Sessions
Caring for Students in Crisis
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Mon
Dr. Stephanie Lowe Ellis, Ed.D, NCSP is a nationally certified school psychologist in Person County Schools, North Carolina. Stephanie was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019 from Averett University. She was awarded the National School Psychologist of the Year in 2016 by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). She was also awarded the North Carolina School Psychologist Practitioner of the Year Award in 2015 and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Positive Behavior Intervention & Support Leadership Award in 2015. She currently serves as an appointed member to the NC Governor's Task Force for Safer Schools. She also serves on the NC Center for Safe Schools Advisory Council as well. I am also a "PREPaRE" Crisis Response Curriculum trainer through the National Association of School Psychologists.
Prior to joining Person County Schools, I worked in Rockingham County Schools and served as the Executive Director of Behavioral Health, Crisis Intervention, and Student Safety. I also led the Project AWARE SAMSHA Grant, Mental Health Demonstration Grant (USDOE), social emotional and behavioral health implementation, and school safety. I supervised School Psychologists, School Social Workers, School Counseling Interns, School Resource Officers, and School Nurses and overall support services. We were able to establish a model mental health continuum of comprehensive services. I led school safety, crisis intervention services, supervised specialized instructional support personnel, and worked to develop model mental health services for each and every student.
I also previously served as the Executive Director of Exceptional Children in Rockingham County Schools. I oversaw the Exceptional Children Division including over 250 Exceptional Children Staff of EC teachers, EC Teacher Assistants, Speech Language Pathologists, School Psychologists, Behavioral Specialists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Language Facilitators, Other Related Service Providers and EC Specialists. We were able to develop a comprehensive system of support with high quality special education services, excellent care and support for students, staff and families, and pathways for post secondary education and goals.
I completed my doctorate at High Point University in the Educational Leadership Program and my dissertation focused on Best Practices in Threat Assessment with her dissertation titled " “A Study to Improve Threat Assessment Processes and Guidelines in Response to Risk of Violence in Schools”. I obtained an Educational Specialist degree in School Psychology from Radford University in Radford, Virginia. I also obtained a Masters Degree in Psychology from Radford University and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Averett University in Danville, Virginia.