Meet Our Educational Leaders

Joy Turner

Chief Academic Officer

Joy leads our multifaceted team of education and curriculum experts. From researching the latest trends in educational content and delivery to updating and refining our proprietary Life Essentials^® curriculum, her team is dedicated to creating exceptional educational experiences. Our Franchisees further rely on Joy and her team for guidance with accreditations, training, and curriculum implementation.

Joy has an over 30-year career in early childhood education. She joined the Kiddie Academy Education team in 2014 as the Director of Education Quality and spent two years working with Franchisees and Directors providing training and establishing and maintaining best practices through visits to the Academies as they worked to achieve NAEYC accreditation. In 2017, she joined the Operations team, where she was able to provide support and guidance for both the educational and operations functions of Academies. Joy earned a B.S. in education from Salisbury University.

Dr. Ocie Watson-Thompson

Life Essentials Curriculum Advisory Council Member

Ocie Watson-Thompson is Professor and Chairperson for the Department of Early Childhood Education at Towson University. Her graduate degree and undergraduate degree were earned at the University of Alabama in the areas of early childhood education, elementary education and special education with a concentration in language and literacy. She has over 30 years of experience as a teacher and teacher educator. Developmentally appropriate practices, culturally inclusive instruction for young children and quality preparation of teachers/practitioners have been the focus of her scholarly work. Dr. Watson-Thompson continues to teach, supervise and mentor undergraduate and graduate students as they deliver effective instruction and learning experiences in diverse and culturally inclusive environments.

Dr. Jie- Qi Chen

Life Essentials Curriculum Advisory Council Member

Dr. Jie-Qi Chen holds the Barbara T. Bowman Professorship in Early Education at the Erikson Institute, a graduate school of child development in Chicago. Having formally served as Erikson’s Senior Vice President for Academy Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Dr. Chen has earned a reputation as an author and expert in early math education, educational implications of multiple intelligences theory, classroom assessment and teacher professional development. Beginning as a teacher of toddlers to middle schoolers in China and the United States, Dr. Chen started the Early Math Collaborative at Erikson, an initiative that revitalized early mathematics education and empowered teachers to emphasize foundational math concepts. She also co-developed an early math curriculum and assessment instruments to support high-quality early childhood classroom practices. Her previous roles include Fulbright Senior Specialist in Education, consultant to the United Nations Children’s Fund and membership on Scholastic Education’s Early Childhood Advisory Board and the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Governing Board. Currently, she leads the Early Teaching and Learning Academy and serves as a director at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Dr. Mike Sherman

Life Essentials Curriculum Advisory Council Member

A licensed clinical psychologist and Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health fellow at the University of California, Davis, Dr. Mike Sherman has expert training and experience in the field of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. For more than 15 years, he has worked at the nexus of community mental health and child welfare programs, including direct service provision, supervision, training, consulting, program development and administration. Dr. Sherman’s experience has given him a deep understanding of the needs and barriers present in child- and family-serving systems of care. Dr. Sherman has more than 10 years experience supporting the development of early-career psychologists as an associate professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and works to support infant and early childhood mental health and child welfare practice across the nation. His goal is to broaden the capacity of providers, programs and systems to foster children’s social, emotional and behavioral health and development.

Sharon Lytwynec

Life Essentials Curriculum Advisory Council Member

Sharon joined the Life Essentials Curriculum Advisory Council after serving as the Senior Vice President of Operations at Kiddie Academy. In her role, Sharon lead the department’s operational support structure for Academies. She previously worked at the nation’s largest corporately owned for-profit early childhood education system, serving in roles from Center Director to Divisional VP of Operations. Throughout her career, Sharon gained deep experience in connecting with and supporting ECE educators in the areas of creating enriched classroom environments and parent and peer engagement and over two decades of experience leading programs in achieving national accreditation.