Lauri Marchewka, LCSW, Executive Director
Lauri Marchewka is a licensed clinical social worker. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Maine, Orono, where she received her BA in Psychology. After earning her Master’s degree in Social Work from Boston University in 1988, she worked with adjudicated youth in Massachusetts for four years. She returned to Maine and worked for a mental health agency for one year before starting a day treatment program in a public school where she was program director for eight years. In 2000 she became co-founder of the Maine Special Education/Mental Health Collaborative.

John Stewart, Ph.D., Clinical Director
John Stewart is a licensed psychologist and nationally certified school psychologist and has over 20 years of experience working with emotionally disabled children within school settings. Dr. Stewart was co-founder of MSE/MHC, and at present he serves as Clinical Director of the Collaborative School and Out-Reach services, Clinical Director of Hastings Clinical Associates, training supervisor for the Department of Psychiatry-Child Psychiatry Residency at Maine Medical Center and as a consultant to many public school systems.

Cynthia Sortwell, M.D., Medical Director
Cynthia Sortwell is the Medical Director of the Collaborative School. She is board-certified in child psychiatry, pediatrics, and adult psychiatry, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Sortwell is a graduate of Washington University Medical School (1979). She received her medical training first in pediatrics in Rochester, NH, then in child psychiatry at St. Mary’s Neuropsychiatric Institute in San Francisco, CA, and then in adult psychiatry at the Maine Medical Center. She has worked with the staff and students of what is now the Collaborative School since 1997. She has more than twenty-five years of experience working with children and adolescents. She is also an attending physician for the psychiatric residency program at the Maine Medical Center and has a private practice in Portland, ME.

Ellen DeLuca, M.S., Education Director
Ellen DeLuca earned her Master’s Degree in Special Education at the University of Southern Maine. After teaching in a high school special education program for several years, she received certification in Special Education Administration. As Education Director at the Collaborative School, she is responsible for oversight of all educational programming, coordinating with the sending schools in the PET process, participating with local districts in their local assessment systems, and ensuring curriculum alignment with the Maine Learning Results.

Nicole Dennen, LCSW, Out-Reach Coordinator
Nicole Dennen serves as the Out-Reach Program Coordinator. Previously she was employed at Maine Medical Center, where she was involved in providing psychiatric consultation and ongoing therapy to children and families treated at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and the many outpatient facilities affiliated with Maine Medical Center. Nicole is a licensed clinical social worker who also maintains a private practice in Portland, Maine, where she specializes in the treatment of children and adolescents. Nicole has a special interest and background in work with autistic spectrum children and adolescents. Nicole welcomes inquiries regarding the Out-Reach Support Program and can be reached at 688-2253 or by email ndennen@collaborativeschool.org.

Karen Morrison, Business Manager
Karen Morrison graduated from Westbrook College with an Associate’s Degree in Medical Assisting and Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. Karen utilized her experience working in medical offices, public elementary schools and a school administrative district office before joining the Collaborative School in September 2000.