Sandra Ellis

Dr. Sandra Ellis has more than 30 years of experience working with and for school districts throughout Illinois and Ohio. She began her career in the public school system as a teacher at Oregon City Schools. During her nine years at Oregon City Schools, Dr. Ellis also served as a Guidance Counselor and an Assistant Principal.

Next, Dr. Sandra Ellis became a Senior Educational Consultant with the Ohio Department of Education, assisting the Educational Services Division and administering the Ohio Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse, the Block Parent Program, and the Educational Excellence Initiative. She then spent two years as a Policy and Legislative Specialist for the Ohio School Boards Association. While in Ohio, Dr. Ellis was an Adjunct Professor to Xavier University’s Master's degree program in Guidance and Counseling and served as President of the Ohio Association for Counseling and Development.

In 1989, Dr. Sandra Ellis became an Educational Consultant with the Illinois State Board of Education, helping with professional development and delivery, school restructuring, and children’s justice. After leaving that position, she spent nearly a decade serving as Superintendent of various school districts, including North Chicago, Mt. Pulaski, Brooklyn, Cuba, and Gillespie. She simultaneously held a position as Public Service Administrator, providing technical expertise to the Illinois State Police Academy. She also returned to teaching at the University of Illinois Springfield, leading courses at the College of Education & Human Services and the Center for Legal Studies.

Dr. Sandra Ellis spent five years as the Professional Development Director and UniServ Director of the Illinois Education Association, an organization of more than 130,000 educators. In 2006, Dr. Sandra Ellis and her husband Ron Ellis formed Ellis and Ellis Consulting, LLC, a firm specializing in school and campus safety and security. The firm provides training, curriculum development, research and evaluation, legislative reviews, testing and exercising of emergency plans, and programmatic audits for schools and higher education institutions across Illinois. Her consulting has helped public and private schools, colleges, and universities develop and implement customized Emergency Operations Plans and Violence Prevention Plans.