Arizmendi Lopez de Victoria, Sylvia M.

Kassandra Aristide graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. and teaching certification in Elementary and Special Education from DeSales University. Kassandra earned her Juris Doctorate from Quinnipiac University where she served on the Executive Board of the Student Bar Association at QUSL, was the founder and President of the Education Law Society. In addition, she served on the Executive Board for the Public Interest Law Society, and was the recipient of the James DeFonce Memorial Scholarship for advocacy and community service for children with special needs. Kassandra has also impacted the community during her law school career by organizing and hosting a Question and Answer Session and Panel Discussion on Special Education Law for parents of children with special needs; founding "Girls Haven," a mentoring program at Fair Haven Middle School; and volunteering as a track coach for Hyde Leadership High School.

Kassandra began her career in special education law as an associate attorney at the King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul law firm in Bethlehem where she represented various local school districts in special education litigation. While at KingSpry, Kassandra frequently presented at seminars and teacher in-service trainings on a variety of special education law topics. She was a presenter for Lorman Education Services for the seminar entitled "Discipline of Students with Special Needs" while at KingSpry. Kassandra left KingSpry to join the Law Office of Thomas D. Aristide in order to pursue her true passion of advocating for the legal rights of children with disabilities.

Kassandra organized and presented the continuing legal education seminar "A General Practitioner's Guide to Special Education Law" through the Northampton County Bar Association. She also presented at a seminar session of the Lehigh University Special Education Symposium "When Two World's Collide: The IDEA and Juvenile Justice." Kassandra is a repeat presenter at the Northampton County Community College's "People's Law School" program on the topic of special education law. Kassandra has presented a number of seminars at The Arc of Lehigh and Northampton Counties, some of which include: "Least Restrictive Environment and Classroom Placement for Students with Disabilities"; Open Forum on Special Education Law"; and "Understanding and Using 504 Plans for Children with Disabilities."

Currently, she is a speaker at local area high schools through the "Learning For Life" program that is sponsored by the Boy Scouts, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Literacy Center of the Lehigh Valley. Within the Northampton County Bar Association, Kassandra is the Chair of Solo Practitioner Committee, and is a member of the Pro Bono, Young Lawyer's Division, and Workers' Compensation Committees.

Kassandra served on the Board of Directors for the Literacy Center of the Lehigh Valley for over two years. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees for the Bethlehem YMCA. She is also an avid runner frequently competing in marathons, half-marathons and local road races. Kassandra volunteers for the "Girls on the Run International Program," and was a committee member and organizer of charity 5K run/walk to raise money for a child with a terminal illness.