Meet Dr. Diane Montgomery- Study Smart Co-founder

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Dr. Diane Montgomery, the co-founder of Study Smart is an Educational Therapist and sessional instructor of inclusive education courses in the Bachelor of Education and Master of Education programs. She has a PhD in Education and a Master of Education in Leadership and Learning. She also has postgraduate certificates in Educational Therapy and Adult Training and Development. Dr. Montgomery is past Vice Chair of the Special Education Advisory Committee for the Toronto District School Board, a Director of the Board of Inclusion Action in Ontario and a member of the Association of Educational Therapists. She believes all students have the ability to succeed with the right balance of support.
Dr. Montgomery previously owned a successful tutoring company where her team of tutors supported hundreds of students in a variety of core and specialized subject areas. Prior to that, she held senior management roles in the financial services industry overseeing the design, development, and delivery of enterprise-wide career and development solutions; and was also a Bank Manager of numerous retail banking branches.
 Dr. Montgomery is committed to helping students learn how to learn, by first identifying their needs, strengths, interests and learning preferences and finding the most appropriate learning solutions for them both inside and outside of the classroom to make them autonomous self-directed learners. In addition to standard provincial curriculum, Dr. Montgomery uses specialized cognitive-based programs from the Feuerstein Institute, National Institute of Learning and Development, Learning RX, and Barton Reading and Spelling System. 

Dr. Montgomery’s inspiration for designing customized learning solutions for individuals with varying learning abilities comes from her own diverse family of multiple heritages with a variety of learning needs, strengths, and preferences. She and her family have experienced traditional and alternative methods of education in the public and private sectors. Their skill development also extends beyond the classroom into the world of Martial Arts which focuses on a holistic approach of mind, body and spiritual development. Her children both earned a first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Dr. Montgomery continues to practice Tae Kwon Do as a 2nd degree black belt. She has personally and professionally witnessed the challenges of struggling learners, youth and athletes and also the successes of their achievement when they were provided with the right support throughout their educational journey.

“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you!”- Jeremiah Say