Dr. Joyce Swarzman

Headmaster Biography

A native of Dayton , Ohio , Dr. Swarzman received her B.A. degree from Ohio State University . She received her M.A. in Counseling, her M.Ed. in Supervision and Curriculum, and her Doctorate in Teacher Education, all from Teachers College, Columbia University , New York . Dr. Swarzman has extensive experience as a classroom teacher, having taught in the inner cities of Chicago , Atlanta , and New York . Her story is told in the book, It’s All About Kids: Every Child Deserves A Teacher of the Year, published in 2004.

In 1996, Dr. Swarzman took a leave of absence from the University of South Florida (USF) to lead Tampa ’s Independent Day School-Corbett Campus (IDS-CC) with grades ranging from Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade to walk the talk. Four years later, she officially left USF to remain at the helm of IDS-CC. Her professional priority is to develop a dynamic think tank for top educators. IDS-CC has been able to create an innovative school of excellence rather than settle for pockets of excellence. Teachers are trained in a Multiple Options for Results in Education (M.O.R.E.) Model. The school now opens its doors for both public and private school teachers to observe best practices in action especially for those attempting to modernize education in the 21st century. Under her leadership, over 6,500 private and public educators have visited IDS-CC over the past few years. IDS-CC was a proud recipient of the U.S. Department of Education’s NCLB – Blue Ribbon School Award and the first Global Learning Center for Elementary and Middle School in the International School Connection, and a recipient of a Promising Practice Character Award for it’s Middle School Retreats for Character Development, and awarded an International Baccalaureate Program for grades Pre-K3 through 8th grade. The school's teachers have been endorsed in Gifted Education through a Master's course grant with the University of South Florida.

For the past eight years, Dr. Swarzman has facilitated and coordinated the Florida Council for Independent Schools Academy for High Performing Teachers, which was originally supported by a Ford Foundation Grant. For seven years, through 1999, she organized and delivered the training for the Commissioner’s Florida Teacher of the Year Round Table in Orlando . In 2002, Dr. Swarzman helped establish the POP (Power of the Practitioner) Program with St. Petersburg College of Education where, along with her IDS-CC faculty, she facilitated training of new teachers in Curriculum and Instruction.

While at USF, Dr. Swarzman served as the director of the Suncoast Area Teacher Training Honors Program (SCATT), the Associate Director of Clinical Education at the USF College of Education and Associate Director of the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching. During her 15 years with SCATT, the program’s reputation for excellence in teacher training soared under her leadership and SCATT was recognized as one of the most innovative teacher training programs in the country.

Dr. Swarzman has trained over 15,000 educators in communication and effective teaching skills and has spoken to diverse groups including: school districts throughout the state of Florida, Florida School Board Association, Florida Teacher of the Year Round Table, National Teacher of the Year Program, USF President’s Council Development Board, Independent Schools Conference, workshops in Spain and China, medical organizations and colleges with teaching responsibilities. She continues to serve as a consultant and lecturer to school districts and numerous organizations in the United States, Spain and China. She is known by the education community for her inspirational leadership, dynamic presentations, mentoring of many, and ability to motivate educators to refine and renew skills as a life-long learning challenge.