About Us

Policy Board

Brewster Central School District

Samantha Rivera
Maria Angulo Ferrufino

Carmel Central School District

Mike Coughlin: Chairperson
Nancy Cornell: Secretary

Putnam Valley School District

Christina Casey
Meaghan Boyle

Somers Central School District

Alison Scanlon
Brenda O’Shea: Vice Chairperson

Yorktown Central School District

Liz Brennan
Linnette Sanfardino

LEA Administrator Representative
Deirdre Amerling

Higher Education Representative
Erica Schacht, Ed.D, College of Westchester

Business Representative
Ifay Chang, Ph.D.

Parent Representative
Elaine Griffiths

Teacher Center Office Staff
John Badini: Director
Sue Sniffen: Assistant Director
Trish Harris

2024 -2025 Meeting Dates

October 17, 2024

December 12, 2024

March 6, 2025

April 24, 2025

June 5, 2025

All meetings will start at 4:30 PM at Somers High School Library.

About NWPTC

The Northern Westchester/Putnam Teacher Center has been operating successfully since 1984. The Center is a consortium that includes five public school districts and one college. Our center serves a total of 2,000 to 2,500 teachers, administrators, certified teacher assistants/aids and other staff members. These schools that we service are in two counties, Putnam and Westchester.

NWPTC provides professional development programs that address the needs of teachers, students, and districts. Research and assessment data is used to develop activities to improve student achievement. The programs offered at the Center have changed from selections based on board needs assessment documents to the specific request submitted by local professional/staff development teams in each district.

Putnam Valley Federation of Teachers logo
Somers Faculty Association logo
Carmel Teachers' Association logo
Yorktown Congress of Teachers logo
Brewster Teachers' Association logo
Union, Our Voice, Our Values logo

NWPTC Needs Assessment Form
2024-2025

Please complete this form to let us know what topics/courses you are interested in learning about and instructing! We can help you with course proposals and creation. Please complete this form to let us know what topics/courses you are interested in learning about and instructing! We can help you with course proposals and creation. 

NYS Teachers Centers logo

About NYS Teacher Centers

New York State’s Teacher and Computer Training Centers were established and funded by the New York Legislature in 1984 under NYS Education Law 316, that calls for the provision of systematic, ongoing professional education services to NYS teachers. A Policy Board composed of 51% teachers as well as representation from higher education, school boards, parents, administration and business professionals governs the Center. The requirement that teachers comprise the majority of the board reflects the founding principle behind teacher centers which is “teachers teaching teachers.”

Thanks to the lobbying efforts of NYSUT, we are the largest professional learning communities in NYS with approximately 125 Centers located throughout the state. While each Center has its own unique characteristics, all of them recognize that professional growth is integral to teachers’ work.

Each school year, NYS Teacher Centers apply for state funding to support the professional development needs of the teachers in our consortium. Since our funding is through a state appropriation that requires annual legislative approval, each year NYS Teacher Centers must submit a Continuation Application to the NYSED to request continued funding. The NYSED is the administrator of the grant and oversees disbursement of teacher center funds.