Meet Our Educational Consulting Team

Jason Robinovitz

Co-Owner/COO/General Counsel

Jason Robinovitz, the Chief Operating Officer of all Score At The Top Learning Centers, oversees each Center’s day-to-day operations, ensuring the delivery of top quality educational support and guidance services to client families. As team leader for our staff of more than 100 educators, Jason is in charge of strategic decision-making, including best practice policies, customer service, staffing, training, marketing, systems, and technology.

Jason is also involved in educational consulting services for college, boarding school, and law school clients. Meeting with students, Jason specializes in directing pre-law and future law-school students toward the extracurricular activities that will help position them for success. Skillfully guiding them through the application and essay process, Jason helps students distinguish themselves from the rest of the applicant pool. He also works with families seeking therapeutic placements for their children, identifying the “best fit” schools and programs for them and interfacing with these schools and programs to ensure successful placements.

As an active member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, and the Secondary School Admission Test Board, Robinovitz is part of a professional network of admission directors, educators, psychologists and other educational consultants. Additionally, Robinovitz is a founding member of the National Test Prep Association, the first non-profit industry group for test prep professional nationwide. 

Jason graduated from the University of Denver with a BSBA in Finance and concentrations in Real Estate and Leadership. Three years later, he graduated from Emory University School of Law with a concentration in business and corporate law. Jason practiced medical malpractice law for five years before joining Score At The Top. He is a member of the Florida Bar.

Jason is the son of Judi Robinovitz, founding owner of Score At The Top Learning Centers.

Ann LaFemina

Educational Consultant

Ann is a lifelong educator who began her career assisting college-bound students and their families in several Long Island, New York school districts. Ann supported her student's goals and aspirations as a teacher. As adjunct professor, Ann worked with undergraduate junior and senior education majors preparing for professional accreditation. Thus, Ann's earlier career was continually geared toward college-level and college-bound students. Her first direct encounter with college admissions came through experiences with her four children: "At the time, I didn’t feel confident that my children were getting the support warranted for their future." So, she acquired the necessary education to work in college admissions counseling.

After moving to southwestern Florida in 2008, Ann established a private consulting practice to work with students in all aspects of college admissions, especially with those pursuing visual and performing arts. In the Sarasota and Manatee County high schools, Ann worked with many creative and talented students, successfully growing her consulting practice to include a broad range of prospective majors, focusing on her students’ wide range of needs. Ann has successfully advised hundreds of students to present their unique selves to college admissions. "I’m passionate about what I do. The requirements for access to universities are dynamic, so I stay current on the rapidly changing world of college admissions and how to best guide my students in each application cycle."

Ann is active in professional organizations. She has volunteered as a mentor working with new counselors in the Southern Association of College Admissions Counselors and has been a volunteer reader for the Gates Foundation Scholarship Award. In 2022, Ann was a featured guest speaker on the College Scoops podcast series, "From the Desk of a High School Counselor."

In 2017, Ann was asked to create and implement a college and career readiness program at a private college prep high school in Sarasota. As head of Cardinal Mooney High School's college counseling program, Ann provided a comprehensive, individualized approach to students so they could explore new, exciting educational opportunities: identifying colleges and universities that match their academic goals and interests, developing relationships with students and families, and providing advice and encouragement through every phase of the process were the bases of her tenure. Ann was later named Department Chair and Dean of Academic Services, overseeing all aspects of a student's high school academic experience, from advising to post- secondary outcomes. At Cardinal Mooney, Ann was named the 2022 recipient of The Outstanding Service Award for her dedication to students and families.

As a college admissions coach, Ann provides strategic, innovative, and comprehensive counseling advice to her students and families throughout their college research and application process. She is delighted to be a part of the JRA team, working with our client families on one of the more crucial decisions in life.

Donna Barron

Educational Consultant

Donna helps students prepare for a thriving undergraduate experience at the college of their dreams, whether in the Ivy League, in a state school or at a music conservatory. She brings vast knowledge and first-hand experience to all aspects of the college admissions process, collaborating at every step with parents and students. Donna has served as Director of Student Affairs at Globe Business College in Munich, where she developed the Study Abroad Program and lectured on Global Business, International Marketing, and Business Ethics. Later, she joined the Euro Educational Consultants to provide individual advisory services to aspiring college students, guiding them in German through the entire college admissions process. Subsequently, Donna joined another highly respected counseling firm as Director of College Counseling, where she closely advised hundreds of students as they prepared for and applied to college.

Donna’s own credentials include Bachelor of Science degree in Legal Studies & Music from the Northeastern University/New England Conservatory of Music Consortium in Boston, an MBA in International Business from the European Business College in Munich and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands where she is focused on Business Ethics.

She is also the founder and owner of Village Music Wellington, a regional music center and a music school for 300+ students in Wellington, Florida. She is active in numerous non-profit organizations including Feeding South Florida, A Spring of Hope and the Palm Beach Youth Orchestra.

Along with English and German, Donna speaks French and Italian.

