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Management

Management Team

  • Theodore H. Wilson III, Ph.D.
    Theodore H. Wilson III, PhD
    President and Executive Director

    Ted Wilson has been the president and executive director of Schools for Children since 1988. His long career in education includes nonprofit management, special education, social work, residential treatment, counseling, educational research, early childhood care and education and fundraising. At Schools for Children, Ted regularly nurtures new ideas and brings them to fruition.

    An active member of the Massachusetts education community, Ted has also served on the boards of the Massachusetts Association of 766-Approved Private Schools and the Cambridge Montessori School. He has been a member of several service clubs and task forces. He also coaches youth soccer.

    Before coming to Schools for Children, Ted directed the VFW National Home, a residential child care program in central Michigan with a 640-acre, 60 building campus, served on a local Board of Education and spent three years as an officer in the US Navy.

    Ted is a 1968 graduate of Yale and earned both an MEd (1973) and a PhD in (1979) from the University of Maryland. Ted is also certified as a Michigan social worker and holds a national certification as a fundraising executive. twilson@sfcinc.org

  • Dale Lemke
    Director of Finance and Operations

    Dale Lemke joined Schools for Children in 2007, first as a consultant and then took on his current position in 2009. Dale provides financial and operational leadership for our programs as well as to client schools. A resident of Winchester currently serving the town’s finance committee, Dale is also trustee of The Greenwood School in Putney, VT.

    Previously Dale worked in a variety of corporate settings where he specialized in strategic analysis and planning, financial operations and business process improvement. He has an MBA (1984) in finance and international business from Columbia University, an MA in international relations from Schiller University (1981) and a BS (1979) from Northwestern University. dlemke@sfcinc.org

  • Howard Rossman, PhD
    Director, Dearborn Academy

    Howard Rossman first joined the staff of Schools for Children in 1987 as the clinical director of Dearborn Academy. In 1991 he became Dearborn's executive director. During his tenure, Howard has worked to ensure that the school provides the highest quality services to students—a unique blend of academic and therapeutic programming—and to develop close working relationships with the many school districts we serve.

    Early in his career, Howard worked in public schools and mental health centers, and was a teaching fellow at Boston College. In addition to his work at Dearborn Academy, Howard has a private psychotherapy practice in Lexington, consults to public school programs and occasionally gives talks to schools and human service organizations. A 1967 graduate of Queens College, Howard also has an MA in history (1979 ) from Brandeis University and a PhD (1983) in counseling psychology from Boston College. hrossman@sfcinc.org

  • Deanne Benson
    Head of School, Lesley Ellis School

    Deanne Benson has led Lesley Ellis School's transformation from a Preschool-Grade 3 program to a Preschool–Grade 6 school. She came to Lesley Ellis School in 2001 following fifteen years at Nashoba Brooks School in Concord, MA where she was first a physical education teacher and then the Director of Admissions. A physical education teacher for more than 17 years, Deanne has worked at several different elementary schools throughout her career.

    Deanne earned her BA (1977) from North Park College in Chicago and an MEd (2000) in educational administration from Lesley University. She holds Massachusetts state certification as both a teacher and an administrator. Outside of Lesley Ellis, Deanne does her best to stay healthy by participating each summer in a triathlon. She also keeps a close eye on her daughter’s nationally competitive synchronized skating team. dbenson@sfcinc.org

  • Alex Tsonas
    Director, Seaport Academy

    Alex Tsonas joined Seaport Academy as school counselor in 1998 and two years later became Seaport's director. Alex's experience includes working as an assistant director in a residential program, a therapist for a home-based individual and family treatment agency, and as a counselor running substance abuse and anger management groups serving youths in Lynn. Alex has overseen Seaport's evolution from a small, 12-student program into a successful all-boys state-approved alternative high school serving 28 students, grades 8–12.

    An avid hiker and runner, Alex is currently preparing to take his LICSW licensing exam. He has a BA (1991) from Colgate College and an MA (1998) from Salem State College. atsonas@sfcinc.org

  • Mary Howard
    Director, The STEP Program

    Mary Howard has worked with children and families for more than two decades. An accomplished administrator, Mary worked in Program Quality Assurance Services as an educational specialist for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education before coming to Schools for Children. Before that she was admissions director and dean of students at the Gifford School in Weston. Her experience includes building highly effective administrative models that allow schools to focus on delivering the best educational services possible.

    A swimmer and an avid quilter, Mary also serves on as a trustee for the Women's Resource Center of Newport County, Rhode Island, and helped create and run Boston's Trinity Church's soup kitchen, which has been serving Boston's homeless for almost 25 years. Mary earned a BS (1980) from Tufts and an MEd (1983) from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. mhoward@sfcinc.org

  • Mark Dix
    Director, Dearborn High School

    Mark Dix has been with Schools for Children since 1988 after nine years as a co-director and teacher at the Clearway School in West Newton, MA.  Mark joined Dearborn Academy High School as education coordinator and became director of the High School in September of 1998. During Mark's directorship, Dearborn Academy has received a number of commendations from the Massachusetts Department of Education.

    Mark is certified in guidance counseling and moderate special needs. He has a BA (1971) and an MAT (1973) from Cornell University, and an MEd from the University of Massachusetts (1979). He also holds a certificate from the two year training program in Family Systems Therapy at the Boston Family Institute (1982). In addition to his work with Dearborn, Mark is co-author of Discovering AutoCAD, a college text book in continuous publication since 1988. mdix@sfcinc.org

  • Carol Cole
    Director, Dearborn Elementary

    With extensive experience working with special needs students in New York public schools, Carol Cole left New York for New England in 1975 to attend Lesley University. In 1976 she joined the faculty at Dearborn Academy. She started as a classroom teacher, became the resource room and 766 coordinator, then served as the education coordinator position and was promoted to director of Dearborn's elementary/ middle-school program in 1998. Under her leadership, the school has become a widely respected for its success in addressing language-based learning differences. Carol also helped enhance Dearborn's proven clinical and behavioral programs and transitioned a higher percentage of students back to public school programs.

    Carol has a BA from the SUNY Buffalo (1973) and a MEd (1976) from Lesley University and is certified in elementary education and moderate special needs and as a generic special education teacher. ccole@sfcinc.org