Staff
The Center has experts and affiliates who are dedicated to campus safety. We can be available to schools and organizations to provide consultation and training.
Director: Amery E. Bernhardt, D.M.
Phone: 203-837-3210
Email: Bernhardta@wcsu.edu
Dr. Bernhardt brings his passion for school safety and collaboration to the Center. He is the inaugural Director and was appointed in January of 2022. Through a spirit of collaboration, he has partnered with many agencies and school districts to build a solid and effective organization.
Before joining the Center, Dr. Bernhardt served in the Westchester County Department of Public Safety where he coordinated the School Resource Officer Program. He holds a Master’s degree in Homeland Security and a Doctor of Management degree with a concentration in Homeland Security. His thesis focused on school safety, and he completed a dissertation focusing on multidisciplinary school threat assessment teams.
Dr. Bernhardt has extensive experience in all the phases of emergency management. He received his Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) designation from the International Association of Emergency Managers, and has published several articles on school safety and multidisciplinary response. His ability to strategically combine critical thinking into diverse ideas brings integrative solutions to school safety.
In addition, Dr. Bernhardt is certified to teach both the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) PREPaRE Curriculum as well as teach the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.
Secretary: Mary Pupazzoni
Phone: 203-837-8915
Email: Pupazzonim@wcsu.edu
Mary Pupazzoni is the Department Secretary for the Connecticut Center for School Safety and Crisis Preparation. In this position, Mary provides administrative support for the team. She serves as the primary contact for the department. Mary assists with the coordination of various activities, meetings, conferences, and workshops. Prior to her position at the Center, she served as an Executive Assistant for both corporate and non-profit organizations. Mary holds a B.S. in Elementary Education from Pace University.
Faculty Sponsor: Gabriel I. Lomas, Ph.D.
Phone: 203-837-8512
Email: Lomasg@wcsu.edu
Dr. Lomas has a deep understanding of broad aspects of campus safety rooted in both training and practice. He has published in the field of crisis management and recovery and developed and led the Western Connecticut Regional Team since 2014. He is able to speak on team organization, trauma-informed care, managing the aftermath of school crises, and other topics in school safety. Dr. Lomas serves on several state committees relevant to school safety. Dr. Lomas is fluent in American Sign Language and has expertise in psychological evaluation and treatment, especially with deaf people. Dr. Lomas is the former program coordinator for the Clinical Mental Health program at WCSU. He is certified to teach both the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) PREPaRE Curriculum as well as teach the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.
Regional School Safety Coordinator: Sadie Witherspoon, M.S.
South Central Region of CT, in Partnership with ACES
Phone: 203-733-9439
Email: Witherspoons@wcsu.edu
Sadie joined the Center in 2022 due to her increased concern for students to thrive in a healthy and safe school environment. She has served and continues to serve on numerous councils, committees, and boards in New Haven dedicated to improving education, well-being, and safety of students. Sadie received her master’s degree in Human Services with a concentration in clinical mental health counseling. She received trainings in Restorative Practices, and Digital Threat Assessment, FEMA Incident Command System and is a trained Tobacco Treatment Specialist. She is certified to teach both the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) PREPaRE Curriculum as well as teach the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.
Regional School Safety Coordinator: Kimberly Myers, Ed.D.
North Central Capitol Region of CT, in Partnership with CREC
Phone: 203-456-5347
Email: Myersk@wcsu.edu
Dr. Myers joined the Center in the fall of 2022 to continue following her passion for school safety, active shooter training, preparedness, and threat assessment. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Myers spent numerous years in the field of criminal justice/law enforcement and higher education serving most recently as the Director and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Public Safety & Security Programs at a University in Connecticut. Dr. Myers was a member of the university’s Threat Assessment and Student Behavioral Response Teams. She has published a dissertation focusing on preparedness and training procedures for responding to an active shooter situation on college and university campuses, journal articles, a book chapter as well as conference presentations. Dr. Myers holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Hartford, a master’s degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Public Administration from American International College, and a bachelor’s degree in Criminology with a minor in Psychology from Central Connecticut State University. She is certified to teach both the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) PREPaRE Curriculum as well as teach the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.
Regional School Safety Coordinator: Kiley Young, LCSW
Eastern Region of CT, in Partnership with LEARN and EASTCONN
Phone: 203-240-4867
Email: Youngki@wcsu.edu
Kiley joined the Center in the fall of 2022. Kiley’s recent experience is as a mental health therapist and a school social worker, and she has additional experience in community mental health, juvenile justice, therapeutic foster care, and disaster relief and preparedness. Kiley joins the Center with particular interest in trauma-informed practices, school climate, and mental health. She has been trained and acted as a trainer in various frameworks related to trauma-informed care, crisis prevention and response, and mental health intervention. Kiley holds a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Connecticut and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She is certified to teach both the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) PREPaRE Curriculum as well as teach the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.
Regional School Safety Coordinator: Tanya Iacono, DSW, LCSW
Western Region of CT, in Partnership with EdAdvance and CES
Phone: 203-456-5337
Email: Iaconot@wcsu.edu
Dr. Tanya Iacono joined the Center in January 2023. She is a licensed clinical social worker with nearly twenty years of experience working with youth involved with the juvenile justice system. Specifically, Dr. Iacono has worked closely with youth and their families to understand complex problems and identify the therapeutic needs to be addressed through treatment. She has specialized in assessing for acute and chronic psychiatric concerns, and how to best proceed with treatment interventions. Dr. Iacono has also engaged families in the process of assessing treatment needs that might involve the participation of family members in the intervention process. She has worked closely with youth who have diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), significant cognitive and intellectual limitations, depressive mood disorder, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders and other areas of concern that might be a disruption to the clients overall functioning. In addition to a long career working with the youthful offender population, Dr. Iacono has supervised a parenting education program, collaborated with community leaders to establish substance abuse prevention initiatives, and provided in-home services for families in need of counseling. For a period of time, she also provided psychiatric assessment and counseling in an acute psychiatric setting for those presenting with significant mental health risk factors. Outside of her evaluation and counseling roles, Dr. Iacono has been teaching at Sacred Heart University since 2004 as an adjunct psychology instructor, and has instructed courses at Southern Connecticut State University, Fordham University, and the University of Bridgeport. Dr. Iacono has taught a variety of human services courses which centered on subjects including critical thinking, substance abuse and chemical dependency, counseling approaches with special populations, and evidence-based treatment for at-risk youth. Dr. Iacono brings a powerful lens to school safety by focusing on youth mental health needs and successful interventions. She is certified to teach both the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) PREPaRE Curriculum as well as teach the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.
Founding Member: Paula Gill Lopez, Ph.D.
Email: Pgilllopez@fairfield.edu
Dr. Paula Gill Lopez is a Founding Member of the CT Center for School Safety and Crisis Preparation. She is an Associate Professor and school psychology program director in the School of Education and Human Development at Fairfield University. Her work in the area of school safety and crisis began while working as a school psychologist in Richmond, CA.
She co-wrote curriculum and conducted workshops in cultural awareness, anger management, conflict mediation, and gang violence prevention for the Human Relations Department. In May 2018, under the auspices of the CT Association of School Psychologists, she was charged with establishing the CT School Safety and Crisis Response Committee. She collaborated with Dr. Gabriel Lomas to garner support for state funding for a center to institutionalize their work. The statewide committee was eventually replaced by the CT Center for School Safety and Crisis Preparation and Dr. Gill Lopez remains active with the Center. She is a PREPaRE trainer. Her specialty is caring for the caregiver, which she has extensively written about and presented on statewide and nationally. She is also certified to teach the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines.