Graduate School
Brandeis University

Fellowship
 Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care

Supervisors
Aimee Smith-Zeoli, Special Education Support Specialist

Mentors
Melissa Threadgill, Massachusetts Office for the Child Advocate and Jill Benevides, CVS Health

Fellowship Description
Shaakira will be working at the MA Department of Early Education and Care. Her primary project will be around developing a guide/toolkit for educators and programs to accompany/operationalize EEC’s updated Suspension and Expulsion Policy (draft policy currently undergoing review) – thinking through what it should look like, resources to be included, outreach, and dissemination. They also talked about a potential secondary project around the development of a “roadmap to special education support services” for community partners that are part of the Community Preschool Partnership Initiative Grant.