Professional Bio
Melissa Bilash is the Founder and Head of School at The Grayson School. She is a state-wide and nationally-recognized expert on educational practice and policy and has made it her life’s work that there should be no upper limit to what extraordinary children can learn.
As a federally-trained educational advocate, Ms. Bilash has received special Congressional recognition for her work, and has co-authored chapters in both the University of Denver Perspectives in Gifted Education: Legal Issues (Vol. 7), and the latest National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) Guide to State Policies in Gifted Education. For nearly two decades, she successfully gained access for countless families to meet the needs of their gifted children through her private advocacy practice, Advocacy & Consulting for Education (ACFE).
Ms. Bilash serves on the Board of Trustees for the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS), as an Advisory Board Member for Gifted Research and Outreach (GRO), and as Co-Chair of the NAGC Special Interest Group for the Profoundly Gifted. She has been honored twice by the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE) for her work in the field, and is proud to be a sought after speaker at national and international forums for gifted children, including the World Conference for Gifted and Talented Children, NAGC, Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) SPARK and SPLASH programs.
Ms. Bilash is guided by her view that any gifted child with dreams and visions for their future deserves to be taught something new every day, to have their questions answered, and to let their academic needs drive the scope of what they are being taught.
As a federally-trained educational advocate, Ms. Bilash has received special Congressional recognition for her work, and has co-authored chapters in both the University of Denver Perspectives in Gifted Education: Legal Issues (Vol. 7), and the latest National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) Guide to State Policies in Gifted Education. For nearly two decades, she successfully gained access for countless families to meet the needs of their gifted children through her private advocacy practice, Advocacy & Consulting for Education (ACFE).
Ms. Bilash serves on the Board of Trustees for the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS), as an Advisory Board Member for Gifted Research and Outreach (GRO), and as Co-Chair of the NAGC Special Interest Group for the Profoundly Gifted. She has been honored twice by the Pennsylvania Association for Gifted Education (PAGE) for her work in the field, and is proud to be a sought after speaker at national and international forums for gifted children, including the World Conference for Gifted and Talented Children, NAGC, Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) SPARK and SPLASH programs.
Ms. Bilash is guided by her view that any gifted child with dreams and visions for their future deserves to be taught something new every day, to have their questions answered, and to let their academic needs drive the scope of what they are being taught.
School/Organization
The Grayson School
Member Schools