Dr. Schoonover earned his Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Policy from the University of Florida. From Loyola University Chicago, Dr. Schoonover received his Masters in Education in Administration and Supervision as well as an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with minors in English and Secondary Education. He is also an honors graduate of Notre Dame Catholic High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Dr. Schoonover’s work experience in the field of education is expansive, having worked for an educational non–profit in Washington, D.C., to teaching English in Japan for the Tokyo Public Schools. Dr. Schoonover also worked for three years in the editorial newsroom of the Chicago Tribune, taught English to newly arrived immigrants in a refugee center, was a high school social studies teacher for eight years, was a K-12 athletic director in a school located in downtown Chicago, and was an assistant principal for the past three years in St. Augustine, Florida where his instructional guidance and discipline practices were vital in helping move the school from an “C” school to an “A” school in just three years time. Currently Dr. Schoonover is the St. Johns County School District Coordinator for Federal Programs.
Dr. Schoonover is a member of the advisory boards for the Flagler College School of Education, the 21st Century O.U.R. Hastings Community Center, the Integrated Services Team of St. Johns County, and St. Anastasia Catholic Church Master Planning Group. Dr. Schoonover serves as a SACS Accreditation Team member, traveling the southeastern United States reviewing public and private’s schools’ curriculum and safety procedures as they are aligned with the Advance-Ed standards. In his own school district of St. Johns County, Dr. Schoonover has been a member of the District Safety Taskforce, Student Progression Plan Taskforce, District Interview Committee, Minority Recruitment Committee, the Taskforce for Student Discipline, as well as a participant in Facilitating Effective Teams, Leadership Academy I, and Leadership Academy II. Dr. Schoonover was also chosen to participate in the William Cecil Golden School Leadership Development Program as part of the Council for Educational Change Assistant Principals Leadership Forum.
His most recent national speaking engagements include presenting The Application, Consequences, and Alternatives to Zero Tolerance Policies in Florida Schools to the National Conference on Safe Schools and Communities (10/07) in Washington, D.C., Using Technology to Track Zero Tolerance Discipline Policy Infractions to the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) (01/09) in Orlando, and The Application and Alternatives to Zero Tolerance Policies to the 15th Joint National Conference on Alternatives to Expulsion, Suspension, & Dropping Out (01/09) in San Antonio.
Publications of Dr. Schoonover’s include Proceedings of Persistently Safe Schools: The Application, Consequences, and Alternatives to Zero Tolerance Policies in Florida Schools (2007) published by The Hamilton Fish Institute at The George Washington University, Zero Tolerance Policies in Schools (2008) published by the Consortium to Prevent School Violence, and his book titled Zero Tolerance Discipline Policies (2009) published by New York’s iUniverse, Incorporated. His website is www.ZeroToleranceReform.com.
Dr. Schoonover is in his fifth year of coaching soccer. When he has a moment of free time, he enjoys traveling the globe, surfing, going to the beach with his wife Heather, and playing with his two dogs.
