Melinda Coughlin, Special Ed Coordinator

Melinda Coughlin joined our team at GWCS in January 2006.  She has been employed in the field of special education for approximately 20 years.  During those years as a teacher and as an administrator, she has worked with diverse special needs populations including children and adolescents with acquired brain injuries, learning disabilities, developmental delays, psychiatric disorders, hearing impairments, and chronic health impairments.  Highlights of her career include the development of the special education program in a large urban charter school, the development of school programs at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); the creation and implementation of a school reentry protocol for children with acquired brain injury served at Children's Seashore House of CHOP; and the reorganization and revitalization of an early intervention program serving the birth to three year old special needs population. 

Mrs. Coughlin completed her undergraduate program at Towson University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education.  She obtained her Masters of Education in Special Education at Loyola College in Baltimore, MD and is completing the special education supervisory certification at Arcadia University.

Mrs. Coughlin is married and mother of three daughters, ages 23, 21 and 20 and two pugs.  In her “free time” she is an avid gardener.

After working in a large urban middle school and high school for five years, I was ready for a change.  I looked for a position in an elementary school that is committed to the development of the whole child, committed to creating life-long learners and thinkers, and committed to building a community where staff, parents, and students are all stakeholders engaged in the creating and maintaining an academically stimulating and nurturing environment for the families it serves.  I found those qualities/characteristics at GWCS.

GWCS is an exciting place to be!  The setting and integrated curriculum are unique, but for me as the special education coordinator, even more important is the interest in and dedication of this team of professionals in meeting the needs of all of our students.

Jean Wallace, Academic Director

As the Academic Director and CEO, Jean is responsible for guiding the design and implementation of our award-winning curriculum and for supporting the direction of all areas of school life. Jean works in collaboration with our staff, Board, community and educational partners to build on our successful past toward an even greater future.

Charter schools are public schools.  As such Jean is accountable to the Department of Education for ensuring that our students are receiving a standards-based learning experience from qualified teachers within the guidelines and mandates of Federal, State, and Charter School Law. In addition to the many responsibilities associated with curriculum and instruction, Jean supports Green Woods through successful grant writing, ongoing website communication, mentoring our Jr. School Leadership Team mediation team, and by networking with key partners from within and outside the Green Woods community.

As a member of the Governor's Council for Environmental Education, Jean works with many of the State's environmental experts and agencies. "By working collaboratively with the Department of Education and the outstanding environmental agencies throughout our state, Green Woods is able to gain both valuable resources along with well-deserved local, state and national recognition for the exceptional work being done by our teachers and students," Jean said.
In addition to the daily interactions with Green Woods dedicated staff and parents, Jean enjoys those rare and special times when she gets to trail along on hikes with our budding naturalists. "Hiking with even our youngest students and seeing how they interact with the natural world always presents a wonderful learning opportunity for me. While many young children enjoy walking in the woods, Green Woods students are skilled observers, able to take in the big picture of the field ecosystem while at the same time patiently exploring the leaf litter in search of the smallest signs of life."
Jean currently holds four Pennsylvania education certifications: Principal K-12, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction, K-12 Environmental Education, and Elementary Education. She earned her post-graduate certifications and her MAEd in Environmental Education from Arcadia University, a BA in Elementary Education from Beaver College, and an Associate Degree in Health Science from Gwynedd Mercy College.

Each day is a new day of exploration and discovery as we challenge each other to provide the best possible learning environment for our students.

In less than four years time our amazing teaching staff has taken teaching and learning to a whole new level. Working in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, our teachers, themselves, developed our K-8 award-winning EIC Curriculum which engages our students in integrated learning experiences that span all disciplines. Utilizing our 350-acre learning laboratory as an outdoor classroom, our partnership with the Schuylkill Center continues to grow and thrive as the Center’s expert educators spend many hours working with our classroom teachers to enhance the teaching of environment and ecology concepts.

Green Woods is the only public/charter school in the entire country to be housed directly within a nature center. Years ago I earned my graduate degree by utilizing this same setting as a laboratory for learning. It is so rewarding to now spend time observing our students as they explore and discover new things while hiking in the same woods where I learned so much about the natural world.