Faculty & Staff

Leimomi Apoliona Brown

Teacher

In high school Leimomi knew she wanted to work with young children and was interested in progressive education. As a college sophomore she studied in India because she wanted to see the world and as a result became interested in the Hawaiian Rights Movement. She was a founding member of the Protect Kaho’olawe Ohana, which was successful in stopping the military assault of Kaho`olawe by U.S. forces and negotiating its return from U.S. military jurisdiction. This activism awakened in her the desire to discover what it meant to be a Hawaiian so she began an intensive study of Hula and changed her major from Philosophy to Dance Education and Hawaiian Studies. When looking for a school for her two young daughters, Leimomi discovered Acorn Hill and immediately found a kind of home – a home where her interest in the arts, philosophy, environmental justice, multiculturalism, storytelling, movement, and inner development has dovetailed neatly into her professional life. Working at Acorn Hill allows Leimomi to spend time teaching young children, a most rejuvenating and fulfilling occupation.

Andrea Daney

Teacher

Andrea came to early childhood education and teaching through a winding path. When her own son was young (too young for Acorn Hill!) she began a small home program for toddlers. After a few years of teaching at the Washington Waldorf School in the parent child and parent toddler programs, she began substituting at Acorn Hill, eventually becoming an assistant teacher, and then a lead teacher. Andrea completed her Waldorf Early Childhood teacher training through Sunbridge Institute.

Prior to staying home to care for her children, Andrea worked for a variety of Federal Agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency. She spent two years living and working in Sri Lanka as a Peace Corps volunteer—and loves to share stories from that experience with the children at snack time! Andrea holds a MPA from Indiana University and a BA from Haverford College. She attended the Washington Waldorf School as a child.

Angeli Escalante

Assistant Teacher

Angeli was born in Quezon City, Philippines, raised in Catonsville, MD starting at age 5, but grew up in New York, New York. She studied Fine Arts at Goucher College but later graduated with a B.A. in Communications & Business Management (’91). Shortly after, she left for the Big Apple to work for a large Wall Street law firm. Angeli spent about 15 years in Manhattan working in corporate, securities, and film finance, while volunteering for the Children of Bellevue, reading to hospitalized children, Reach Out & Read, and as a Child Advocate for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) in Manhattan and Brooklyn Family Courts. She returned home to Maryland/DC after 9/11, and became a member of the Junior League of Baltimore, continuing her dedication to community service.

Angeli got off to an early start caring for children in the 1970’s by helping with her mother’s home child care service. She was introduced to Acorn Hill by a WWS parent, whom she met at a nearby dogpark where their puppies played together. She started as a substitute teacher at Acorn Hill in 2016, later becoming the 3 Day Nursery assistant teacher, Parent/Child assistant teacher and Friday Aftercare teacher. Currently, she is the assistant teacher in the Young Nursery class with lead teacher Natasha Nair.

Angeli also teaches Visual Arts and STEAM inspired projects to nursery, kindergarten, and elementary aged kids at SITAR Arts Center in Adams Morgan, Washington, DC. Outside of teaching, she is a licensed Realtor who helps manage her family’s properties. Angeli lives with her husband, who is a sports journalist, as well as a cat named Einstein, and her two dogs: Fionnuala-Tula & Ellicott (“Ellie”). She continues to serve her community through her work with animal rescue organizations.

Kate Gage

Faculty Chair, Teacher

Kate was born in the DC area. She traveled through Europe, settled in Ethiopia and traveled again in East Africa. When she returned to the States she finished her BA (science, painting, poetry and pottery), and received her MFA (in painting and new forms) from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. During her middle years she lived in an artist’s loft in Soho, in the country on Martha’s Vineyard, and at the foot of the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. She gardened, made art, designed theatre sets, and got involved in a household hazardous waste project. Kate discovered Waldorf education shortly after the birth of her daughter and is now a certified Waldorf Elementary Education and Therapeutic Education Teacher. Since 1996, she has loved working at Acorn Hill as a nursery and parent-child teacher. Kate has written articles for Waldorf publications and gives workshops and presentations at the annual Waldorf Kindergarten Conference and to our Acorn Hill community.

Liz Hagerman

Teacher

Liz Hagerman MA, BC-DMT, is a board certified dance/movement therapist with a masters degree from Goucher College(1990). She has studied motor development and the relationship of motor development to the development of sense of self. Liz is a Waldorf Birth to Three specialist,(Sophia’s Hearth), a Pikler® pedagogue candidate, a RIE® intern, and a certified Infant massage instructor. Working from the insights of both Rudolf Steiner and Emmi Pikler, Liz developed the Birth to Two Parenting program here at Acorn Hill, where she has worked since 2001. She is on the Birth to Three advisory circle to the WECAN board (Waldorf
Early Childhood Association of North America), and is a member of the Acorn Hill board. She is on the faculty of the two year Infant Observation program at the Washington School of Psychiatry. She is the mother of two grown sons both of whom attended Acorn Hill and Washington Waldorf School.

