Bonnie Brown has been a career educator with special needs youngsters for over thirty years.  As the Superintendent of District 75 in the New York City Department of Education, she is responsible for 23,000 severely challenged students with cognitive, physical, social and emotion issues. In her years in education, she has worked for the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, and served as a Funded Programs Administrator, Director of Personnel, Director of Operations and a Principal in the NYC Department of Education.

Her pedagogical knowledge coupled with her expertise in navigating the education systems infrastructure has allowed her to have a wide perspective on many issues. She is committed to bringing Emotional Intelligence principles into schools to facilitate improved climate and culture that foster student achievement, staff motivation and transform schools into a safe harbor for all constituents.

Under her leadership, numerous initiatives were implemented which focused on character education, social-emotional learning, and positive behavior supports for students manifesting challenging behaviors that interfere with learning. She designed the S.T.O.P.P. (Strategies, Techniques, Options Prior to Placement) to identify general education students who are at high risk for referral to special education in a more restrictive environment. Using a psycho-social approach administrators and teachers are taught how to view student behavior in context, perform functional behavior analyses and work with families to design behavior intervention plans. Her commitment to assist children/families in receiving clinical wraparound services and family support and respite care has been supported by her relationship with the New York State’s  Department of Mental Health. She has done extensive work in agency related programs both in day and residential treatment facilities.

Her commitment to being a lifelong learner has led to collaborations with Yale University, Hunter College, Pace University,  Cornell University and with national experts in the field of positive behavior supports and initiatives. Ms. Brown is a contributing editor to Education Update, sits on the education panel of the NYU Child Study Center and guest lectures on Special Education in various colleges and universities throughout the tri-state area. She holds an M.S. in School Administration form NYU, An M.S. in Special Education from Brooklyn College and a B.A. in English Literature from Brooklyn College. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Bonnie Brown
Superintendent, D. 75
400 First Avenue Rm. 82
New York, NY 10010

Tel: 212-802-1503
Fax: 212-802-1678