Jennifer Ganz, M.A./CAS, NCSP

Jennifer Ganz is a nationally certified school psychologist and an advocate for all children. Jennifer started her career as a teacher and has 15 years of service working with pre-kindergarten to high school-aged students in public school districts on the East Coast. She completed her graduate studies and took her first position as a school psychologist in the Dominican Republic. For the past decade, Jennifer’s work has largely focused on supporting the complex needs of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.

 

Jennifer has published articles and presented to varied audiences at both the local and national levels on topics ranging from resilience to counseling techniques to self-care. She is a partner in Youth SPRING Collaborative, which aims to support teachers and parents as they help children cultivate skills like self-regulation and emotional control. As coordinator for the Project Mickey Humane Education Program, Jennifer has a passion for combining animal-assisted interventions and social-emotional learning (SEL). The innovative curriculum, co-designed and facilitated by Jennifer, uses social-emotional competencies to teach skills like empathy and safe pet interactions to students of all ages. With Charm, her retired racing Greyhound and Canine Good Citizen, by her side, Jennifer brings a unique skillset of using animal-assisted therapy to Mzima. 

 

Jennifer is trained in a range of interventions including Mindful Schools, the Zones of Regulation, Crisis Prevention Institute, Social Thinking, Happy Teacher Revolution, and Child Mind Institute’s Trauma Treatment Groups in Schools. Additionally, for the past five years, she has led urban school professionals in the exploration and implementation of a trauma-informed approach via multi-tiered training and courses.

 

Jennifer graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Elementary Education from East Carolina University and a M.A. and Certificate of Advanced Study in School Psychology from Towson University. Currently, she is pursuing certification from the International Institute for Animal Assisted Play Therapy.