Marie-Christine Hoover

Teacher

Marie-Christine was born and raised in the Loire Valley, France, lived in the countryside and was lucky to grow up with wonderful homegrown vegetables and fruit from her father’s garden. She studied in Orleans where she earned degrees in Tourism and English. She came to the United States in 1992 and met her soon-to-be husband, and they moved to Bethesda in 1995, after getting married in her hometown in France. Marie-Christine worked for the French Embassy and French mission to the OAS for several years, then opened and ran a French Antique furniture store in Kensington with her husband for 10 years. She loved the contact with customers and the smell of beeswax used to nourish the old furniture. When her first daughter was ready for school, Marie-Christine was introduced to Acorn Hill – it was love at first sight! Starting as a substitute teacher, Marie-Christine is now a certified Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher and an assistant teacher in the Five Day Nursery. Her daughters, Emma and Hannah are both attending the Washington Waldorf School. Marie-Christine loves camping and taking walks in the woods with her dog Loki, finding peace and inspiration in nature.

Jane Jannotta

Business Office Assistant

Jane was born and raised in Maryland and has lived in or near Silver Spring most of her life. She earned a BS degree from the University of Maryland, working for a Government contractor in Washington DC upon graduating. She soon sensed the need for a big life and career change, and joined the staff of a small health magazine as a Publisher’s Assistant, while also tutoring high school math part-time. Her favorite, most challenging and rewarding job followed – raising her three children. Her two daughters, Eva and Melia, and son, Nolan, all went to Acorn Hill many moons ago, and it was here at Acorn Hill that Jane’s deep interests in holistic health and spirituality dovetailed so beautifully with parenting. When her children began 1st grade, she home schooled them through 8th grade using Waldorf methods. Her recent interests include yoga, meditation, and long walks in the woods with her pup.

Rajni Joshi

Assistant Teacher

Rajni grew up in Lucknow, India where she earned a Masters of Anthropology and a Masters of Social Work. She started her career managing health programs in India for underserved rural populations. After moving to the U.S., she worked for several years teaching at a cooperative preschool in Silver Spring. When Rajni and her family moved back to India from 2014-2018, she worked with a non-profit in New Delhi where she trained teachers, organized programs for adolescent girls, and started a program to train young women from poor, urban areas in early child development. Rajni lives in Takoma Park with her husband and two sons, who attended the Acorn Hill summer program and parent-child program. She is drawn to the wholesomeness of the Waldorf philosophy of education and its emphasis on nature and imagination. Rajni enjoys yoga, painting, gardening, writing poetry, and acting in Hindi theater productions.

Fozia Joshua

Teacher

Fozia Joshua brings her warm, quiet demeanor, bright smile, inner strength and love of children to her teaching at Acorn Hill. Starting first as a substitute, then working as an assistant teacher, Fozia is now a lead teacher in one of our Five Day classes. Prior to her work at Acorn Hill, Fozia managed a home-based child care business. Fozia attended one of our first Mother-Infant classes and, over the years, both her daughter and son attended Acorn Hill through kindergarten before continuing on at the Washington Waldorf School. Fozia received her Waldorf Early Childhood Education training from Sunbridge Institute, New York.

Mariam Kante

Business Manager

Mariam Kante was born and raised in West Africa. She came to the United States, as a young woman, to further her education. She received her Associates degree in Business Administration at Montgomery College and earned her B.S. in accounting at the University of Maryland College Park. She was with an accounting firm in Bethesda for three years, where she enjoyed their client-focused and team-driven culture. She discovered Acorn Hill with great joy, when she was looking to become part of a warmth-filled community that embraces diversity, and where she could do something more meaningful. She takes great pleasure in reading and spending time with family.

Natasha Nair

Teacher   

As the daughter of a foreign service officer, Natasha grew up in Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Cairo and Maryland. She then attended McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After completing her BSc in Psychology, Natasha went on to work as a meditation and yoga program manager for both adults and teenagers. This led her to go back to school and complete her MA in Elementary Education at American University. She then taught various grades in the D.C. public school system. When her son was born, she discovered Acorn Hill and immediately fell in love with its holistic and nurturing environment. As another child came along and years went by, it became clear to her that Acorn Hill represented the perfect blend of her love for children and her beliefs in child rearing and education. She lives with her husband Dileep, her two grade school children who attend the Washington Waldorf School and her labradoodle, Milo.

