Dr. Mindy Shaw
Dr. Mindy Shaw has been an educator for over thirty (30) years. She holds a Doctorate in Education, an administration degree, a certification in reading recovery, a certification in regular education and a Masters Degree in Special Education.
For years she taught a forward-thinking, multi-age inclusion class of Kindergarten and First Grade students. She created and implemented that program in order to have the opportunity to teach children and work with their families for two consecutive years. Her 2-year program fostered and encouraged authentic quality relationships among the children, the parents and the faculty, but more importantly it established a learning paradigm through which the older children helped and mentored the younger children in the program. In this exceptional learning environment, she developed an atmosphere that enabled the staff members as well as the children to be both teachers and learners, and that interpersonal pattern continued year after year.
The uniqueness of Dr. Shaw’s educational program supported her philosophy which states everyone needs to feel safe in order to take risks, explore, learn and grow. She believes that children are most motivated to learn from each other, and under her guidance, there was always a classroom climate established that produced friendly, respectful, cooperative interactions which in turn encouraged the educational growth and well-being of everyone in the room.
As a mother of two children, one of whom was born paralyzed from the waist down due to Spina Bifida, she has always been a strong advocate for inclusion. She believes that we learn by highlighting our differences and by celebrating our diversity. She also lives by the philosophy that there no mistakes, rather they are “mis-takes” that, when paid the proper attention, become learning lessons that promote and encourage growth.
Although her expertise is in teaching young children reading and writing, what she believes is most critical is educating the whole child which includes socio-emotional development to make certain that children grow into contributing members of society.
Dr. Mindy Shaw
2020
We had the absolute pleasure of partnering with Dr. Shaw for three consecutive years with our son. As a 5-year old poor communicator with many social/emotional/academic needs, Dr. Shaw “translated” for him. Our precious little boy was given a voice, thanks to her ability to see and feel what he needed. Throughout those first few school years, our family received an advocate and friend. Our son is now in fourth grade and thriving, many thanks to her efforts, professionalism and overall gift to make a difference to those children that need it most.
Dr. Shaw creates a wonderful atmosphere of caring and community. The children learn to understand how they fit into their world in positive ways and how their own actions matter to both themselves and others.
When our oldest child came home from school on her first day of kindergarten, she told us “ I am a reader and a writer”. Since that very day, she has been a lover of learning. What an amazing beginning, and we cannot thank Dr. Mindy Shaw enough for that! She nurtured all of our 4 children, each in an unique, individual way, and she was able to bring out the best of each of them. And THAT’S what makes a great educator!
As a paraprofessional in Dr. Shaw’s classroom I learned a lot, always worked hard and had fun doing it.
Dr. Shaw created an educational sound environment where everyone was loved and worked together to become our best. Everyday we learned life lessons and practiced our humanity by dealing with real life situations. Besides having kindergarten and first grade children learn to read and write and do arithmetic, children learned how to make friends and be kind, nice and compassionate human beings. The adults and children in her class became civic minded and contributing members of society
Thank you for teaching me so much!
I was always impressed by Mindy’s way with the children. She is a gentle, yet fierce, Spirit with a tremendous capacity for love, compassion, empathy, gratitude and humility. She had such an immense respect for the children and families that she served. I believe this allowed her to reach them on a deeper level than most. I witnessed her often go above and beyond curriculum to often advocate and teach the children useful life lessons, such as, acceptance of other’s differences. She once taught the children about the different Love Languages people use to communicate. With a deep sense of humanity, her unique lessons enriched her classroom experience and promoted a supportive environment for learning.