Sonya is an energetic, research-savvy, data-driven educator. Her career in education began at the turn of this century. She began as a substitute and taught elementary and middle school students for 12 years prior to becoming an administrator in 2009. She also served school communities as a supervisor of instructional technology, principal, and assistant superintendent, specializing in building positive school culture. She has taught graduate courses for Illinois’ first alternative certification program at Governor State University focusing on the history in education and foundations in education. After successfully defending her dissertation A Case Study of Student, Teacher, Parent and Administrator Perceptions of Cyberbullying at a Public Elementary School in the USA, Sonya earned her doctorate from Roosevelt University in 2012.

Sonya attended Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Principal Center to complete course work and action research in Closing the Achievement Gap and The Art of Leadership. She has experience in auditing/evaluating curriculum for alignment with standards, preparing for IAR state assessment, evidence-based instructional practices, professional learning communities, strategic planning for school improvement, mentoring programs, evaluation, and PERA implementation. Sonya joined the West40 team in July 2021.