Faculty & Staff - Exceptional Learners Center
Mrs. kathryn goll | exceptional learners center director
This is Mrs. Goll’s sixth year teaching at Saint Isaac Jogues. Prior to teaching at Saint Isaac's, she taught Kindergarten at a Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Mrs. Goll is an SIJ graduate and is thrilled to be moving to her new position as the Director of the Exceptional Learners Center! Upon graduating from Saint Isaac’s, she attended Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park and Saint Mary’s of Notre Dame. Mrs. Goll majored in Elementary Education with minors in Reading and Special Education. She returned to school to earn her learning behavior specialist degree and her masters in special education. She has attended all Catholic schools and she believes that Catholic institutions such as St. Isaac's provide students with a solid academic foundation, while also guiding their moral, spiritual, and personal growth. She is eager to share her faith and educational background with her students.
Mrs. Brie Arevalo | Clinical Psychologist - Extern
Mrs. Arevalo is a 5th year doctoral student in clinical psychology from Wheaton College who is completing her advanced externship at Monarch Clinics. Monarch Clinics has partnered with SIJ for the 2019-2020 academic year. Her role at SIJ includes: providing therapy services, classroom interventions, academic accommodation plans, and parent and teacher consultations. In addition, she provides neuropsychological evaluations and academic testing for families.
Mrs. Arevalo received her doctoral training in child/adolescent therapeutic interventions and assessment at Meier Clinics, Mt. Sinai Under the Rainbow Program, and Rush University Medical Center. She is passionate about partnering with families in a safe, warm, and collaborative space to navigate the ups and downs of life. Her specific training interests include trauma, attachment work, identity development, parent-child training, executive functioning difficulties, and relational issues. At SIJ, she tailors each therapeutic intervention and recommendation based on the family’s unique needs. Through an interactive and engaging therapeutic process, she hopes to help SIJ children, adolescents, and families find support, healing, and success in their lives.
Mrs. Arevalo received her doctoral training in child/adolescent therapeutic interventions and assessment at Meier Clinics, Mt. Sinai Under the Rainbow Program, and Rush University Medical Center. She is passionate about partnering with families in a safe, warm, and collaborative space to navigate the ups and downs of life. Her specific training interests include trauma, attachment work, identity development, parent-child training, executive functioning difficulties, and relational issues. At SIJ, she tailors each therapeutic intervention and recommendation based on the family’s unique needs. Through an interactive and engaging therapeutic process, she hopes to help SIJ children, adolescents, and families find support, healing, and success in their lives.
Mrs. Jennifer Houch | Speech Language Pathologist
Mrs. Houch is thrilled to be joining the team in the Exceptional Learners Center and committed to St. Isaac’s vision to better serve all students. This is Mrs. Houch’s ninth year as a speech-language pathologist. She earned her Bachelor of Sciences degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from The University of Illinois and her Masters of Sciences degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Rush University. Mrs. Houch has extensive experience working with children with a variety of speech-language needs, including: developmental language delay, speech sound disorders (phonological delays and apraxia of speech), autism spectrum disorder, and dyslexia. As a mother of two boys, Jennifer is passionate about parent education, early identification/intervention, literacy development, and inclusion. She is certified to provide parent training services for parents of children with expressive language delay and autism. She is also certified to provide teacher trainings focused on increasing language development in the classroom
Mrs. Amanda Miller | Resource Support for Grades K-2
Mrs. Miller is happy to be back at St Isaac’s as part of the Exceptional Learners Center. Prior to joining the ELC, she was an SIJ parent until her youngest graduated in 2018. She was a classroom teacher in kindergarten and first grade before staying home with her own children. She returned to teaching three years ago working as a reading and writing tutor.
Mrs. Munira Shakir, MOT, ORT/L/Occupational Therapist
Mrs. Shakir graduated from Midwestern University in Downers Grove with her Masters in Occupational Therapy and with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology (cum-laude) from St. John’s University in New York City. She has worked in a variety of settings, including outpatient pediatrics, skilled nursing, acute care, adult orthopedics and neurology, but always had a special interest in the endless possibilities that children have. She has experience with a range of diagnoses, including, sensory processing disorder, low muscle tone, poor visual motor integration, handwriting difficulty, and delayed fine motor skills. She has taken several continuing education courses in visual perceptual difficulty and treatment and is also trained in the Handwriting without Tears program.
Mrs. Shakir lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband and three children. She enjoys traveling internationally and experiencing different cultures along the way. Her travel has definitely shaped her into a better therapist, allowing for stronger rapport with her clients.
Mrs. Shakir lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband and three children. She enjoys traveling internationally and experiencing different cultures along the way. Her travel has definitely shaped her into a better therapist, allowing for stronger rapport with her clients.
Ms. Nicole Madda/Resources Support | Grades 3-6
This is Ms. Madda’s first year at St. Isaac’s and she feels so blessed to be a part of the SIJ community. She graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in English as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a minor in Spanish. Ms. Madda also received her Master’s degree in Special Education from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Madda has extensive experience working with students with a variety of learning needs. Prior to coming to St. Issac's, she spent 10 years teaching 3rd through 6th grades at a Therapeutic Day School in the suburbs. Ms. Madda is thrilled to be a part of the Exceptional Learners Center and cherishes the opportunity to bring much-needed special education services to Catholic schools.
