives in Education Radio which aired June 11, 2017.
She is currently working on her book– “Collapse of the Hive: America At-Risk” to be released in 2018.
For more information, please visit our website http://whitewaveseducation.com
Susan Ciminelli
Executive Director of White Waves Education Consulting
Next Steps...
Call now. 716-440-4189 or email Susan to set up a meeting and discuss your needs for training for your school.