Ellen Valladares

Educational Consultant

Ellen Valladares is an award-winning author who has always had a love for writing, storytelling, and words. A native Floridian, she grew up in St. Petersburg and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Florida. She has been writing professionally for over 30 years and has worked as an editor, public relations professional, freelance writer, and college essay coach. Her books include Crossing the Line, a young adult novel published by Wido Publishing, and Jonathan’s Journey to Mount Miapu, a middle grade novel. She also recently co-wrote and published a children’s book, entitled Filbert the Lonely Flamingo, with her brother, Steve Wolfson.

 Valladares first discovered a passion for helping students with their essays when her oldest son was applying to college in 2014. That’s also when she first met Judi Robinovitz, who was invaluable in helping the family navigate what seemed like an overwhelming process at the time. As a writer, Valladares naturally enjoyed helping her son with the essays and soon found herself assisting his friends as well. Over the years, she worked with more and more students, and then joined Score at the Top as an Essay Expert in 2019. Her students have been admitted to top-rated schools such as Duke, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Brown, University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, and many more.

For Valladares, the best part of the job is getting to know the students and helping them tell their unique stories. She also enjoys helping them with every facet of the application process and making sure they are presenting the best, holistic picture of themselves.

Valladares lives in Weston with her husband, Manny. They have two sons – Gabriel, who graduated from Duke University in 2019, and Michael who graduated from Boston University in 2021.

Marcy Salenieks

Licensed Clinical Social Worker/Therapeutic Educational Consultant

Marcy Salenieks comes to us with more than twenty years' experience working with children, families, and other clinical professionals. She graduated with her Masters in Social Work from Barry University in Miami, spent her early professional years doing family therapy with multi-problem families in upstate New York, then practiced psychotherapy with Jewish Family Services both in Richmond, Virginia, and Miami. She joined Dr. Gary Magid, a Hollywood, Florida, psychiatrist in his private practice, where she remained for twelve years while raising her own family. When Dr. Magid retired, Marcy took a brief sabbatical from her practice to pursue her long-held dream of becoming a children's fiction writer. One result is a middle-grade text currently under consideration for publication. Creativity has always been a part of Marcy's personality and a hallmark of the inventive energy that she brings to Score At The Top.

Marcy now channels her strong clinical skills into the field of therapeutic educational consulting. Her passion stems from her family crisis four years ago, when she made the difficult decision to send her oldest son, then fourteen, to a wilderness therapy program in Utah, followed by eighteen months in a therapeutic boarding school in Idaho. Collaborating with her son’s educational consultant, and using her expert clinical training to insure the best-fit placements for him, Marcy was inspired to blend her professional background and personal experience. Working directly with Judi and Jason Robinovitz to identify appropriate therapeutic placements for families faced with this difficult decision, Marcy has the clinical insight and ability to emphasize placement criteria that are invaluable comforts to our families.

In addition to her role as a therapeutic educational consultant, Marcy also serves on the Best Practices Committee for NATSAP (National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs). As the only educational consultant on the committee, Marcy brings a unique perspective to the table and further assists programs in developing the very best practices for improvement and quality assurance.

When she is not assisting families with their special needs, traveling to therapeutic schools and programs, and connecting with other clinical professionals in the community, she is mom to three boys, the oldest of whom is currently hard at work in college. In addition to her creative writing, Marcy enjoys doing yoga, traveling, cooking, and perfecting her Italian.

Casey Winderbaum

School Choice Consultant

Casey Winderbaum brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for special education to her role as School Choice Consultant at JRA Educational Consulting. A South Florida native, Casey has dedicated her career to ensuring that every child receives high-quality education best suited his or her unique needs.

Casey’s journey in special education began while she was teaching at charter schools. She quickly recognized the significant impact that individualized instruction can have for students with learning challenges. As a result, she established Casey’s Special Education Services in 2022 where she currently leads a team of special education teachers in the Washington, DC area. To date, Casey has supported over 90 families in the DC area and hundreds of families over the course of her career, providing academic and school choice guidance. Because she frequently visits local and boarding schools to understand the specific qualities of each learning community, Casey is well placed to assist parents with the school application and interview process.

In her role at JRA, Casey leverages her extensive background in special education to guide families through the complex process of selecting the right educational environment for their children. She collaborates closely with parents and multidisciplinary teams, offering personalized advice and support to ensure that each child’s academic and social-emotional needs are met. Not only does she apply her skills to assist students with learning or attention issues, but she also guides students without special needs, whether an academic superstar or a late bloomer.

Casey holds a degree in Psychology and Early Childhood Education from Touro College in New York City. The school conferred on Casey its Special Award for Outstanding Service to the College, and pioneered the university’s first-ever inclusive mentoring program for students. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Special Education from the American College of Education. Additionally, Casey has worked in both therapeutic and educational settings and has spent significant time abroad completing residential volunteer hours with children. She continues to apply the principles and methodologies to her consulting practice that she learned at Touro, focusing on creating customized educational plans that promote student success.

In addition to her professional achievements, Casey is actively involved in several non-profit organizations, including the Council for Exceptional Children and XMinds, dedicated to supporting children with special needs. She is a strong advocate for the use of innovative teaching methods and technologies to enhance learning outcomes for neurodivergent students.

Casey currently resides in West Palm Beach, FL with her fiancé and two dogs, Ruby & Champ.