P2-Program Staff

Dr. Brian McDonald, Superintendent, provides oversight of our Project Prevent program and serves as the liaison between the district and the Board of Education, as well as all other external stakeholders.

Elizabeth J. Blanco, Ed.D., Chief Academic Officer leads the instructional strategies for the District's students, implementing the District's instructional plan, and overseeing a variety of academic programs, including elementary and secondary instruction; special education; arts, gifted, and multilingual education; and curriculum, instruction and professional development.

Julianne Reynoso, Project Director provides oversight and is responsible for the financial integrity of the grant as well as approval of all new hires and contracts. He/she oversees the Core Management Team (CMT) and supervises Lara Choulakian, the Mental Health Coordinator, and the local evaluator. He/she reports all findings, including successes and progress, to the Superintendent, PUSD School Board, and Core Management Team (community stake-holders).

To be hired, Grant Program Coordinator supports the day-to-day operations of the grant program.

Lara Choulakian, LCSW, PUSD Mental Health Liaison, oversees the day-to-day operations of PUSD's mental health program, which includes school-based mental health services conducted by both PUSD employees and community-based service providers. Ms. Choulakian also supervises all Mental Health Interns (MSWs working towards licensure) currently working in our schools who support the interventions of Project Prevent. Ms. Choulakian is the direct supervisor of the school-based counselors hired under this program. In addition to her supervisory roles, she provides direct counseling services to students. Ms. Choulakian participates in all evidence-based professional development for working with children exposed to violence and trauma: Seeking Safety, ART, Safe Dates, and PREPaRE. Her administrative functions include acting as the liaison with building principals, outside mental health providers, the LA County Department of Mental Health, and community-based organizations that provide services to our students

Erika Ciriano, Trauma and Crisis Counselor targeted population. She attends training and professional development for all evidence-based interventions. She works in close cooperation and under the supervision of our mental health liaison.

To be hired, A full-time Juvenile Diversion Counselor will be hired to support our targeted population. The Juvenile Diversion Counselor conducts outreach and education to parents, guardians and family members. (1 FTE).

Raul Hernadndez, Psychological, and Social Services Coordinator (CPSS) supports our targeted population. This position participates as a team member implementing programs to prevent school violence and other behavioral problems and increase pro-social behavior through school-wide programs.

Vanessa Torres, serves as our Evidence-Based Interventions/PBIS Liaison. She supports all schools with the implementation of our multi-tiered behavioral framework, as well as all evidence-based interventions, programs, and curriculum implemented under our P2 grant program. Her role includes providing technical assistance to the individual school site student support teams by attending school team meetings, providing examples, assisting with material development, trainings, and assisting with the overall district PBIS process, such as conducting the School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET) evaluation or the coach component of the Benchmarks of Quality (BOQ). Her role as the Evidence-Based Interventions Liaison is to support each school in implementing, training and sustaining evidence-based interventions throughout the district. She attends all professional development training related to these interventions and will become a Certified Trainer-of-Trainers for any programs where she does not currently hold that certification (Safe Dates, ART). She works diligently to train PUSD employees who interact with our students outside of the classroom on all evidence-based interventions (coaches, custodial and nutrition staff, after-school providers, etc.). She facilitates data collection and conducts frequent site visits to each school to monitor progress of implementation and report on fidelity. She is a full-time employee of the district and her responsibilities with this grant support the roles and responsibilities of her current position, therefore none of her salary is allocated to the grant.