Primary School Lead Teacher
Forest School Lead &
Early Bird Administrator

Patricia is a native and lifelong resident of New Jersey who has loved exploring in nature since  childhood. With decades of experience in child care and education combined with this love of the  outdoors, she feels right at home teaching in the natural setting of Sapling Woods Nature School.  Patricia’s most recent teaching experience includes 9 years of nature preschool and 9 years of cooperative nursery school. She has a strong interest in local fauna and flora which she enjoys learning  about with colleagues and children. She loves to follow the children’s natural curiosity and help them  expand their knowledge by writing and teaching songs about the plants and animals in the local environment. Patricia is fluent in French, conversant in Spanish and has a love of language learning. She loves sports and is an avid tennis player and pickleballer.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts  with a French concentration from St. Michael’s College in Winooski Park, VT and a master’s degree in  Teaching English as a Second Language from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ. Patricia has  taught a variety of subjects to people of all ages from preschool to adult and feels that working with children in a mostly outdoor program has been her most rewarding and fulfilling teaching experience.

Kindergarten & Primary/ Homeschool Support Teacher

Christie grew up in Pennsylvania and is excited to be back after spending 17 years in Colorado. She graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Psychology and began her career working in mental health, including working with teens at a wilderness therapy program.

After discovering her passion for education, she pursued her teaching license through Relay Graduate School of Education and went on to teach and tutor elementary students for five years. She has always loved helping children learn through curiosity, hands-on experiences, and meaningful connections with the world around them.

Outside of teaching, Christie is passionate about holistic health and wellness, getting to know local flora and fauna, and making homemade herbal remedies & recipes. These hobbies inspired her to get certified as a naturopathic wellness coach, giving her the opportunity to work with others and help them live a more nature-centered life.

She believes that spending time outdoors is one of the greatest mental resets and loves hiking, biking, exploring, and getting curious about the world with her daughter. She is excited to bring her love of nature, learning, and child-led discovery to the school community!

Kindergarten Lead Teacher
Early Bird Lead Teacher

Jennifer is immensely grateful to be growing with the Sapling Woods community this year!  Last year, Jennifer began her journey with SWNS as the Art Teacher, Owl Club Instructor, and Oaks & Acorns Instructor.  She graduated from the CAP21 Conservatory in NYC, studying musical theatre performance.  It is from this foundation of storytelling and improvisational artistry that she bases her educational facilitation. 

Jennifer brings experience as a nature conservation leader and educator with The Student Conservation Association, where for four years she led a program for high school students from the Fedcap School, a charter school in West Orange, NJ, dedicated to serving individuals with emotional regulation impairment disabilities from economically disadvantaged communities. In this role she integrated physical trail work with nature-based educational opportunities. She facilitated practical work skills for students’ future employment, cultivated therapeutic connection with the natural world, and supported the students in building healthy confidence through acts of service and stewardship.  

Over this past summer she received her Nature Based Teaching Certification through the Association for Nature Based Education.  In 2025, she completed Empowered Space Holders for Arts Educators, a course focused on social-emotional learning, trauma-informed facilitation, and nervous system awareness. 

Jennifer believes in grounding her dreams for a more beautiful shared future with devoted service to community, especially the rising generations. Her passion for holistic wellness led to receiving her Reiki Master certification with ManKindYoga NYC in 2018.

Jennifer intends to encourage child-like wonder through her facilitation, and empower each individual student with the knowledge and confidence needed to navigate the natural world. She is inspired to further integrate her experiences as an artist, educator, and lifelong learner, and pour her joyful heart into her role at Sapling Woods! In her free time when she’s not twirling in the forest, you can find Jennifer painting and singing at home with her cats Gaia and Lyra.

Forest Pre-K Lead Teacher

Anna has been a forest school PreK teacher for the past 3 years. She has a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and earned her Montessori Early Childhood Education Certificate in 2022. She will complete her Level 1 Nature Based Teacher Certification through ANBE in July 2025. 

Some highlights of Anna’s past work experiences include: field crew at Yosemite National Park, historic building preservationist, and bread baker. Some favorite activities include: gardening with her daughter, hiking local trails, learning about native plants, and watching her children try new things… (like reading and mountain biking! kids are so brave!) Anna is passionate about nature education and believes every child can find belonging in nature.

Forest Pre-K Support Teacher

Neil moved to NJ from Peru in the spring of 2019. His first year was spent learning about seasons and all the activities you can do outside during the different times of the year. Neil has been an outdoor educator as a supporting teacher for five years. You can usually find him inventing games to engage students, playing soccer, or teaching some Spanish words. He is studying for his CDA. In his free time, Neil can be found playing with his daughter, camping with his family or playing soccer.

