With an affinity for writing poetry and painting, Dr. Smallwood is the new Science Department chair and teacher of AP Biology and AP Chemistry.

Dr. Smallwood has 10 years of experience teaching math and sciences from Calculus to college-level Physics. In an interview with the Boiling Point, he said that his AP classes would be difficult and the students would work hard.

“My goal is to impart knowledge so hopefully the students will learn,” Dr. Smallwood said. “My secondary goal is to make it seem relevant to the lives of the students, rather than just a dry subject. Because it is relevant.”

Dr. Smallwood earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from UCLA and has published papers on the quantum mechanics of chemical reactions in fluids.  Before coming to Shalhevet, he taught most recently at the West Coast campus of Touro College, an Orthodox college system based in New York.   He traveled to Kocho, Japan, to teach English for a year in 2005.

Dr. Smallwood knew nothing about Shalhevet before his interview with Mr. Danovitch last month. He was impressed with the open communication he heard described between students and teachers.

“I am looking forward…to the Just Community model and having students who are comfortable interacting with their teachers,” Dr. Smallwood said.

He says that the year will be difficult because of what he called the “compressed” schedule, and that the pace would be identical to a college-level course.

Dr. Smalllwood is looking forward to the challenge.

“Students will have to work hard in my classes, but I’m fair and I’m aware of the difficulties of being a high school student,” Dr. Smallwood said.