Staff

Marcia Sherman (Director) received her BA from Yale University and her MD from Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  Currently she practices internal medicine with Summit Medical Group, serves as Medical Director of Juniper Assisted Living in Chatham and as a consultant on the staff of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  She is the mother of three sons, one with autism spectrum disorder, and has been involved with Spectra Academy since 2008.

Alev Erdi (treasurer) received her doctorate degree in Biomedical Engineering from George Washington University (GWU). Her research interest has been medical imaging/treatment of cancer and she has done research and published many articles at GWU and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  She continued her career to excel in management and  worked as Software manager at Rudolph Technologies Inc. for seven years. Alev has two sons, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. Her son’s diagnosis of autism motivated her to investigate avenues to improve his condition. Her life-long goal is to teach the children in the spectrum the necessary social/life-skills to reach their maximum capacity.  In 2007, she established Spectra Academy and worked as Director for three years. Lately, she  has been mentoring YoBotics FIRST Lego League and Piotech FIRST Robotics teams in order to introduce  youth to robotics design and real-life science research, consistent with the vision of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) since 2009.  Currently, Alev is working as a real estate investor and  agent in Essex, Passaic and Bergen counties. 

Patricia Kennedy Calvo (Board Member) received her BS in Business Management from St. Peters College. Patti is a 25 year veteran of the NY Precious Metals trading market. Currently working for Metalico, Inc, she is the Manager of Administration for the catalytic converter recycling unit, managing precious metal sales, contract negotiation and operational and financial analysis for two subsidiaries in NJ and Texas. As a senior member of the Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation, she weaves the values and practice of martial arts into her and her family’s daily lives. She is the mother of a teenage girl whose singular and resilient character includes a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome.  Patti’s dedication to the communal necessity to embrace the realities of autism have lead to collaboration with Aspen, Autism NJ, SingSOS, The Simpson Baber Foundation for the Autistic, Hudson County Autism Parent Support group (Moderator), Bayonne NJ SEPAC and Spectra Academy (Board Member) since 2007.

Lynn Glantz (Board Member) is a retired NYC teacher and staff developer. She has been an adjunct professor at Adelphi University in the Education department teaching Literacy courses for regular and special education in the primary and middle grades. Lynn also worked at Nassau Community College as an adjunct in the English Language Institute teaching literacy proficiency courses.  Presently Lynn  co-owns K&K Trophy Mart, a trophy and awards business in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. She has two children and her son has autism.

Artist/Educators