Staff Spotlight: Raymond Dogans
Posted on 12/06/2022
Raymond Dogans and student






Staff Spotlight: Raymond Dogans

Raymond Dogans is the Coordinator of Behavior Support at Woodland School. An East Hartford Public Schools graduate himself, he relates deeply to the students in his building and works to give them the support they need to succeed.  

“When I started working over here, I felt like I needed to give back because I was a behavioral child,” said Dogans. “I felt like I always wanted to help.”

He began as a behavior manager, was later promoted to lead behavior manager, and became the Coordinator of Behavior Support this fall.

“His ability to relate to the students, to be flexible with the students and also to lead is why he was chosen as our Coordinator of Behavior Support,” explained Woodland Principal Licia McKnight.

His role includes supervising all of Woodland’s behavior managers, coordinating their schedules, and providing guidance to them as they’re working with students.

“Sometimes, you know, the kids get lively in here, but my job is to calm them down and just make them feel good about themselves, just make them feel loved. Sometimes they just need a little extra love or an extra push,” he said.

McKnight says Mr. Dogans is the “go-to” person in the building whenever any staff member needs help with behavior support. Staff members rely on him for his expertise.

She said, “Mr. Dogans has the ability to build relationships with almost every single person that he interacts with, and that’s particularly valuable here at Woodland because we pride ourselves on the foundation of building relationships with the students and building relationships with each other to create a nurturing environment.”

Dogan says building relationships with the kids comes easy to him.

“These kids here remind me of when I was younger so I can relate to them,” said Dogans. “I try to make this a safe place for them so they always feel comfortable, that they can always talk to me.”

Whether he’s connecting with them about what they’re going through at home, what sports teams they like or what’s going on around East Hartford, his goal is always to make their day better.

“I love the kids. I love talking with these kids, I love seeing the kids, I love being around the kids,” he said. “I want to see them be successful.”