Forest Pre-K Support Teacher

Maggie has been a proud New Jerseyan her whole life. Her interest in teaching began seven years ago when she started volunteering at the nursery school she attended long ago. The nurturing environment created by those teachers, including her mom in the 2’s classroom, taught Maggie the importance of patience, kindness, and creative flexibility when working with children. She has been a substitute teacher for several traditional preschools in the central Jersey area for the past three years and is excited to dive into all things nature preschool! Maggie is currently working towards her elementary education degree.

Maggie is an avid jigsaw puzzler and reader, and has recently taken up running and cross-stitch (luckily not at the same time)! Maggie is also a life long lover of theater. She currently works on and off stage with a local community theater group. Fun fact: Maggie’s dog is named after Dolly Parton!

Nature Preschool Lead Teacher

Mae is thrilled to be joining The Sapling Woods Nature School Community. From her first exposure to Nature School at Painted Oak as a substitute, she was left with one big regret, that her three girls were not apart of this special school when they were younger. 

Mae has three wonderful children, Julia, a senior, Kate, a fifth grader, and last but not least, her third grader, Edie. Mae’s experience with children is not limited to motherhood. Since becoming a stay at home mom (and well before that as well), Mae has served many families from around the globe as a nanny and babysitter in the greater Princeton/New York area. Additionally, she served as an Education Committee Member, Nursery Caretaker, and Sunday School Teacher at Princeton United Methodist Church. Mae also worked in a traditional pre-school as a part-time Lead Teacher Blawenberg Village School. Twelve years ago, Mae combined two of her passions and became a certified Little Flower Children’s Yoga Instructor. 

While Mae’s love of children seemed to be always be innate, she was a late bloomer to her love affair with nature. Being a Queens , New York native, her exposure to nature was pretty limited, with the exception of one week per year Upstate, designing mud piles, catching frogs, and getting lost in the woods.

As a very resistant New Jersey resident, Mae initially spent much of her free time going back to the city. Eventually, after her second child was born, Mae leaned in to her curious and adventurous nature and accepted an invitation to hike the Sourlands with a mom friend from a playgroup. From there, she started hiking every Saturday, sometimes before the sunrise, to soak in all the beauty and benefits outdoors has to offer. Eventually Mae become an amphibian crossing guard with the Sourland Conservancy, a finisher of the Monmouth March twenty mile hike, and also completed a women’s only backpacking challenge in Wyoming with “Hike Like A Woman”. 

Mae is feels so fortunate to be in a place where all of her passions are embraced and can be shared. The comfort and clarity nature offers is a true gift. Mae is excited to absorb the expertise of those around her at Sapling Woods while continuing to help foster learning of our little ones in a kind, child and nature centric environment. 

Mae is always a student of the world around her. She is continuing her education in a more formal these days working towards her CDA and taking classes at RVCC. 

Nature Preschool Lead Teacher

Tracey holds an associates degree in art from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. After working in her field she chose to raise a family. She spent most of those years teaching her own kids about nature and helping others. She volunteered her time with her children's schools and also helped local organizations in need. She strongly feels nature, kindness and a sense of community build strong character; and there is a lesson to be found in everything.

She has been with Painted Oak for about 6 years in total, taking some time off to be with her family but soon returned. In her role as an assistant teacher she completed several workshops on child development as well as child social emotional classes. She feels strongly about children learning about our world, all who live on it and how to care for it.

Tracey can be found in the woods with her husband and her dog hiking. Or spending time with her 3 children. Her many joys of gardening and baking bring much joy to all who receive her bounty. She also finds joy in learning more about helping new ways to better support young developing minds.

Nature Preschool Support Teacher

Nadia graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in Environment & Sustainability and a minor in education. She enjoyed exploring the gorgeous landscapes of Ithaca, NY, including as a backpacking and snowshoeing instructor with Cornell Outdoor Education. Nadia has worked at Watershed Nature Camp for more than five summers, and can often be found splashing in the stream, observing wacky and wonderful insects, or singing songs. She loves helping kids learn how to treat each other and nature with kindness, try new things, and feel at home outdoors. Some of her other interests include sewing, cooking, music, and dancing. Nadia is so excited to be part of the Sapling Woods Team!

Nature Preschool Support Teacher

Madison graduated from the University of Vermont with a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology. Her favorite memories from classes include: trawling Lake Champlain and then frantically sorting and measuring fish in heavy winds and rain, following a path of red pines that had been marked by black bears, snorkeling to practice fish counts in Shelburne Pond, and finding footage of a three-legged black bear on a trail camera!

In her free time she loves to swim, watch sunsets on Lake Champlain and enjoy a maple creemee. The past three years she has worked at summer camps, including a zoo camp! She created weekly lesson plans in which she introduced ideas about wildlife conservation, and general animal knowledge. There, she explored the zoo every day and had behind the scenes looks at the education animals.

She also mentored a conservation themed kayaking trip down the Schuylkill river for high school students. Currently, she is a Conservation Education intern at the Elmwood Park Zoo where she practices barn husbandry, and more importantly get unlimited opportunities to talk to kids and zookeepers about our animals! One of her favorite things about working with kids is providing them with a safe space to test the boundaries and learn new things.

