Nicole Root
Founder and Facilitator

Nicole has a passion for creating environments that are pleasing to the eye, welcoming to the soul, and inspiring to the mind. She is continually amazed to see what children create when they have access to open-ended materials, time and support. She has a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Art from the College of Wooster and an M.A. in Early Childhood Education from Wheelock College in Boston. Before coming to Charlottesville in 2003, she taught Nursery School and Kindergarten for many years at a Washington D.C. Independent School. Nicole lives in Earlysville with her husband and two daughters, aged three and seven.

Dottie Podgorny
Resource Consultant

Before coming to Charlottesville in 2003, Dottie directed a pre-primary program for three to six year olds in Washington D.C. She has taught workshops for both parents and teachers, in Washington and abroad, stressing the beauty of respectful communication, the value of sensory-rich, open-ended materials and the possibility for adults to “facilitate” children’s learning.