How to Manage the Transition to
a Special Needs School
A Panel Discussion
Monday, January 31, 2022
9:00-10:00am
Gregory Cangiano
Skyer Law
Gregory Cangiano, a partner at Skyer Law, has been an attorney with the firm since 2006. Greg was inspired to pursue special education law because of his mother, a guidance counselor whose life’s calling was working with special needs children.
Greg earned his bachelor’s degree at SUNY Binghamton and graduated with honors from Touro Law School in 2006. As a law student, he worked (pro bono) with the Long Island Advocacy Center, an organization dedicated to protecting the legal rights of students and individuals with disabilities. Greg is passionate about empowering parents and educators in the IEP process. From 2008-2012 he served as an adjunct professor at Bank Street College of Education teaching a graduate course, Communication and Collaboration: What the Law Intended. He designed this course to explore how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) demands school districts to work cooperatively in the development and implementation of IEPs.
Magda Labonte-Blaise
Skyer Law
Magda Labonte-Blaise Magda joined Skyer Law in 2016. Her varied background gives her the ability to evaluate legal issues from many sides, making her a uniquely valuable asset. Magda’s practice runs the gamut, but she takes on many of the cases involving pendency for Turning Five students, CPSE clients, and cases where we are working to obtain deferrals for approved non-public schools.
After receiving her B.A. from Wesleyan University, she began her career as an Associate Teacher at the Brearley School located in New York City. Although she loved working with high-achieving students, she felt her calling was to serve children with disabilities. Working as a teacher, Magda saw up close how important access to due process was for many of her students. Magda was inspired to become a lawyer and enrolled at St. John’s University and transitioned to working in self-contained classes in a community school.
Peter Pramataris, PsyD
Pramataris & Associates
Dr. Pramataris is the founder & director of Pramataris & Associates. For well over a decade, Dr. Pramataris served as the director of the Center for Attention and Learning at Northwell Health/Lenox Hill Hospital, where he headed the neuropsychological assessment and consultation services. He continues to instruct post-doctoral residents for Lenox Hill Hospital's department of psychiatry, who awarded him for excellence in teaching. Dr. Pramataris advises on several boards, including the New York Neuropsychology Group, the Lang School, and AbleTo, a national-scale behavioral health company that he co-founded in 2008. Dr. Pramataris completed clinical training at NYU Medical Center, St. Mary's Hospital for Children, and Lenox Hill Hospital. He received a combined doctorate in school psychology and child clinical psychology from Yeshiva University.
Chantal Aflalo and Laura Mazzaro
Parents League Advisors
Moderators
