Hi! I am Alysha, or Professor Smith to my students! I began my journey at St. Petersburg College in the College of Education in January 2011. Early childhood is my passion and I have a heart for supporting new educators in this field! In fall 2023, I joined as full time faculty and am so excited to continue my path as an educator as the Instructor in Charge of Early Childhood Education.

I earned a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education with an emphasis on emergent literacy from the University of Central Florida. While in my graduate program, I conducted research relating to early learning coalitions and developmentally appropriate practices for birth through five years. I am an advocate of early education and truly believe this holds the key to a student's academic success. Early learning promotes a love of learning which facilitates a student's ability and desire to excel in the future. My Bachelor's degree, also from UCF, was earned in Psychology and Women's Studies. I enjoy exploring the relationship between psychology and education and how this relates to learning and development.

Previous to joining the SPC faculty, I taught primary grades at a science & mathematics magnet school as well as preschool and pre-kindergarten classes for 10 years. My husband and I love to travel and spend time with our daughters. I enjoy volunteering in the community and at our girls school and look forward to teaching and learning with my students during the course of the semester! 

My goal is to help all my students be successful each semester~reach out anytime! Professor Smith