Holly Paczak

Director of School Support and Improvement

I earned my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Educational Psychology and an Educational Specialist Degree in School Psychology. In 2007, I moved to New Orleans to participate in the Louisiana School Psychology Internship Consortium, a year long internship accredited by the American Psychological Association. I completed my internship training with the Recovery School District servicing multiple schools in Orleans Parish. Upon completion of my internship, I joined the staff at the LSU Human Development Center and worked for the National Center for Special Education Accountability Monitoring and the Data Accountability Center, both funded by the US Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs. As a project consultant I worked with state education agencies in multiple states/territories including Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and the Bureau of Indian Education. At the conclusion of those projects, I then served as the Project Coordinator for Teams Intervening Early to Reach all Students (TIERS) Group. In that role, I managed a team and was responsible for developing and executing technical assistance support, consultation, and coaching at a school, network, district, and state level to meet identified needs. I facilitated collaborative work with other professionals and national technical assistance centers to provide assistance to schools, school districts, and state departments of education. In addition, I led development and execution of multiple large scale needs assessments inclusive of strategy, content, and logistics. Currently, I am the Director of School Support at NOLA Public Schools where I provide technical assistance and support for the portfolio of NOLA Public Schools in the areas of Multi-tiered System of Supports, Special Education Programming and Compliance, and Section 504. Additionally, I facilitate internal cross team collaboration in development and implementation of diverse learners strategy. In my volunteer service, I currently serve as the President-Elect for the Junior League of New Orleans (JLNO). We are a membership organization of over 1800 women who are committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Among the many community projects of JLNO, our Diaper Bank serves multiple agencies by providing diapers, adult incontinence products, as well as period supplies. Last year, the Bank distributed one million diapers to communities in need through regular distributions and disaster relief.

What is one thing that has influenced you in immeasurable ways, what is it (and why do you love it)?

An experience early in my career has impacted me both professionally and personally. During my time at LSU Human Development Center my work brought me to Alaska and over 3 years I traveled to the Bering Strait School District to work with their district and school staff. This school district is located in Unalakleet, serving approximately 2000 students in grades K-12 across fifteen villages, accessible only by plane. Instead of having school buses, the district owned a small plane and employed their own pilot. The two villages where I did most of my work were on St. Lawerence Island. Both villages of Gambell and Savoonga have approximately 700 people in each village. The student population is approximately 99% Inupiat and Yup’ik Eskimo. In these remote communities, subsistence hunting of whale, polar bear, walrus, caribou, and salmon are relied upon. Something I gave a lot of thought to was how do I honor and listen to the experiences of school staff and the community to help fulfill the work I was being asked to do. I had the expertise and knowledge to help develop their systems of academic and behavior support but I did not have a deep understanding of the community or people. I asked for help in forming the system inclusive of their culture and values. Many stakeholders had a part, from teachers, to students, to elders of the community. I am profoundly grateful for the experience I had to learn from the village community as well as the school community.