Philadelphia, PA -- November 29, 2012 -- Out
of growing concern for the issue of bullying both in the classroom and in the
community, Claudio V. Cerullo, Ph.D.
and a group of concerned educators, parents and friends established Teach Anti-Bullying (a 501 ( c ) (3)
non-profit organization) in late 2011.
Serving children and families who have been, or are being affected by,
bullying, Teach Anti-Bullying works
to raise awareness and support, while encouraging the collaboration of all
stakeholders – children, educators, parents, community leaders, law
enforcement, and local, state and federal legislators – in the pro-active
intervention against bullying as well as the prevention of bullying.
According
to recent research, more than 34 percent of U.S. students in classroom said
they have been bullied during the course of the school term. One out of four of those are in regular
education, while three out of four of those students are children with special
needs. In addition, 60 percent of those
students with disabilities are victimized.
A growing problem is Cyber Bullying, with 43 percent of
teens aged 10 through 18 years old reporting at least one instance of Cyber
Bullying, while 77 percent of teens reported that the Cyber
Bully was someone that they knew.
Dr.
Cerullo
brings over 20 years of professional experience in education to Teach Anti-Bullying. He has been extremely active in addressing
the great need for anti-bullying awareness, and prevention, nationwide, as a
result of parents asking him to help students that are being impacted
academically, socially and emotionally by this silent threat. Cerullo
founded Teach Anti-Bullying with
$10,000 of his own personal funds, in an effort to further help raise awareness
about what bullying really is, and how it can be prevented.
Prior
to founding Teach Anti-Bullying, Dr. Cerullo began his career in
education with six years of teaching in Social Science Education. His career has included positions as a school
principal (kindergarten through eighth grade); Director of Early Childhood
Education; Assistant Middle School Academic vice Principal; Assistant High
School vice Principal and Director of Athletics; and Interim Secondary
Charter School Principal.
Dr. Cerullo served as West
Chester University’s Coordinator of the Federal Grant GEAR UP Program in
partnership with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and the
School District of Philadelphia.
While
at the University of Delaware, Dr.
Cerullo served as the Director of the Delaware Mentoring
(DMC) Council, under a state grant in partnership with the Office of
Governor and Delaware Department of Education.
Internationally
recognized as an expert on the subject of Anti-Bullying,
Dr. Cerullo has provided many
workshops on issues regarding Classroom Management, Student Behavior
Modification, Character Education, and School Violence Prevention programs
K-12. He is interviewed regularly by
media outlets on the subject of Bullying
and Anti-Bullying, and is a gifted
public speaker on this topic of extreme interest to parents, educators and
legislators. He has written numerous
articles and books on the subject, and has lectured at many local, state, and
regional education forums and conferences.
Dr. Cerullo delivered the
keynote address at the State of Louisiana’s first Anti-Bullying Conference in
2012.
In
2005, Dr. Cerullo was invited to the
White House as an as an expert panel member in the areas of School Violence
Prevention.
As
an author, Dr. Cerullo has
contributed to educational videos on Bullying,
including “Bullying: Children with Special Needs” and “Teaching Anti-Bullying K-8” (both
released on video in December 2011.
His
book for parents, “Teaching
Anti-Bullying,” was released in December 2011 and earned special notice from
Sears and Team Up to Stop Bullying on their 2012 list of recommended Bullying Solutions books.
In May 2012, Dr. Cerullo’s second book on Anti-Bullying, “Stop Bullying Me,” was released to wide
acclaim. He is also the author of four
children’s books – “A Thankful Day”
released in 2009, “Isabella Goes to
Kindergarten” (2010), “Isabella’s
Rainy Day with her Friends” (2011) and “Isabella
Goes Back to School” (2011).
This fall, Dr. Cerullo collaborated on “TAB 1.0,” a new Bullying computer application for
school students, parents, and teachers to use in their classrooms. He will be publishing a book on Cyber Bullying early next year, and has
another book, “My Name is David, I have Autism and I was Bullied” to be
published in March 2013.
In addition, earlier this year Dr. Cerullo co-authored with learning expert Pat Wyman, ”Amazing Grades 101 Best Ways to Improve Your Grades Faster.” Cerullo’s chapter is entitled, “Bullying and How it Affects Academic Achievement.”
An
ardent advocate of developing safe school programs nationally. Dr. Cerullo continues to inspire many
young students, parents, school, and state officials in communities across the
country. He is also a champion for underrepresented youth and researches
ways to eliminate the academic inequities in their respective
classrooms. In 2009, Dr.
Cerullo partnered with Dr. John A. Williams, former Dean of Graduate
Studies at Cheyney University, to create a new Saturday Academic
Academy based in Philadelphia for at-risk students so they could
be better prepared for post-secondary education and not drop out of school.
Dr. Cerullo earned his Bachelor
of Arts degree in Social Science Education at Moravian College. He earned his Master’s
degree in Professional Elementary and Secondary Education (with a concentration
in Educational Administration) from East Stroudsburg University. Cerullo earned his Doctor of Philosophy
(Ph.D.) in Educational Leadership and Administration from American
University. He has continued his
professional development, focusing on Education Leadership and Urban Education,
at both West Chester University and Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education.
Among
his many professional accomplishments, Dr.
Cerullo served on former Delaware’s Governor Ruth Ann Minner’s Drop Out
Prevention Task Force in 2008. He provided leadership as a
member of his local School Board of Education from 1998 to 2001 and was
elected president of the board in his final year.
While
a faculty member at West Chester, Dr.
Cerullo served on former University President
Adler’s Special Interest Group from 2003 to 2006 and was recognized by Dr.
Adler with the Star Staff Status in 2007 for his Urban School Improvement work
with U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah (D) and Dr. Bill Cosby with the School
District of Philadelphia.
In
2005, Dr. Cerullo and West Chester
University received the Outstanding Service Award in Urban Education from the
School District of Philadelphia Board of Education. As Director of the
Delaware Mentoring Council, Dr. Cerullo
partnered with Mayor James Baker of the City of Wilmington in
establishing a new mentoring proclamation, the Wilmington Mentoring
Commission in 2009, to help promote youth mentoring and lower the high school
dropout rate to all at-risk youth within the City of Wilmington. The
participating school districts were: Red Clay, Christina, Colonial, and
Brandywine.
Dr. Cerullo is currently the
Vice-President of the Glen-Riddle Rotary International Club, a member of
the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, an Associate Member of the
Philadelphia Society of Clinical Psychologist, the Association for Elementary
and Secondary School Principals and the Knights of Columbus (St. Thomas the
Apostle Parish in Glen. Mills, PA).
Additional
information about Dr. Cerullo, and Teach Anti-Bullying, is available
online at http://drclaudiocerullo.com.