About Us

Our story starts 17 years ago with the creation of Little Learner’s Academy in Fredericktown, Missouri. After almost two decades of success and multiple awards of recognition, Ashley Smith, owner and founder of Little Learner’s Academy, had shifted the area’s expectation of early childhood education. 

In 2021 Ashley’s world changed when her three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Autism in the middle of the pandemic. She quickly realized that children like her daughter needed programs that offered more than just the typical childcare services in our region. She then created our not-for-profit Little Learner’s Spectrum Center and set out to, again, create positive change within our community. 

“It (Little Learners) blossomed because we did something different” CEO Ashley Smith said. 

The effects Covid had on our children were devastating. It created a shift within families and children that typical early childcare was not informed and educated to serve before. New and extreme behaviors were created because of this trauma and isolation. Workers left due to stress and centers closed. 

Ashley knew that Little Learners had to be different from other centers. After discovering the new needs of children who had developed delays and trauma through the pandemic and the needs of children with special needs (Autism, ADHD, etc.), change was implemented. The first change came from partnering with our local school district to bring Conscious Discipline to both groups of educators. Conscious Discipline has been proven to be the best trauma-informed training. With this partnership, over 250 educators were trained. We were the first early childhood center to include Special Education classrooms within the center and then with another partnership, we became the first childcare center in our region to include Applied Behavior Therapists within it. We created a childcare center that was innovative and reached the needs of not only our children but also the workforce within our communities.  

Little Learners then increased their involvement within the community by creating the area’s first sensory gym and city museum. These areas were created for children to learn social skills, have sensory input/output, and teach independent life skills they will need as adults. We partnered with local businesses to fund different areas of the gym and museum. For example, the local BJC Parkland Hospital sponsored the replica hospital within our village. This not only created relationships between businesses but also allowed both parties the opportunity to refer families and the community to each other. Admission cost to the public is very minimal and the space is also used as a therapy space during the day for our therapists to access. We put more money back into the programs through admissions paid and other income collected here. 

In our county alone, 14 childcare centers closed from the lack of funding and accessibility due to Covid. We survived when many did not. Childcare, the backbone of the economy, is close to breaking. Without more funding and support it will break. 

Our project initiative is simple. We will adopt and implement worker-centered sector strategies that will serve as a model for other communities and businesses. We will train quality workers within eight counties (four of which are persistent poverty counties) in our region to implement and grow childcare openings and careers across our area.