Special Education Staff
Associate Director & School Psychologist
Hillary Isaacs, M.Ed CAGS, NASP is a certified school psychologist who has worked in both the private and public sectors in education for the past fifteen years and continues to serve as the school psychologist in various other preschools in Fairfield County. She is highly trained in both psychology and education. Before becoming the school psychologist at Gan Yeladim, Ms. Isaacs held various positions. She was an early childhood and elementary school teacher in New York City and Brookline, MA private and public schools where she supervised interns from various masters programs in education. She also did her training as a school psychologist in the Brookline Early Education Program. She has worked with preschool children who present with a range of disabilities that include Autism Spectrum disorder, severe medical issues, developmental delays, physical impairments, language disorders and behavioral challenges. She prepared comprehensive psychological assessments of preschooler’s cognitive, social/emotional and behavioral functioning. While serving in the Brookline Public Schools, Ms. Isaacs also served as an IEP team leader where she wrote IEPs and led the team meetings to determine students’ special education eligibility. At the Gan, Ms. Isaacs provided lectures and training programs on various topics such as “Nutrition in the early childhood years” , “Creating a Bully Free Zone” and “What To Do When Children Push Your Buttons”. She has also done research in social skills training and a Response to Intervention (RTI) program, which supports the development of phonological awareness skills in 150 preschool children. The program included an assessment system, as well as the development of an intervention for children identified as having weak pre-literacy skills. Ms. Isaacs also conducted teacher training in both the research and implementation of intervention. Hillary Isaacs received her undergraduate training in Psychology at Binghamton University and received her first Masters in Education from Columbia Teachers College. She then received her CAGS degree in School Psychology (60 credit specialist – master plus specialty level training) plus a two-year supervised internship from Northeastern University. She is licensed in MA and CT and is nationally certified by the National School Psychology Certification Board (NSPCB).
Occupational Therapist
Aimee Elsner, MS is a mother, wife, marathoner, triathlete, cancer survivor, yogi, plant-based nutrition educator and much more…including Gan’s very own Occupational Therapist! She has a passion and interest for life that leads to an endless supply of different hats to wear. She began her career as an Occupational Therapist in 1996 after graduating from Boston University with a Masters of Science. Shortly after that she began to work with children with a variety of disabilities. Both of her children, Wyatt and Nate, attended the Gan. They flourished with all the love and support the Gan gave them and really wanted to be a part of that. She enjoys working with the children, watching them grow and develop, and giving them extra support to help them on their journey. She values the warmth and care that the each Morah brings to the children, noting how they appreciate all the support she provides as Occupational Therapist, which makes working at the Gan even more special.