Our Team
Meet the educators and staff who make our work possible.
Transforming communities through education.
Project Reflect envisions vibrant communities transformed by the power of literacy, high-quality education and access to fine literature.
Meet the educators and staff who make our work possible.
At six years old – long before she became well known as “Sister Sandra” – Sandra Olivia Smithson was among the first children to attend St. Vincent de Paul School in North Nashville. The Catholic institution was opened in 1932 by St. Katharine Drexel to provide educational opportunities for the city’s segregated Black community. The formative experience inspired Sandra to dedicate her life to her faith and to educating the underserved in missions across the Americas.
Sixty years later, Sister Sandra returned home and founded Project Reflect to give back to her local community what was once given to her: life-changing access to an excellent education. Recognizing that literacy is the foundation for all other learning, Project Reflect’s first program was free afterschool tutoring focused on improving students’ reading skills. Sister Sandra partnered with her biological sister, Mary Craighead, to develop a structured, phonics-based reading curriculum known as Reading Success, which we still use today.
Mary Craighead was an education reform pioneer in her own right. As a Metro Nashville public school educator and Peabody College faculty member, “The Early Training Project” she developed alongside Peabody’s Susan Gray became a model for the national Head Start program. That same early childhood expertise lives on in Itty Bitty City, Project Reflect’s pre-K program.
A decade after launching Project Reflect, at the age of 76, Sister Sandra became a lead advocate for passing public charter school legislation in Tennessee. After the law passed with broad bipartisan support, the two sisters opened Smithson Craighead Academy in 2003 – the first public charter school in Middle Tennessee. In recognition of her advocacy, the State of Tennessee designated March 3 as Sister Sandra Smithson Day. More than 30 years later, Project Reflect continues to carry the sisters’ conviction and original vision forward.
“It’s a wonderful thing to be able to give back to a world who has given so much to you.” — Sister Sandra Smithson
Katharine Drexel of Philadelphia was born into a wealthy family that was devout in practicing their Christian faith through acts of charity. As an adult, Katharine chose to give herself and her inheritance to God. Mother Katharine, as she was known, established over 60 schools for students of color in the United States. Among those was St. Vincent de Paul School in North Nashville, which Sister Sandra attended as a child. St. Katharine Drexel was canonized by the Catholic Church in October 2000. She is the patron saint of philanthropists and racial justice.
From first grade through college, Sandra Smithson received her education at three schools founded by St. Katharine Drexel: St. Vincent de Paul School and Immaculate Mother Academy in Nashville, followed by Xavier University in New Orleans. In 1954, she joined the School Sisters of St. Francis, dedicating her life to missions across the Americas. Sister Sandra developed her first education reform initiative in Costa Rica in the 1960s. She piloted afterschool programming for children in low-income neighborhoods, an effort that led to public school reform for the entire country.
Sister Sandra founded Project Reflect in 1992 to give back to her hometown community the same educational opportunities she was given through St. Katharine's schools. More than 30 years later, we continue to operate on the conviction held by St. Katharine and Sister Sandra that education transforms communities. Today, their legacies live on, changing lives through Project Reflect's affordable pre-K, a high-quality K-5 public charter school, and wraparound support for families across Madison and Northeast Nashville.
