It is my pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Jeff Almonaitis. I have had the opportunity to work with Jeff on several occasions over the past 5 years, as a consultant working in his school district and as a Student Teaching Supervisor at Long Island University's Riverhead Campus. Based on my experiences with him during our work with mutual students and teacher candidates, I hold Jeff in the highest esteem.
In my opinion, Jeff's compassion for students with disabilities is one of the most important aspects of his character. In my observations while working in both roles, Jeff's support for students with disabilities in particular was evident in his focus on providing individual supports while embracing the unique individuals that he was guiding. He cares for each of his students as individuals and embraces them as they are, as was evident in his interactions with both his students and his student teachers.
When I first began working with Jeff, he was the teacher of a first-grade general education classroom. From the beginning of my time in his room, I was consistently impressed by Jeff's implementation of proactive management strategies that allowed his class of young students to take ownership in the classroom and begin to be self-directed learners. Jeff used strategies established in education research that I do not often see in practice outside of our pedagogical coursework. Jeff's classroom is a testament to the ways implementation of evidence-based practices can support individual student agency, even for very young learners.
In terms of behavior supports for the individual students we worked with, Jeff reliably implemented individualized, evidence-based strategies prior to the start of my interventions. When a student needed support beyond Tier 1 and 2 strategies, we worked collaboratively to adjust established systems to increase students' access to education in their least restrictive environment. Jeff and I shared a mutual respect for one another's contributions to his students' success, and I was always welcomed into his classroom.
At my request, Jeff hosted LIU Riverhead student teachers in his 5th grade classroom in Spring 2024 and Spring 2025. He maintained frequent communication with them and with me to support their individual development as teacher candidates. As he does with his elementary students, Jeff welcomed and embraced our student teachers with disabilities and supported them in developing individualized strategies to help them experience success as future teachers.
One of those student teachers required a high level of support from both of their cooperating teachers, and an intensive support plan was needed to address areas of weakness across multiple areas of teacher competency. Jeff worked with us to develop a written plan for more intensive supports related to planning, differentiation, management and professional teaching responsibilities. He spent a considerable amount of time working closely with our team — far more support than is typically required of cooperating teachers — including hosting the student teacher for a longer period than initially requested. With his continuous and intensive support, the student teacher was able to make progress and meet the benchmarks required to obtain a second student teaching placement.
In all my work with him across classrooms and roles, Jeff has maintained a focus on creating a classroom environment that supports each member of his classroom and I am happy to provide this recommendation.
