Academy Prep St. Petersburg Welcomes Our New Head of School!

Jim Shearer has over twenty years of professional experience in community, youth and education services. He has resided in Tampa Bay , Florida the last ten years and is formerly the Principal of TUMC Academy, a public charter school of Hillsborough County serving kindergarten through 8th grades.

After graduation from college, he worked in the criminal justice system as an Adult Probation Officer for three years, and then spent seven years as an Outreach Worker gaining respect and building rapport with high-risk youth while networking with community agencies, law enforcement, schools, churches, and city officials to establish effective intervention programs.

He is competent and passionate about working in and with ethnically and economically diverse communities and individuals, and frequently addresses urban community and youth issues for conferences and classes.

With a familiar background in sports and entertainment, Jim has had unique opportunities to work with many professional athletes and recording artists in coordinating and producing summer sports camps, concerts, and special events to benefit under-served youth in several U.S. cities.

Mr. Shearer received a B.S. in Human Sciences from Texas Tech University , fulfilled 32 credit hours toward an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing a M.S. in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.

Mr. Shearer is also an Adjunct Professor at Springfield College where he teaches undergraduate classes in Social Philosophy, Adolescent Culture, Cooperative Models for Sustainable Communities, and Data Systems.

He is the founder of Hope4theCity, an urban consulting and resource organization, and runs his own entertainment company, 2-Tuff Productions.

Jim is married to Kristye with whom he shares two beautiful children, Nicholas (5), and Macy (3).