The Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Center was founded in 2013, and exists in the national context described by:

To further Dawn Hochsprung’s legacy, the Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Graduate Fellowship was established — an award for advanced scholarly research in the areas of mental health and/or school safety. Doctoral students in Sage’s Educational Leadership program who are completing their dissertation are eligible to apply.

The Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Center for the Promotion of Mental Health and School Safety at Russell Sage College is pleased to announce the 2024 recipient of the Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Doctoral Fellowship is Janine Tubiolo.

Tubiolo is a candidate in the Russell Sage Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership. She is the Founding Principal of PS 469- The Bronx School for Continuous Learners, Bronx, New York. Her doctoral research is titled, “Those Kids…or Those Leaders? How the decision-making and accountability measures of educational leaders influence personnel perceptions of underperforming students who experience trauma in K-12 educational settings.” Her dissertation emphasizes educational leadership’s accountability measures for shifting personnel’s perceptions and mindsets of underperforming students who experience trauma in various K-12 educational settings in the northeast region of the United States.

Tubiolo’s active vision and mission for teaching, learning, and leadership, “Leading and Educating by Knowing, Doing and Being!” laid the foundation and cemented the school’s name for The Bronx School for Continuous Learners from when their doors opened in September 2014. The B.S.C.L, built “from the ground up with one shovel and a few sets of hands,” focuses on providing an individualized approach to learning anchored in social-emotional learning and core academics side-by-side, where students and adults feel safe, secure, and supported in their journeys as learners and leaders. They are now a Kindergarten through High School family for over 600 students and families and over 400 team members across District 7, 9 and 10 in The Bronx. Additionally, Tubiolo is a 2012 TARA Research Program cohort member, and a certified trainer with Cornell University’s Therapeutic Crisis Intervention – Schools Edition (TCI-S).

The Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Center for the Promotion of Mental Health and School Safety Doctoral Fellowship was established in 2021 in honor of Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung. Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and a member of Cohort 6 of Russell Sage College’s Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership. On December 14, 2012, she and 25 others were victims of one of the nation’s most tragic school shootings. The mission of the center is to explore, develop and share solutions that promote the mental health of each child and safe learning environments for all children.

The Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Doctoral Fellowship is a monetary award to honor advanced scholarly research in the areas of mental health and/or school safety by doctoral students that is part of their dissertation for a doctoral degree at Russell Sage College. Students in the Educational Leadership doctoral program at the Esteves School of Education are eligible and may apply as an individual or a team.

December 14, 2022

10 Years after Sandy Hook, The Hochsprung Center at Russell Sage College’s Esteves School of Education Continues the Legacy of Beloved Principal  The Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Center for the Promotion of Mental Health and School Safety has announced a five-part webinar series in partnership with health care professionals. The series, which begins in January and runs through May 2023, will feature pairs of education and health care leaders discussing their collaborative efforts to support student mental health and safe schools.  Experts from Sage’s Esteves School of Education and School of Health Sciences, Albany Med Health Systems, Saratoga Hospital, Saratoga Community […]

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Russell Sage College posthumously honored Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, a member of Sage’s doctoral program in Educational Leadership. Dawn was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where she and 25 others lost their lives on December 14, 2012 in one of the nation’s most tragic school shootings. Dawn is remembered by her faculty and peers as a vibrant, dedicated, and caring educator and administrator who inspired students and colleagues alike. A memorial fund was established in her honor at Sage and the Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Center for the Promotion of Mental Health and School Safety was created within the Esteves School of Education. To recognize her achievements and passion for education, in 2015 Sage conferred the Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) upon Dawn with her fellow members of her academic cohort.

It is a responsibility shared by all to ensure our schools are places where children and the adults who work with them are safe to learn and grow. Our vision is inspired by the life of Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, the 2012 principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. By honoring her sacrifice, we work to advance her legacy.

The Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Center for the Promotion of Mental Health and School Safety will explore, develop and share solutions that support the mental health of each child and safe school environments to maximize opportunities for teaching and learning.