María Alejandra Bonilla Venegas
Mobile: -
Email:-Nationality: Colombian
Age: 37
Marital Status: Married and one year old son
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alejandra-bonilla-venegas-a7b64a25
Profile Summary
Colombian Bilingual Psychologist (English Level IELTS: C1) graduated from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
(Master on Clinical Psychology) and MSc on Developmental Psychology (University College London) Wide
experience as Child and adolescent clinical psychologist, making evaluation, diagnosis and interventions. I
have experience in early childhood screening and I have skills and knowledge on child development
essential for proper intervention for children, but for parents, and teachers. During past 10 years I have
apply clinical knowledge into educational contexts, which has given me the opportunity to work with
teachers and their students, supporting children in their social and affective development and in that way
contribute to an effective learning process. I have always like teamwork, and I´m open to learn from other
professionals, and contribute with my knowledge to a better class environment and to strategies on how
to develop the children potential, abilities and strengths.
Key Skills
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
6 years of experience as Child and adolescent Clinical Psychologist in private practice
10 years of experience in working as preschool and elementary counsellor on bilingual
schools
Knowledge and proficiency on applying child development evaluation
Experience on psychological evaluation and intervention inside schools.
Experience working on interdisciplinary teams (language therapists and occupational
therapists)
Ability and empathy to engage with parents, teachers and students
Resourceful and creative when trying to solve any situation presented in daily activities.
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, in English and Spanish
Public speaking prowess
Employment History
Primary counselor, Colegio Los Nogales (Bogotá, Colombia)
(August 2016-Actually)
Main responsibilities:
o
o
Individual follow up of each of the students that had been in need of emotional or academic support.
Through the appliance of childhood development standardized tests being able to identify the child who
needs a special support.
o
o
o
o
o
Arrange Meetings with parents and support team to make a proper orientation or remission
according to the difficulties that the child has shown.
Guide teachers on how to adapt classroom activities to the special needs in children with learning
and socioemotional challenges.
Plan and create proper workshops on social development for children, guiding teachers to apply
them on the groups
According to class observations, report to preschool director, what has been observe in classroom
dynamics and give some suggestions on how to improve them, and how to support children to be
more successful learners, with the help of the teachers.
Ongoing research project of accommodations review through all schools levels, in order to describe
and analyze how to become a more inclusive and diverse school starting from adequate classroom
practices.
Head teacher, The Meadows Bilingual preschool, Santiago (Chile)
(March 2016– July 2016)
Main responsibilities:
o Develop academic planning according to PYP methodology
o Create daily lesson plans to teach social and academic skills, through play and different
experiences
o Introduce phonics learning to help children develop language skills
o Attend to basic needs of children, but also encourage them to be independent and to recognize his
abilities.
o Maintain a continue and assertive communication with parents
o Prepare students for kindergarten by helping them on strengthening their fine and gross motor
skills, following instructions and routine, and help them to improve social-emotional skills.
Primary Counselor, Knightsbridge School International, Bogotá (Colombia)
(February 2015 – June 2015)
Main responsibilities:
o
o
o
o
o
o
Individual follow up of each of the students that had been in need of emotional or academic support.
Through the appliance of childhood development standardized tests being able to identify the child who
needs a special support.
Arrange Meetings with parents and support team to make a proper orientation or remission
according to the difficulties that the child has shown.
Guide teachers on how to adapt classroom activities to the special needs in children with learning
challenges.
According to class observations, report to preschool director, what has been observe in classroom
dynamics and give some suggestions on how to improve them, and how to support children to be
more successful learners, with the help of the teachers.
Plan and create proper workshops on social development for children, guiding teachers and
parents to apply them and helping them to understand what child responses to different activities
could mean. All the workshops based on PYP methodology and principles.
Elementary Counsellor, Gimnasio Fontana, Bogotá (Colombia)
(August 2012 – January 2015)
Main responsibilities:
o
o
o
o
Individual follow up of each of the students that had been in need of emotional or academic support.
Arrange Meetings with parents and support team to make a proper orientation or remission
according to the difficulties that the child has shown.
Guide teachers on how to adapt classroom activities to the special needs in children with learning
and socioemotional challenges.
According to class observations, report director, what has been observe in classroom dynamics and
give some suggestions on how to improve them, and how to support children to be more successful
learners, with the help of the teachers.
o
Developing prevention and treatment plans for students and families in need.
o
Parent conferences about different topics related to upbringing child and their socioemotional
education.
Admissions Officer and elementary counselor, Montessori British School, Bogotá
(Colombia)
(November 2010 – June 2012)
Main responsibilities as Admissions Officer:
o Give complete information to the parents about the school and admission procedures
o Set appointment to the school tours
o Coordinate appointments with parents for admissions testing
o Interview the families that are applying to get their child into school.
o Analyze their family dynamics, parent’s skills, verbal and nonverbal behavior during the
interview, and give a concept about them to the admissions committee.
o Supervision of the psychologists that apply the academic and psychological test from elementary
to high school students.
o Apply and analyze results of McCarthy test of students applying to preschool.
o Communicate admissions committee decision to the families
Main responsibilities as elementary counselor:
o
o
o
o
o
Individual follow up of each of the students that had been in need of emotional or academic support.
Through the appliance of childhood development standardized tests being able to identify the child who
needs a special support.
Arrange Meetings with parents and support team to make a proper orientation or remission
according to the difficulties that the child has shown.
Guide teachers on how to adapt classroom activities to the special needs in children with learning
and socioemotional challenges.
According to class observations, report to preschool director, what has been observed in classroom
dynamics and give some suggestions on how to improve them, and how to help children to be more
successful learners, with the help of the teachers.
Education
Child protection Certificate. Child Protection for International Schools. TES.
(October of 2022)
Master Degree in Clinical Psychology/Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota, Colombia)
(August 2012 – June 2014)
MSc Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology/University College London (UK, London)
(September 2009 – September 2010)
Psychology Bachelor’s degree/Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota, Colombia)
(August 2003 – June 2008)
References
References on request.