Monica Nermark

Administrator

Monica first came to Acorn Hill as a parent in 2010 in the Parent-Child program, and enjoyed the quiet and warm atmosphere and pedagogy of the school. Her children continued to attend Acorn Hill until 2016, while Monica became active in the Parent Circle, and joined as a substitute teacher. In September 2017, Monica was hired as the Administrative Assistant. Monica was born in Sweden and raised in Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, before completing her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania. After working in Washington, DC for a year, Monica moved to London for 13 years, where she took on various roles at a number of small businesses, ranging from a consultant at a management consulting firm, strategy consultant at a web development company, and as an account manager at a software firm specializing in the asset management sector. Since moving back to the Washington, DC area, Monica has stayed at home with her two children, until they began grade school, and has been actively involved in school and neighborhood community activities. Monica enjoys walking or biking to Acorn Hill from her nearby home.

Stella Oliveras

Assistant Teacher

Stella is a Brazilian American who has spent most of her life in the South. She studied in Tennessee for her undergraduate degree in Business Administration and soon after graduating began working overseas as an ELS teacher in South Korea. In her later 20s she moved to Laurel, MD where she now resides with her husband, 2 energetic dogs and a turtle named Russell. Since moving to Maryland, she has worked in both non-profit and for-profit sectors focusing most of her time in the Health and Fitness Industry. Looking for a change of pace and to grow in the field of education, she joined the staff at Acorn Hill as an assistant teacher in the Aftercare program and now as an assistant teacher in the Three Day Nursery Afternoon Program. Stella enjoys traveling, cooking new recipes, and hiking in the woods with her pups.

Melanie Pipes

Assistant Teacher

Living a magical childhood in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Melanie Pipes patted out mud pies, cooked stew under wild grapevines and chewed on birch bark with her cousins! She later went on to get a teaching degree at UNC-Chapel Hill and taught literature and writing to high school students who were very similar to kindergartners! Embarking on a grand adventure, she moved to California where she made an experimental film about her uncle who died from cancer. After getting an MFA in film at San Francisco University, Melanie headed to Los Angeles and worked in the film industry. She stumbled upon this new kind of education at an LA charter school where they were using Waldorf methods in the classroom. Missing her family, she returned East, got married and had an awesome daughter Maisy, who led her to Acorn Hill!

Teresa Price

Assistant Teacher

Teresa joined our faculty in 2005 as an assistant teacher, after eight years of substituting and working in our Summer Program. She has served on both the Diversity Committee and our Board. She is currently Vice President of the Southern DC Chapter of Mocha Moms Inc., of which she has been a member for more than 10 years and has run a summer camp for young children from her home. She has been involved in holistic health for over 25 years.  Teresa has been very active in many community projects involving children, parenting, education, world peace, nutrition, and equity and justice. Her sons Alan and Amir were students at Acorn Hill and the Washington Waldorf School for over twelve years. She has a BS from the University of Maryland in Business and Psychology. Teresa grew up in Prince Georges County, Maryland and spent her childhood baking, cooking, singing, playing, reading and spending time in nature.

Carol St. John

Teacher

Caryn Wexler

Assistant Teacher

Caryn grew up on Long Island in New York State. From there, she lived many places before settling with her family in Silver Spring. She graduated from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, with a BFA in Acting and Directing. Moving to NYC to pursue a career, she met her future husband. Moves to Chicago, Brooklyn, Erie, PA and Baltimore followed. Caryn has found many ways to serve in the communities she settled in – political campaigning in NYC, working in a GED program in the Cook County Jail (Chicago), advocating for libraries as a member of the Erie County Library Board of Trustees (PA), and coaching teen actors in Silver Spring. She discovered Waldorf education while looking for a school for her son. As soon as he “graduated” from Acorn Hill, Caryn began substituting, assisting in the Summer, Afternoon and Aftercare programs before becoming a full-time member of the staff.

Leslie Woolverton

Teacher

Leslie Woolverton has lived in the Washington, DC area the majority of her life. She double majored in Visual Arts and Art History at Trinity College, DC. Leslie began a varied and rich professional life right after college working at the National Institutes of Health as a photographer, serving as a correspondent’s assistant at ABC Network News, and owning and operating her own photography studio and interior design businesses. Parenting her young son led her to reconnect with the joy of Waldorf education and her anthroposophical upbringing. She came to Acorn Hill with her son and in 2003 joined our faculty as the Assistant Teacher in the Parent/Child classes. With the completion of her Waldorf Early Childhood Teaching Certificate, Leslie is now our Lead Teacher in the 3 Day Class.