Shell McClue
Shell McClue is the Founder and President of Shell Hebert Career & Technical Academy, a nonprofit education and workforce organization serving students, adult learners, families, and community partners.
Her leadership brings together lived experience, education, workforce development, student support, and a deep understanding of what families face when a learner needs a different kind of path.
Shell’s work is personal. Her journey as a mother changed the way she saw education, care, behavior, support, and the importance of creating spaces where learners are understood before they are judged.
Founder. Mother. Advocate. Builder of pathways.
About Shell
Shell McClue is an education and workforce leader with a heart for building programs that meet learners where they are. As the Founder and President of Shell Hebert Career & Technical Academy, she leads with compassion, structure, accountability, and a belief that every learner deserves a real opportunity to move forward.
Shell’s passion for teaching and service began long before SHCTA opened its doors. From an early age, she was drawn to helping others learn, grow, and believe in what was possible. Over time, that passion became a larger calling to build educational pathways that connect academics, career training, life skills, and support.
Her purpose became even more personal through her journey as a mother. As her son grew, Shell saw firsthand how different each day could look for a child with unique medical, learning, emotional, and behavioral needs. She saw how quickly children can be misunderstood when people only respond to what they see on the surface.
At first, that journey introduced her to fear. Over time, it introduced her to strength. Shell began to see what so many people miss. Learners with unique needs are not broken. They are brilliant. They have gifts, strengths, creativity, and potential that have not always been fully recognized, supported, or tapped into.
That experience became part of the foundation for SHCTA. Shell created the academy to be a safe, supportive, and purpose driven space where students can be seen, challenged, encouraged, and prepared for life beyond the classroom.
A Founder Who Understands the Whole Journey
SHCTA was born from Shell’s journey as a mother, her heart for teaching, and her belief that education should recognize the whole learner. She understands the parent trying to find the right support, the student who feels misunderstood, the caregiver carrying the daily weight, the funder looking for meaningful impact, and the partner searching for a mission worth standing beside.
Why Her Leadership Connects
Shell does not approach this work from a distance. She understands what it feels like to advocate for a child, ask hard questions, look for the right environment, and hope that the people around your student will see more than a diagnosis, behavior, delay, struggle, or circumstance.
She also understands that adult learners carry stories too. Some are starting over. Some are rebuilding confidence. Some are changing careers. Some are balancing family, work, and survival while trying to create a better future. SHCTA was built with that reality in mind.
For Parents
Shell understands the fear, advocacy, questions, and hope that come with trying to find the right path for your child.
For Students
She believes students deserve to be challenged and supported without being reduced to their hardest days.
For Caregivers
She recognizes the emotional, practical, and daily weight carried by those who support learners with unique needs.
For Partners
She builds with purpose, accountability, and a focus on programs that connect support to real outcomes.
Education and Workforce Leadership
Shell’s qualifications are reflected in the work she has built, the students and families she serves, and the partnerships she continues to develop. Through SHCTA, she leads program development across flexible education, career and technical education, adult career training, student support, community partnerships, and workforce readiness.
Her leadership connects the classroom to real life. SHCTA’s model is designed to help learners build academic confidence, explore careers, receive support, and prepare for employment, entrepreneurship, continued training, or the next step in their journey.
Shell brings together the voice of a parent, the discipline of a founder, the mindset of a workforce builder, and the heart of an advocate. That combination shapes how SHCTA serves both youth and adult learners.
Founder’s Message
“At first, this journey introduced me to fear. As time passed, it introduced me to strength. These students empower me. They are brilliant, capable, and full of strengths that the world has not always tapped into. SHCTA allows me to create the kind of safe space I believe every learner deserves.”
Her Heart for Students and Adult Learners
Shell believes that every learner has a story, and every story deserves to be met with dignity. For some students, success begins with feeling safe. For others, it begins with structure, patience, hands on learning, or someone willing to look again and see the strength underneath the struggle.
That same belief guides SHCTA’s work with adult learners. Whether a person is beginning again, building a new skill, seeking career direction, or trying to create stability for their family, Shell believes they deserve a pathway that is practical, respectful, and connected to opportunity.
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