Mary Jo Terranova was the Senior Education Specialist for the CREC Resource Group. Mary Jo joined CREC in 2011 and led CREC’s Advanced Alternative Route to Certification (AARC) program in special education as Program Director. She also has wide-ranging expertise in special education practices, instruction, and inclusion coaching. A big believer in behaviorism, Mary Jo is an endorsed Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Trainer. Mary Jo’s career began in 1985 as an Elementary Education Teacher. She served as Interim Principal, Assistant Principal, Special Education Supervisor, Special Education Department Chair, and the Director of Special Services for several school districts in Connecticut. She has been trained to provide professional development for the University of Kansas, Strategic Instruction Models.

In 1990, Mary Jo was the recipient of the CAPSEF Outstanding Educator Award, and was nominated in 1991 and 1999 for Teacher of the Year. Mary Jo earned her B.S. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Rhode Island. She holds her M.S. in Special Education from SCSU and her Sixth Year Degree Diploma in both Collaboration and Consultation and Educational Leadership from SCSU. She was also a participant in the Education Policy Fellowship Program in 2003 and 2004.