About Our School | Staff Profiles
Please click on name for profile:
Janet Christensen, M.A., | Director of Educational Programs
Ciara Blessing, M.A., CCC-SLP, |Speech Therapist
Lisa Herlicy, M.A., | Teacher of the Deaf
Kristi Petree, M.E.D., CED, | Teacher of the Deaf, Educational Consultant
Marcy Satzberg, M.S., CCC-SLP,| Speech Therapist
Janet Christensen holds a Masters degree in Special Education (emphasis in deaf and hard of hearing) and an Educational Specialist Credential (emphasis in deaf and hard of hearing). Ms. Christensen began teaching in the auditory-oral PreKindergarten classroom in 1999 and moved to the Parent-toddler classroom in 2001. Currently, she is the director of Educational Programs for the Auditory-Oral School of San Francisco. In addition, she teaches the Parent-Toddler auditory-oral class, provides itinerant teacher services to children from age three to eighteen in regular education settings, offers aural rehabilitation services for youth and adults with cochlear implants, and delivers presentations on topics related to oral deaf education. Ms. Christensen’s interest in oral deaf education began in 1984 when her son was diagnosed with a profound hearing loss; she is very proud that he is a successful oral communicator now teaching high school history in a general education setting. As a director, teacher, and parent, she is committed to empowering children and adults with hearing losses.
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Ciara Blessing, MS CCC-SLP, obtained her bachelor’s degree in clinical speech and language studies in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Having completed her studies she began working in an auditory-oral school for the deaf and combined this with clinical work addressing a range of childhood speech-language delays, disorders. She moved to San Francisco in 1997 and worked in San Francisco Unified School District. During this time she also pursued a Master’s Degree in San Francisco State University with a focus on deafness, hearing loss and cochlear implants. Following completion of her studies, Ciara joined the staff at the Auditory-Oral School of San Francisco. She has 12 years experience and provides individual auditory training and speech-language therapy to students ranging in age from 18months to 7years. In addition, she works with youth and adults pre and post cochlear implant and is a member of the UCSF Douglas Grant cochlear implant team.
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Lisa Herlicy earned a Bachelor's degree in Communicative Disorder's, a Master's degree in Special Education in 2002 (emphasis in deaf and hard of hearing) and an Education Specialist Credential in 2003 (emphasis in deaf and hard of hearing) at San Francisco State University in San Francisco. During her studies while training as an Teacher of the Deaf at the Auditory-Oral School of San Francisco she worked with families and students as a grief counselor facilitating student groups in Kindergarten-8th grade in a general education setting also working as a teacher's aide in the second and third grade classrooms. In 2004 she began providing services as an itinerant teacher on the staff of the Auditory-Oral School serving elementary school children. In 2005 she began teaching the PreKindergarten auditory-oral classroom and then moved to the Kindergarten-2nd grade auditory-oral classroom where she teaches currently. Her family has a long history of profound hearing loss and she wants to enable people with hearing loss to be successful and happy communicators. Her son is a Senior in College who will graduate this year.
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Kristi Petree, M.E.D., CED received a dual degree in Elementary Education (P-5) and Deaf Education (P-12) from Eastern Kentucky University. She pursued her Master's Degree in Deaf Education, with a focus on auditory-oral education, at Smith College where she worked daily with the students at Clarke School for the Deaf as a student teacher. Her post graduate credits allowed her to receive a certificate for Educational Consulting for Children with Cochlear Implants from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Clarke School for the Deaf, and Smith College. Prior to joining the team at the Auditory-Oral School of San Francisco, Kristi worked at Clarke School for the Deaf where she performed one on one auditory-oral therapy, provided home visits for parents and children in early intervention ages birth to three and was a preschool teacher. Currently, she teaches in the preschool auditory-oral classroom, provides educational consulting for children with cochlear implants who are in regular education settings, and offers aural rehabilitation services for youth and adults with cochlear implants. She is dedicated to teaching deaf and hard of hearing children listen and speak and believes the parents/guardians are an intricate part of this team.
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Marcy Satzberg, M.S. CCC-SLP is a licensed and certified speech/language pathologist. She obtained her Master’s degree on the east coast at Temple University. Marcy has been working in our Auditory/Oral school for deaf or hard of hearing since1992. She provides individual auditory training and speech/language therapy to children in our school program varying in age from 18 months to pre-teen. She also is a member of the UCSF Douglas Grant Cochlear Implant team. Pre cochlear implant evaluations and post implant treatment is provided to children and adults.
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