Joy Martello

Christine Davis

Christie Morris

We want you to know of some staff changes that were announced today at the Lower School and Upper Elementary staff meetings.  

Joy Martello, Head of our Lower School division, will retire at the end of this school year, after a varied and progressive career with Shelton.  Joy first joined Shelton in January 1991 as a substitute teacher.  She immersed herself in Sequential English Education (SEE) / Scholars training that summer and assisted former Executive Director Joyce Pickering in running the Scholars program for several years.  When Shelton's Outreach program expanded, Joy became Shelton's Director of Outreach and served in that role until 2001, at which time she and her husband, Keith, moved to New Mexico. 

Joy's association with Shelton was far-reaching, and she continued to train teachers for Shelton and helped implement the SEE program in Red River, NM.

In 2007, Joy returned to Dallas and became the Assistant Head of Lower School.  In 2008, she assumed the role of Head of Lower School, the position from which she will retire this May.  The mountains of New Mexico are calling again, and Joy and her husband will make a permanent move to enjoy them.  Whether as a teacher, trainer or administrator, Joy has served on three campuses during the time Shelton has grown from 191 to 923 students.  We are grateful for Joy's service, and we wish her well with her new adventures.

Related to this, we are pleased to announce that Christine Davis, currently our Assistant Head of Early Childhood – 5th Grade, will become Head of Lower School effective June 1, 2018. Christine joined Shelton in 2010.  She has a B.S. degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Texas Tech University and is a certified teacher in Texas for EC – Grade 6.  She has 25 years' experience in public and private school education.  She is a Certified Academic Language Practitioner (CALP) and holds the American Montessori Society Early Childhood Certification.  She serves as an instructor in Shelton's Montessori training program.  She is completing a master's degree in education. Christine has a passion for all things science, and she has been actively involved with the development of Shelton's STEM programming.  Christine and her husband are parents to two sons.

Christie Morris, currently a teacher in our Lower School, will become the new Assistant Head of Early Childhood – 5th Grade.  She holds a B.S. degree from UNT.  Christie has 22 years' experience teaching special education in public and private schools.  She is a former special education campus administrator for Plano ISD, Schimelpfenig Middle School and Meadows Elementary.  This May she will complete a master's degree in education with a specialization in special education from SMU.  In June she will sit for the Alliance exam for CALP certification and will complete Montessori certification.  Christie has been with Shelton since 2015.  Christie and her husband are parents to a son and daughter, each Shelton students. 

Both Lower School and Upper Elementary divisions have solid teams in place as we plan for these changes in the coming year.