The Children's
Wellness

Learning
Collaborative

The Children's Wellness
Learning Collaborative
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A wellness enhanced learning environment where children
EXPLORE, GROW, and SUCCEED.
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We nurture children's hearts and minds, and offer a holistic approach to education and development. This balanced focus on emotional, social, and intellectual growth, emphasizes the importance of both emotional intelligence and cognitive skills. This framework encourages well-rounded individuals who are not only knowledgeable but also empathetic, resilient, and capable of forming healthy relationships. Social-emotional learning (SEL) is incorporated into all areas of the day.
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Our team of experienced, certified, educators and practitioners are passionate about guiding children as they thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Each of them is strength-based, heart-centered, and trauma-informed in their view and approach to children.
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Meet Our Team

Tammy Garceau, LICSW
Founder / Clinical Director
Tammy's vision for this community grew out
of her family's positive home schooling experience during COVID, a combination of researched best practices and approaches from programs like The RI Compass School, Waldorf, Montessori, and Acton Academy, in addition to her professional experiences working in and managing educational programs, her current and past client struggles with traditional school environments, her own family's educational journey, and the talent of an established, skilled, wellness team, who are available to provide comprehensive support services to school aged children and their families.
www.thecenterforcounselingandwellness.com
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Tammy is a graduate of Boston College School of Social Work, and is a Licensed Independent
Clinical Social Worker with over 20 years of
clinical experience. In addition to her private practice Counseling For Wellness, Inc.
www.counselingforwellnessri.com, she has also
co-founded two successful wellness centers, and currently owns and manages The Center for Counseling & Wellness in East Greenwich, RI.
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Tammy is skilled in treating ADHD, anxiety, depression and loss, post-partum depression, as well as school, career, and interpersonal adjustment difficulties, in children, adolescents, couples, and families. She is training in The Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) Treatment Protocol by The Yale Child Study Center and EMDR certified to treat trauma.
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In addition to private practice, Ms. Garceau gained valuable experience as a public school social worker where she coordinated a clinical transition program, and as the Clinical Supervisor for a day treatment program for emotionally and behaviorally challenged populations, as well as serving as a Mental Health Manager for an Early Head Start, Head Start, and GED program. Tammy served on The Board of Directors for The RI Association for Infant Mental Health, and presented at The New England Head Start Annual Conference, highlighting successful approaches to incorporating behavioral health programs into school environments. Tammy utilizes a strength-based, cognitive-behavioral approach to her work with children and families.

Chaia May
Music Instruction

Lacey Feeley
Lead / STEM Educator
Lacey currently homeschools her son and is truly a lifelong learner in all things. Learning from and being outdoors and in nature is her absolute favorite. She earned her B.S. in Biology, B.A. in Education, and Masters in Social Work. She takes a strengths-based approach to teaching and learning and prioritizes social-emotional awareness and reflection. Her last teaching position was at Quest Montessori School, where she helped to revamp the middle school program and was the lead Science Guide. Hands-on, experiential science is her specialty! She’s also a Certified Kingian Nonviolence facilitator based on the philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at URI.

Nicole Grace
Mindfulness Practitioner Certified Life Coach

Tracey Weston
Educator / Tutor
Tracey began her professional journey in the field of human services. She graduated from Rhode Island College with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Psychology. After working with adolescents in state care for over 15 years, she earned a Master's Degree in Teaching, and is a certified elementary educator. Tracey worked for the Coventry School Department for 8 years. During that time she earned a certification to teach early childhood education. Tracey homeschooled her own child, and developed a learning pod during COVID. She has also been employed as a private teacher for homeschooled children, and a Sylvan Learning Center tutor for students pre-k through 12th grade. Tracey is a passionate educator with the desire to promote an inclusive, safe, and engaging environment. She inspires her students to love learning, to develop the drive to become lifelong learners, and to create a classroom community based on kindness. Tracey prioritizes building on students' individual strengths.

Kristen Taylor
Speech Pathologist / Acorn Therapy Solutions
Everything about Chaia May shows her love of learning—for herself and others. Chaia holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Cross-Cultural Anthropology from Wellesley College, and an M.A. in Applied Communication Theory with an emphasis on Children’s Media from Stanford University.​
As a music educator, Chaia is trained in the most effective systems of learning, including Orff-Shulwerk (a way to teach music that joyfully combines music, movement, and drama; Kodaly (a systematized approach to music based on the importance of the sequence of skills and content; and Suzuki (a gateway to music education based on small steps based on a child’s readiness).
As a performer, Chaia is an accomplished vocalist and musician with more than 20 years of personal study with master teachers. She has performed in a wide range of entertainment and educational settings.
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Chaia helps children deal with difficult emotions through her original songs and stories
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Teaches guitar, piano, voice, ukulele and music in Spanish
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Is an early childhood music educator (Music Together programs and Boogie to the Beat) in several pre-schools
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She is skilled in sensory and affective learning; She integrated these into all her curriculums.
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Chaia is also available for private music instruction, voice coaching, assistance with dyslexic readers, Spanish and Portuguese tutoring, and other enrichment programs.
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​With over 25 years of experience in the health, wellness and mental well-being space, Nicole has a wealth of knowledge and expertise that she shares though her business, Cultivate Wellness.
Cultivate Wellness came to life from a combination of valuable wellbeing strategies aiming to help bring greater mental and physical well-being to communities, organizations and individuals. Bringing together specialties such as mindfulness practices, resilience training, professional coaching modalities, and her robust health and fitness knowledge.
Nicole has a BS in Health and Human Services, is a Certified Professional Coach through Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), Certified Fitness Instructor/Trainer and trained Mindfulness Practitioner and Social Emotional Learning Instructor. Nicole is experienced in providing social emotional wellness programs to school children and adults in educational and corporate environments.
Kristen Taylor, the Owner and Speech Language Pathologist of Acorn Therapy Solutions offers 15 years of experience with the pediatric population. Kristen graduated with her master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. She started her career as a speech-language pathologist working in a public school system in Dayton, Ohio supporting students with communication and complex medical needs, including those using speech generating devices. Her next adventure included traveling as a speech-language pathologist, which created opportunities for her to work with children in the New England area. Durin Over the past several years she has worked at Meeting Street with infants and toddlers enrolled in early intervention, worked with school-aged children in public school systems, and served at a private school specializing in teaching children with autism spectrum disorder and other pervasive development disorders. Her time at Meeting Street also included sitting on a consulting team of providers for families who were in need of support as they navigated through finding ways to communicate with their child. This included the use of symbols, systems, devices and supporting families with the initial diagnosis of disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. She was also a consulting clinician for United Cerebral Palsy in Rhode Island for children and families needing support in how to increase overall communication skills. In 2019, Kristen opened Taylor’d Pediatric Therapy, LLC., which is now Acorn Therapy Solutions, and includes Occupational Therapy services. She has a passion for working with children who have difficulties with speech sound disorders including Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), phonological disorders, and other speech sound errors including the correction of lisps. Kristen strives to personalize each session to help your child work hard towards achieving their goals while having fun. Kristen can be reached at 401-404-5585 and at www.acorntherapysolutions.org.
