MEET THE TEAM
Two experts. One shared mission.
We believe every child deserves the right support, at the right time. We're here to partner with you for lasting impact.
SPECIAL EDUCATION NAVIGATOR
OLIVIA HOWELL
LAURIE SHELLY
READING & DYSLEXIA SPECIALIST
Olivia is an experienced educator with a Master of Teaching from the University of Virginia and dual certifications in Elementary Education and Special Education. She has worked with students from kindergarten through high school, specializing in helping them access learning in ways that meet their individual needs. Her work has centered on reading instruction, differentiated instruction, intervention, and student learning plans, coaching teachers and supporting families in identifying appropriate supports and practical strategies for learning at home and at school.
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Her passion is helping families feel confident and equipped to support their children's education. She believes strong reading foundations are built intentionally, and that understanding how children learn to read can transform both a child's and a parent's confidence. Believing parents are their children's greatest advocates, she supports families who sometimes just need someone in their corner to know where to start.
Driven by the belief that every child can learn to read, Laurie co-founded Literacy & Learning Partnership to help families give their K–2 readers a strong start. Her passion is personal: when her own daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, Laurie went back to school, immersing herself in specialized training to figure out how to help her. That training became a career. She's now a Certified Structured Literacy/Dyslexia Specialist with advanced training in Orton-Gillingham and NILD methods.
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With over 18 years in education, including two master's degrees from Old Dominion University and a Virginia Reading Specialist license, Laurie has worked with PreK–12 students as a reading specialist, most recently with Virginia Beach City Public Schools and Ignite Reading.
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Outside of work, she loves traveling, camping, and spending time outdoors with her family.
Our Story.
Laurie and Olivia met at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, where Olivia came in as the leader of the Birdsong Center for Academic Excellence and Laurie was the center's reading specialist. From the beginning, they were a natural team. Professional development, curriculum, and working with striving readers were where they thrived together.
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Both Laurie and Olivia are Navy wives, married to naval aviators, and both know the rhythm of that life: waiting on orders, packing up, starting over somewhere new. Laurie had been living that life longer, and as their friendship grew, Olivia got a front-row seat to Laurie parenting children on the cusp of adulthood, while Laurie had the privilege of watching Olivia grow into motherhood herself.
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Through years of moves, new duty stations, and new chapters, that friendship, and their shared love of teaching, never faded.Â
Laurie and Olivia kept coming back to the same conversation: families need more than a single appointment or a one-time fix. They need someone in their corner from the start. That conversation became Literacy & Learning Partnership, built on the same trust, teamwork, and shared life experience that brought them together in the first place.
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Laurie and Olivia kept coming back to the same conversation: families need more than a single appointment or a one-time fix. They need someone in their corner from the start. That conversation became Literacy & Learning Partnership, built on the same trust, teamwork, and shared life experience that brought them together in the first place.
The mission of Literacy & Learning
Literacy & Learning partners with parents of K-2 readers to build strong, confident readers from day one. We want families to trade uncertainty for knowledge, confidence, and hope. Our strength is bringing parent education, coaching, intervention, and special education navigation together as one team, so families don't have to piece it together from separate providers.