FEBRUARY 2, 2024

Shelly Klein loves working with teachers – and it shows. In her first year working as a literacy consultant for grades Pre-K through 2 at Elm Drive Elementary School, she said that helping elevate teachers to reach their literacy education goals is her passion.

“Teachers put their hearts and souls into their classrooms,” said Klein. “I see this everywhere. I really enjoy working with teachers by meeting them where they are and growing together with them.”

Klein began her career as a teacher herself, spending 15 years with students in both New Jersey and New York. While she enjoyed teaching in the classroom, she said that she would often worry about her students when they moved on to the next grade. The reason? A lack of consistency in curricula between grade levels.

“At the time there wasn’t an emphasis on consistency at all, which really concerned me,” she said. “Working toward creating that became a real interest of mine and I still advocate for it.”

Her passion for the cause led her to accept a position as a literacy coach and administrator for HCZ Promise Academy in Harlem before moving on to start her own consulting business with two colleagues in 2005. Her hope was to focus completely on literacy initiatives in schools and help grow that consistency in curricula that she had wished for as a teacher.

Klein said that she feels that the educational environment has come a long way in moving toward that goal during the years since she became an independent consultant – and she is proud to be a part of that process.

“Over the years I’ve seen a huge difference,” she said. “With standardized testing districts have created more careful and standard approaches to instruction, and there are fewer gaps.”

She is quick to point out that an educator’s individual style, however, is what brings the more standardized curriculum to life. 

“The one thing I value over all is the most important ingredient in a teacher’s classroom, which is their own style,” said Klein. “Stylizing their lessons to put their own spin on instruction is a beautiful thing.

“While we all have standardized tests and report cards and such, we need to have the human element and everything the teacher brings to the table.”

Now consulting both independently and as a subcontractor through Southern Westchester BOCES, Klein works in hundreds of schools across different states and tailors her services to the needs and goals of each school.

"I can take on a few different roles from district to district,” she said. “Sometimes I act as a change agent because a district is making a huge shift in their literacy areas, and sometimes I come to schools to coach people to a higher level because they're already working beautifully.”

Her focus at Elm Drive is the latter. Klein said that her goal is to support the teachers in two areas of literacy: shared reading and interactive read-alouds. She explained that these are powerful methods to engage students in reading and thinking about text to improve their comprehension and conversation.

She also emphasized that early readers can think deeply about texts, even if they cannot read all the words. Her goal is to help Millbrook teachers plan and use effective tactics to help students grow their thinking through text talk.

"In Millbrook, my work with teachers has developed into much deeper planning in our sessions, which is such a gift,” said Klein. “The teachers have such expertise and treasure troves of books. It's a wonderful exchange.

"I'm so grateful to be working at Elm Drive. It's such a warm, welcoming, lovely place and I'm very happy to be part of their literacy journey," she said.

Meet our district's very own children's author, Millbrook Middle and High School French teacher Della Ferreri!

Learn more about the Scholastic Arts Awards and the talented Millbrook students who earned top honors in this year's competition.

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