Schenectady City School District

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Anna Brady is a Mental Health Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (Across the Lifespan) who works with Schenectady City School District students and their families to provide clinical psychiatric services. Anna is nationally board-certified and licensed in the state of New York, her professional privileges include diagnoses, medication management services, and administration of psychotherapy. Anna believes in person-centered, family-focused, community-based, culturally sensitive, and collaborative care approaches to promoting mental health across the lifespan. Anna is a graduate of Schenectady City Schools and secured her position as team leader of the School-Based Crisis Prevention Team in January 2018. Anna holds a Master of Science in Nursing from The Sage Colleges.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Laura DaPolito, LCSW-R, has been a professional social worker serving Schenectady the past 25 years. For the past 15 years, she has been a school social worker at Central Park Middle School, Schenectady High School, and most recently at Ready to Learn, the district's innovative day treatment program for children in early elementary school. Laura has also worked at Four Winds Saratoga, Northern Rivers, and in a private practice. Specializing in trauma work, Laura has extensive training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, family system work, and risk assessment. She also trains TCIS district wide and is currently the TCIS team leader. Laura is a therapy dog handler for Therapy Dogs International, and has two golden retrievers, Eleanor Roosevelt and Truman, who work alongside her to help children and families regain hope and health.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Laura Colón Feliciano is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker as well as a Certified School Social Worker at Schenectady City School District. She is fully bilingual and speaks Spanish and English with native proficiency. Laura has worked with children and families of all backgrounds in New York State since 2009. She earned her Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Albany and has since dedicated her work to serving clients in need.

Laura approaches her work from a culturally sensitive perspective based on a personal strengths approach and through a lens informed by experienced trauma. What does that mean exactly? In a few words, it means that she focuses on the beauty of diversity and on discovering and taking advantage of the skills already forged by lived experience, those which one already brings with oneself because, believe it or not, we all have something that we love, something that makes us strong, even in the midst of adversity.

Laura’s firm position is that children and adults should be valued as the experts that they are in their own lived experiences. With this in mind, her goal is to help children and adolescents learn how to help themselves. She works from a person-centered perspective that uses vulnerability, authenticity, empathy, and unconditional positive regard to help the people she works with safely explore stressors and other life circumstances that may negatively impact one’s sense of peace and well-being. The goal is to help the student find effective strategies to help them achieve a balanced, happy and healthy life.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Kelli Schuhl earned her Master of Social Work from the University at Albany. For the past 22 years she has devoted her career to working as a school social worker with children, adolescents and their caregivers. Kelli has been with the Schenectady City School District since 2013. During this time she has provided individual counseling, group counseling, and parenting groups to meet the diverse needs of the students and families within the community. In 2021 Kelli joined the School District’s Crisis Prevention Team. She provides a non-judgmental, compassionate, strengths based, and student centered approach and utilizes CBT, DBT, and mindfulness approaches to help her students improve their emotional wellbeing. Kelli also works part time for Samaritan Counseling Center providing therapeutic services to children, teens and adults.

Office Manager
Nichele Darby has had first-hand experience of how mental health can affect black families, when she lost her son and niece to suicide within a two-year period. This experience and her willingness to heal, led her to become the Chair for the AFSP Out of Darkness Walks in Schenectady and later a member of the board for Capital Region Chapter for American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Nichele has 11 years of experience leading support groups for adults, teens, and youth providing preventative support to students in the Schenectady City School District and the surrounding communities. She is a community advocate for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention for individuals in black and brown communities, a member of the board for Hometown Health Centers, and a member of the NYS Black Youth Suicide Prevention Workgroup. These experiences give her a rich understanding of how black and brown communities are being affected by mental health, making her a strong and passionate advocate for illness prevention through mental health awareness. Nichele works with SCSD students, families, and staff to support mental healthcare access, and acts as the office manager for the Crisis Prevention team.