Our Team

Committed to social-emotional growth and excellence in education.

Each Instructor at WYSE is fully engaged with this age group, motivated to mentor and nuture students in their formative middle school years. Our team is full of energy, enthusiasm, warmth, and a willingness to go the extra mile for each WYSE student.

Lockey Coughlin

Interim Director

Lockey's extensive experience as a teacher, mentor, and mental health professional helps her to respond to individualized curriculum requests quickly and effectively, utilizing a well-curated list of instructors, tutors, counselors, mentors, and specialty schools. Lockey is the Founder and Director of Education without Walls, the owner of Honeybee Books, both in New Milford, and a Founding board member of Webb Youth Services, Inc. Lockey also writes an education column for the Sentinel Newspapers in Greenwich, CT, and New Canaan, CT.

University of Connecticut

Hartwick College

Mary Parascondola

Assistant Director

Mary's diverse skill set includes communication, cooking, emotional support, organization, physical space management, and more. Her experience as a property manager, mother of four, and caregiver has honed her skills. Mary provides a unique blend of warmth and structure to the WYSE program.

Theresa Ann McSpedon

Financial Director

Theresa, a master of paperwork, forms, and numbers, makes sure the business side of EWoW runs smoothly. Theresa began her tenure as Director of Operations in 2016.

Columbia University

BS Economics

AS Accounting, AS Business Administration

Aileen Rosa

Onsite Coordinator

Instructor, French, Library Sciences, Language Arts

Aileen is excited to bring her energy, enthusiasm, and passion for helping others to our students.

College Of Charleston

BA in Psychology

Masters Candidate, Psychology

Leah Lalama

Math Instructor

Leah is thrilled to bring her passion for math to her students at WYSE!

Western Conn State University

BS in Secondary Education, Mathematics

Masters Candidate, Mathematics

Tamara Vena

Curriculum Development

Science Instructor

Tamara's ten years of teaching experience and passion for education shine through when she works with our students in the field and in the classroom.

BS Social Science, Certified Herbalist, Cornell University Civic Ecology Lab

Nature Education and Environmental Science, Native Plant Studies

Sandy Ho

History and Latin Instructor

Sandy is a native Japanese speaker and a successful homeschool mother of two college graduates. Sandy has 13 years of teaching experience. She brings a ready smile and easy nature to her classes.

BA Computer Science

Joel Melendez

Circus Arts & Capoeira Instructor

Co-owner of Matica Arts, Joel brings years of teaching experience and a warm, easy manner to his work with our WYSE students.

Lindsey Gonzales

Operations Manager

Lindsey's extensive experience working with students and parents in private education informs her work at WYSE. She is well-versed in Google platforms and Wix website management, making her an asset and, often, a life-saver when it comes to tech issues at WYSE.

Hartwick College

BA Business Administration