Stuart was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. He graduated from UNC-Asheville with a degree in political science, but with a passion for ceramics. After a couple years of travel he and his partner Maggie moved to Brevard, NC where he worked as a potter  and gallery owner for the next decade. His family moved…

Mya grew up in Charlottesville, VA with her mom and grandmother. She is the only child. Mya has always had a passion of working with kids since it was something she witnessed her mom and grandma doing when she was younger.  Mya has experience working other children and love how their imagination can be so…

Jalyn grew up in Charlottesville, VA, with her mom and siblings. She also spent some of her childhood with her father in Buckingham, VA. From a young age, Jalyn actively participated in community work, such as distributing food to the homeless and volunteering at shelters during holidays. She always held the belief of making a…

Ben was born and raised in Washington, DC. He graduated from Macalester College with a degree in Psychology (with a focus on developmental psychology) and a minor in Educational Studies.  He attended and worked at a summer camp for years which helped him decide to work with children. Ben learned about ONCDC through his daughter…

Atlas grew up in Chincoteague, Virginia before moving to the Charlottesville area in 2017. He has always been a great lover of the outdoors and animals, both pets and wildlife. Growing up he spent most of his time on the wildlife refuge his mother worked at.  In his free time, you can often find Atlas…

DR has lived in every region of the east coast as a child. Unable to forget the blue mountains of Pennsylvania, she graduated from Appalachian State University in North Carolina and shortly after moved to this area. She held various jobs, but was unfulfilled at work and found meaning instead with her grayscale cats, their…

Miriam was born and raised in Charlottesville, and her life has been shaped by the Reggio Emilia philosophy- she attended a Reggio preschool herself and started working there when she was 14. In addition to her Reggio background, Miriam has experience in a forest school, in special education, and in public Pre-K.  Miriam graduated from…

Jackie was born in Burbank, California. She lived in Los Angeles until the age of six, then moved with her family to Afton, Virginia. Even though Afton is a drastic change from the big city, she quickly adapted. She has always had a great love for the outdoors, so rural Virginia was perfect. Jackie has…

Zac grew up in Waynesboro, Virginia with his mother, father and two younger brothers. He moved to Harrisonburg at the age of 20 to be closer to Blue Ridge Community College and live with friends attending JMU. While living in Harrisonburg, he met his wife, Kelly. Zac and Kelly got married in 2017 and welcomed…

Shannon grew up in northern Virginia before attending Roanoke College. There she studied psychology and many of her chosen electives were in human development. Before starting at ON, Shannon worked with English language learners, neurodiverse children, and underserved children in different settings. In addition to co-teaching at ON, she is currently on the RIE (Resources…