About Us

Our Teacher/Director

Zoë finds herself drawn to many hobbies/interests including pastel drawing, dancing, organic gardening, crafts of all kinds, hiking, camping, aromatherapy, homeopathy, singing, photography, traditional cooking...the list is ever expanding! Above all, Zoë treasures her role as mother and teacher, and finds the excitement and joy that children bring to her life irresistible. She has spent the last seven years working to improve the lives of young children and their families in settings ranging from public health centers to summer camps to Head Start classrooms. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Education from UNC-CH in 2005, with a major in Child Development and Family Studies, and is a licensed birth-Kindergarten teacher. Zoë believes in the inherent worth and beauty in each and every child, and brings a gentle kindness (along with a sense of fun) to her interactions with all those she meets.

The parent of a former student writes:

"When Zoë first arrived...it was quickly apparent to us that she was not only skilled and knowledgeable about the care and development of children, but also sincerely cared about them as individuals."

Our Environment

The classroom is a light-filled space full of the vitality of wooden furniture and the comfort of cotton and wool rugs. A focus on the beauty of the space is very important to us, as we believe that the young child is very impressionable, and absorbs all that is around him or her. For this reason, our toys and materials are chosen carefully, and are predominantly made of natural materials like wood, silk, and wool.

Favorites of the children include the private reading nook, the well-stocked play kitchen, and the doll corner. Other areas of the room offer art supplies, blocks, wooden vehicles, animals with their own barn, a dollhouse, manipulatives such as puzzles and stacking toys, and a well-loved rocking horse. Large double doors overlook the securely fenced-in yard.

A lake beyond the fence offers children the chance to observe the comings and goings of herons, ducks, geese, cormorants, turtles, and the occasional jumping fish. Bluebirds and hummingbirds are frequent visitors to the yard. Our gentle cat enjoys nothing more than a good petting, and although a sweet dog shares the house with us, she will be kept separate from the children during school.

All the children are given the opportunity to work in our organic vegetable garden, and to reap the benefits of the harvest at our snack table. A teepee covered in flowering vines offers a shady spot for friends to share a quiet moment. Ride-on toys, toy trucks, and wagons offer loading, pulling, pushing, and riding fun. The sandbox is always a favorite, as is a water table. Hot summer days offer more water play with a sprinkler and wading pool. A wooden-climbing structure provides gross-motor fun. Open-ended materials such as wooden boards, tree stumps, pine needles, pinecones, and cloth provide the materials for inventive creative pursuits.