Madison’s hobbies are country line dancing, trivia, swimming in lakes, trying new restaurants, going to the movie theatre, reading, and spending time with her friends. 

Office Administrator and
Enrollment Specialist

Megan is so excited for her second year at Sapling Woods working the front desk. Megan has a degree in Ornamental Horticulture from MCCC. But her love of the outdoors and plants started at a very young age exploring the mountains of Pennsylvania at her grandparents cabin. Megan has been working with children for over 20 years as a dance teacher in Robbinsville, NJ.

Megan’s previous job experience includes Office Manager at a doctor’s office, administrative assistant at a lightning protection company, and stay at home mom for 8 years to her two wonderful children. When Megan is not dancing or playing pirates with her kids, you can find her reading as many books as possible. 

She is excited to see all the smiling faces of kids ready to learn and explore at Sapling Woods Nature School. 

School Operations Director &
Owl Club Administrator

Val is so excited to be joining the Sapling Woods family and beginning a new adventure with a role that combines two things she loves: supporting a great school community and spending time with children!

Her love for working with children began when she was a senior in high school, when she started working in the aftercare program at Hopewell Elementary YMCA. That experience sparked something special, and shortly after, she became an assistant teacher in a 3-year-old classroom at Rainbow Academy. Over the years, she has had the opportunity to work with children ranging from infants to teenagers and has loved watching them learn, grow, and discover who they are along the way.

After working as a business manager in a pediatric setting, Val realized that her heart was calling her back to working with children. She believes that sometimes following your dreams can take you on a few unexpected adventures. In fact, she once followed one of her own big dreams all the way to Disney, hoping to become a princess! While that particular dream didn’t quite work out as planned, the adventure eventually brought her back home to New Jersey—and back to working with children.

Now, Val is excited to bring her experience and love of children to Sapling Woods. In her role, she will be helping with administrative responsibilities while also spending time with the children, including supporting Owl Club, our after school program. She believes it is important to encourage children to dream big, be curious, and follow their imaginations wherever they may lead. After all, she knows firsthand that dreams don’t always take us exactly where we expect—but they can lead us somewhere wonderful.

Val is a big kid at heart with a goofy sense of humor and loves making children laugh, encouraging their creativity, and joining in on their adventures. She hopes to be someone the children feel comfortable talking to, playing with, and learning alongside.

When she isn’t at Sapling Woods, you can usually find Val somewhere near the water! She enjoys taking pottery classes with friends, playing Skip-It, going for walks along the canal, and exploring the outdoors.

She is so excited to be part of the Sapling Woods community and can’t wait to see what adventures this school year brings!

Head of School

Amy is the Head of School for Sapling Woods Nature School, a thriving educational community inspired by her deep passion for holistic living, nature-based learning, and childhood development. After graduating from Rider University and spending three years working in finance, Amy made a bold decision to follow her heart and pursue a career as a yoga instructor. Along the way, she earned certifications in both yoga and AcroYoga, embracing a path of wellness that would ultimately guide her to a new, unexpected calling.

Through her yoga practice, Amy connected with a parent whose child attended a local nature-based school. Intrigued by the idea, she explored nature schools further and quickly recognized the profound impact they had on children’s development. When Amy’s own son was born in 2018, she felt a deep desire to provide him with the same nurturing, outdoor-focused educational experience. After trying several preschools, Amy found her home at Painted Oak Nature School, where her passion for nature-based learning blossomed.

Amy worked at Painted Oak for two years, pouring her heart into the children, teachers, and community. But when the school’s owner decided to move on to a new chapter, Amy knew the need for such a unique educational space was too great to let go. Fueled by a deep commitment to the children and families she served, Amy founded Sapling Woods Nature School, ensuring that this vital model of early childhood education would continue to grow and thrive.

Today, Amy continues to inspire and guide children and families on a journey rooted in curiosity, connection, and the wonders of the natural world. Sapling Woods stands as a testament to her dedication to creating a nurturing, hands-on learning environment that fosters resilience, creativity, and a lifelong love of the outdoors.

Art Teacher

Alison is so very excited to be teaching your little ones art this year. Her adult life has been dedicated to art and cultivating a love of creating in children. 

Alison received her BFA in illustration at The School of Visual Arts in NYC then immediately there after earned a Masters in Education from Monmouth University. 

Since then she has worked as an art teacher in elementary school until her first child was born in 2018. This is when she started her in home daycare, Busy Bees, and welcomed two more children. She incorporates art, creativity, and expansive thinking into her every day and is so excited for the opportunity to share her lessons with the students at Sapling Woods. 

Her methods of teaching are all about the process and divergent thinking, exercising children’s abilities to reimagine ideas in unexpected ways. 

She can’t wait to see what your child’s creative minds come up with!