As a behavior analyst at ACES Village School in North Haven, Meredith Phelps's number-one priority is creating a fair, positive atmosphere among her staff and students-and making sure her presence is always known.

"I don't care what my title is-if you need me to help and jump in, that's totally fine. I wouldn't event think twice about it," she says.

The Guilford resident grew up in Old Lyme and attended Wheaton College in Massachusetts. She's worked as a research assistant, on projects at Tufts Medical Center for Children with Special Needs, and at the New England Center for Children. She earned her master's in applied behavior analysis.

Meredith began working at ACES in August of this year and was happy to come back to Connecticut. Working in the Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention program at the school can be challenging, but her ability to be patient helps her succeed at her position.

The best part of her job, she says, is watching the young children with special needs succeed. Making sure she celebrates their achievements is important to Meredith-she doesn't hold back her excitement when a child does something he or she has been working on and even organizes classroom parties for the students to acknowledge those successes.

"I love those kids. They don't cease to amaze me every day. My favorite is celebrating with a student when they know they've accomplished something," she says. "I love to embrace that moment and say, 'Nice work,' even if it's the simple things."

Although she has only been working there for a few months, Meredith helped implement ethics in the new staff-training program. She wanted to make sure she and the staff knows the importance of educating themselves on ethical dilemmas that may pop up in this career.

Working with special needs children has been something Meredith always considered doing. Growing up, her mother worked in a pediatric office. There, Meredith was given the chance to work with a young autistic boy, helping his mother out as much as possible. It was then that Meredith knew she wanted to focus her career on making a difference.

"That summer I worked with the boy, who was about four. Back then there was a lack of services and it spiked my interest," she says.

Meredith says it's nice to be back in Connecticut, where most of her immediate family lives. She spends time with her siblings and fiancé Stephen. The two plan to get married in August and love spending time with their dog. Having grown up on the beach, she frequently collects sea glass and enjoys being close to the Sound, where her parents live.

Meredith spends much of her day interacting with parents, coworkers, and children. She says she is rarely at her desk because she wants to get to know each student and let her staff know she will always be around to assist them.

"The key thing is just letting them know that I genuinely appreciate what they're doing, day in and day out," Meredith says. "Every day I don't leave without saying, 'Thank you' because I feel like it's really important."