LEADERSHIP BIOS:

Dr. Michelle Roberts-Schneider (better known as Doc Shell) began her journey in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) field in April 2003 when she and her husband, Drew, opened their first family child care (FCC) program in Franklin County, Indiana. After a short period of time and a lengthy waitlist, the second, third, and fourth programs were opened. To continue offering the best program in the area, Doc Shell continued her education in the ECE field to learn best practices and to mold the best aspects of previous theories into her own program. Doc Shell finished her Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education at Ball State University, and ultimately earned her Ph.D. in Education with a focus on Early Childhood Education through Walden University. Again, striving to do what was once thought to be impossible, Doc Shell took one of her FCC programs through NAEYC Accreditation (the most prestigious and most intense accrediting body) and became the first FCC in Indiana to earn National Accreditation Status and Level 4 Paths to Quality (the highest level in Indiana's Rating System). The following year Doc Shell was awarded the Indiana Early Care and Education "Hoosier Educator Award" through Indiana AEYC, as well as the Small Business of the Year Award from the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. In their spare time (wink-wink), Doc Shell and Drew started a dog rescue - Bear & Friends Animal Society. The goal was to train unwanted dogs to become Canine Good Citizens and offer dog-assisted therapies to young children. Bear became part of their early education program to help children with their Social/Emotional regulation, as well as to help improve their reading skills. The Indiana Department of Education heard of the program's successes and visited to determine if the Social/Emotional and Reading Programs could be duplicated across Indiana's public schools....well, still waiting to see that come to fruition, but she was honored to have her programs considered. The successes spread further and Doc Shell and Bear were then invited into the SIYMCA and the local libraries to work with and read with young children. The impact those visits had on the children were priceless. Finally, after guiding their program through Covid while pivoting and adapting to the unknown, and wanting to share what makes All 4 Kids special, Doc Shell and Drew began expanding into neighboring counties of Dearborn, Ripley, and Decatur. It has always been Doc Shell's goal to remain a family-friendly program so that numerous young children could benefit from a high-quality early education program....and it is this goal that is being realized every day.