The Educational Leader

Dr. Shelia Y. Smalley was reared in Leesburg, FL, where she attended public schools.  At age sixteen, she skipped twelfth grade and enrolled as a freshman at Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, FL.  During her freshman year, she became inspired by the work and legacy of the founder, the late Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, who dreamed of having a school for her people.  Dr. Smalley set a goal and held on to her dream of someday opening her own school for all children.  She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology at the age of nineteen.

The educational background of Dr. Smalley also includes a Master of Education degree in Early Childhood/Elementary Education and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Special Education (with emphasis in Learning Disabilities and a minor in Educational Leadership) from the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

Dr. Smalley’s educational experiences include having served as an anchor and instructional teacher for local television stations; a Head Start, public and laboratory school teacher (K-8); a Title I Reading and Math specialist/part-time counselor (grades 5-8); a director of a Catholic pre-school; an instructor for the General Education Degree (GED) program; an assistant professor of Education and area advisor for students majoring in Early Childhood/Elementary Education and Exceptional Student Education.  She has served as an assistant principal and principal of elementary schools and a program specialist for training and development services.  In 2002, she retired as an associate professor of Exceptional Student Education at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL.

Presently, Dr. Smalley serves as an assistant pastor at Macedonia Church of the Living God, Inc. and President/CEO of L. P. Richardson Family Literacy Center, Inc., both in Leesburg, FL.  She is an educational consultant for schools, professional and community organizations and churches.  Her research interests are in the areas of culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional learners and their parents and at-risk communities.  She is internationally known for her authorship and facilitation of Parent Leadership Training and her writings are published in leading educational journals.