PORTSMOUTH — Lisa Colwell, the pupil personnel director for the Portsmouth School Department, has been named the 2018-2019 Special Education Director of the Year by the Association of Rhode Island Administrators of Special Education.

She has made numerous contributions to the field of special education over the past 25 years. Before taking on her current role, she was special education administrator for the Cumberland School Department for 10 years. 

She currently serves as the vice-president to ARIASE, is a coordinator of the mentoring program for new special education administrators, has been an adjunct professor at Rhode Island universities and currently serves as an adjunct professor in the School of Education at Peru State University in Nebraska. 

She has also served on the Roger Williams University Program Advisory Board for Special Education as well as many local and state committees related to leadership, educational initiatives and meeting the needs of students with disabilities. 

According to the Association of Rhode Island Administrators of Special Education, she is noted be a “compassionate and supportive leader who is an innovator in the field and stops at nothing to provide students with the best programs and supports possible.”