Alysia Shaw Smith – Middle School Principal
Alysia Shaw, a native of San Diego, a graduate of Point Loma High School and San Diego State University is the Principal of Holly Drive Leadership Academy and the mother of three wonderful daughters.
While attending San Diego State, Alysia showed what a resourceful person she was by working
at the Girls Club of San Diego, UPS, and Sea Port Village Ice Cream & Eatery – all while carrying a full college course load. Her working career began at a very young age when she became a program aide at the Girls Club when she was 14 years old. For 12 years she worked at the Girls Club in many different capacities, first as a tap instructor, a gymnastic coach and eventually serving as Program Director.
About Alysia Shaw Smith
Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
I have three daughters; Sierra who is 21 and will graduate from SDSU in June with a degree in Business and Rhetoric Writing, Shyanne is a Part 107 Commercial Drone Pilot and is 19 years old and will graduate from UCSD with a degree in Communications and a minor in American Sign Language, and Chanel who is 15 is a freshman at Health Sciences High and Middle College.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
I worked at The Girls Club of San Diego, then worked at UPS for eight years, and then with the San Diego County Probation Department for two years before embarking on a career in education. My first full-time teaching position was with Nubia Academy. At the inception of the Holly Drive Leadership Academy, I accepted a position as a Reading Recovery Specialist. continued at Holly Drive as Vice Principal and then was appointed Principal, a position I have held for the past twenty-four years.
My opportunities in the educational field are many, including IPT Assessment Training, Recipient of “Hats Off to Teachers” Award, nominee “Teacher of the Year”, completion of a Master’s Degree and Teaching Credential requirements at National University, Graduate of the “Principal Executive Program” at UCSD, Reading Recovery graduate, recognition by the Southeast San Diego Rotary Club, and just recently the recipient of the San Diego Teachers Academia Award. During my tenure, Holly Drive Leadership Academy was selected as a “Best Practice School” in San Diego County. I believe strongly in community and pray I have served as a role model for young people; especially for girls and young women.
I have served on the Board of Directors for the Girls Club of San Diego, the United Way of San Diego County Speakers’ Bureau, currently serve on A New Path Advisory Committee, The Executive Board of Holly Drive Leadership Academy, and the Education Advisory Committee for San Diego Unified School District. I have been an active participant in the Soroptimist Club of San Diego’s annual fashion show fundraisers, a member of the “Sepia Silhouettes” modeling group, a U.S. Gymnastic Federation Coach, and represented San Diego at the Pan Am Games held in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was an integral part of the Junior League of San Diego’s “Career Awareness for Girls” Program and coordinated many musical revues where the girls I taught performed at convalescent centers in San Diego. As a young girl, I enjoyed gymnastics, tap dance, and ballet, and was voted “Girl of the Year” at the Girls Club of San Diego, competed on the gymnastics team and girls’ track and field team at Pt. Loma High School and pole vaulted on the boys’ track team, the first girl in California to accomplish such a feat.
But I have to say I absolutely love Holly Drive Leadership Academy. I love my staff, many whom have worked there for over twenty years, my students, families, and the community who have entrusted me with the education of their children. I love planning workshops, assemblies, and field trips for students. I believe in “classrooms without walls,” so we take students out into the community whenever possible; not just for information, but for inspiration and ultimately transformation.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
Seek a life of walking with Jesus, be intentional about spending time with loved ones, learn all you can, be present in whatever you are doing, and travel whenever you can.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
I expect to retire from HDLA in 10 years and hopefully travel the world for a little bit. I hope to do a world cruise. I want to travel specifically to the Great Wall of China, Valley of King and Queens, and the Taj Majal.
Read about Alysia Shaw Smith at Faces of San Diego
