John R. Fleming
Director and Founder
John R. Fleming, M.Ed., Director and founder, has a Masters degree in Special Education with a concentration in Learning Disabilities, Emotional Distress, Crises Therapy and Methods, Math, Reading, Science, Social Sciences and Individual and Group Therapy. John was coordinator of the Cognitive Development Program at the George Washington University, where he was involved in teacher training and establishing national and international learning centers. He has helped develop the Educational Therapy certificate program at UC-Santa Cruz, Extension Program and is currently an instructor. He continues to consult with area private schools in an effort to improve their services to the learning different community.
Rachel Surkis Annon
Educational Therapist
Rachel Surkis Annon holds an M.A. in Education from UC Santa Cruz. She completed the UC Santa Cruz Extension Educational Therapy Program with Honors and she is a Certified Educational Therapist. As a credentialed a multiple subject classroom teacher and an early childhood educator, she has over fifteen years experience educating toddlers to teens. Rachel joined the staff at Developmental Learning Solutions in 2009. Since then, she has provided individualized support, utilizing methods and materials specific to the goals and style of each learner. She works closely with students, families and schools to create sustainable success, as well as foster confidence and a love of learning.
Adriana Barrera
Tutor and Directed Studies Instructor
Adriana Barrera has been a multiple-subject tutor here at Developmental Learning Solutions since 2007. She is an instructor to many of our Directed Studies courses, including, US History, government, language arts, literature and all levels of English and Spanish. In addition, Adriana teaches Spanish K-8 at the Aptos Academy. She is a 2008 graduate of UCSC who loves learning and is an excellent teacher. We are very fortunate to have this very popular educator here at Developmental Learning Solutions.
Sheila Cliff
Educational Therapist and Assessor
Sheila Cliff has a background in teaching special education and counseling at the elementary and secondary levels. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Special Education and in Social Clinical Psychology. Through her interest in learning and movement, she has developed unique programs for children in schools to enhance their coordination and spatial awareness. Most recently, she has become an instructor in the Educational Therapy program through UC Santa Cruz Extension courses. She has been with DLS since 2006 as an Assessor and Educational Therapist and she is happy to be part of the wonderful staff that is so committed to serving students of all ages with unique learning profiles.
Linda Diamantopoulos
Tutor and Directed Studies Instructor
Linda Diamantopoulos joined the DLS team in September of 2009. She tutors all math levels and sciences and is an instructor for a number of different Directed Studies courses. She holds a math degree from UCSC and is preparing for her masters program in Educational Therapy beginning the spring of 2011. She will continue to work with and support all of her clients at DLS as she completes her program and moves into the position of a certified Educational Therapist.
Elizabeth Frost
Speech Pathologist
Elizabeth is a California State Licensed Speech Pathologist. She received the Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association. She has a Master of Arts from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Elizabeth has over forty years of experience practicing in the field throughout the east and the west coast. She has a Certificate of Rehabilitation Services K-12 in California and Maryland. She was the contributing author of Believe the Heart by Elizabeth Fleming and is member of the American Speech and Hearing Association, the California Speech and Hearing Association and the International Dyslexia Association.
Susan Kohen
Educational Therapist, Director of Program Development
Susan started as an intern at DLS in 2004 when she was taking courses in the UCSC Extension Educational Therapy program. Since then she has become a certified member of the Association of Educational Therapists and continues to work at DLS with students of all ages. Susan specializes in building academic confidence through reading, writing and language remediation, as well as the development of processing areas. She also coaches her students in organization, study skills and overall academic success.
Kathy Normandin
Clinical Administrator
Kathy Normandin has been with Developmental Learning Solutions since August of 2001, not long after earning a teaching credential at CSUMB, and then sending her home-schooled son confidently back to public school. With an interest in education and the awareness of the challenges our system presents to many families, Kathy enjoys working with the staff to help provide a program that works towards each client′s success.
Leti Parnell
Clinical Educational Specialist, Director of Directed Studies
Leti Parnell has been with Developmental Learning Solutions since 2004. She has an extensive background in math and science and supports clients who need additional learning strategies to approach these classes. She is a Clinical Educational Specialist and works mainly with teens and adults focusing on organization, skill development, test-taking strategies, study skills and building academic strength and esteem. She is also the Director of Directed Studies; pairing tutors and students with one-on-one classes that are certified through various Universities for credit.
Katy Reavey
Clinical Administrative Assistant
Katy Reavey has been with Developmental Learning Solutions (DLS) since September of 2008. She had been at Baymonte Christian School for 4 years, as an aide in the kindergarten classroom. She has supported the sports activities of her sons at their high school and continues to support the school′s fund raising efforts. She is an invaluable member of the DLS staff, in the front office, and is one of the main reasons that everything runs so smoothly for our staff and clients.
Judyth Suttle
Principal Assessor
Judyth Suttle, our principal assessor, applies thirty-plus years′ experience to helping clients and their families understand the relationship between the individual′s unique learning profile and its expression in academics. Holding California credentials in elementary, secondary and community college teaching, she has extensive training⁄course-work in the field of learning differences and participated in establishing a state-wide assessment procedure for determining eligibility for community college services. (M.A. English, M.S. Visual-Motor Development, Board Certified by Association of Educational Therapists)
Margaret Wagner
Adaptive Technology Specialist
Margaret Wagner is our Adapted Technology Specialist and has been with Developmental Learning Solutions since 2006. Some of the most popular software she teaches is speech recognition (Dragon NaturallySpeaking for PCs and MacSpeech Dictate for Macs) and text-to-speech (ReadPlease and TextAloud). In addition to Adapted Technology she also teaches keyboarding.
