EarlyChildhood

Jada Berg

Jada Berg

Jada Berg

Sweet Clover Nursery Director and Lead Teacher

Jada is director of Sweet Clover Nursery and the lead teacher of the Dandelion Room for children ages 2 years to almost 4 years. Jada began teaching at Orchard Valley in 2014, spending two years with the Apple Blossom class at the Child’s Garden. She was part of a small team that was instrumental in creating the Sweet Clover Nursery’s Birth to Three program. 

Jada’s love of Waldorf education began as a child in preschool and elementary schools in New York's Hudson Valley. She fondly remembers her experiences there as some of the happiest parts of her childhood, which inspired her to become a teacher. Jada has a Bachelor's degree in Progressive Education from Goddard College. She taught at Green Valley Waldorf School, a nature-based Waldorf school in Putney, VT. She earned her Waldorf Early Childhood Certificate at Sophia's Hearth Teacher Education Center in Keene, NH. Jada is a dynamic teacher with a creative, heart-centered approach that honors the unique strengths of each child. She especially values mentoring and supporting newer teachers. Jada spends her free time singing, crafting, cooking and exploring nature. She has studied holistic healing practices for over 15 years, including nutrition, herbalism, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and  wisdom teachings from around the world. 

Jean Newberry

Jean Newberry

Jean Newberry

Sweet Clover Nursery, Rosebud Room

Jean is Co-Lead Teacher of the Rosebud Room, working with infants. She began working at Sweet Clover Nursery in 2016, starting as an assistant. Jean loves working with children and feels deeply honored to teach little ones during the steepest learning curve in their lives. She has worked with young children throughout her life, most steadily since the birth of her son in 2010. Her philosophy is that respect is the root of love, caring, peace and prosperity. Jean has found that these ideals align with the Pikler and Waldorf philosophies that are the foundation of our program at Sweet Clover Nursery. Jean strives to create an inviting space where children and families can relax, observe, play, and work together in a way that fosters healing, self-determination, and respect

Before coming to OVWS, Jean studied education and business at the Community College of Vermont. She worked in childcare with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, volunteered on family farms with Willing Workers on Organic Farms, and co-founded a healing foods cafe, the Tulsi Tea Room, in Montpelier.

Jean is currently finishing a degree in Human Services with a specialization in Early Childhood at Springfield College. When not at OVWS, Jean loves spending time with her son, gardening, singing, reading, practicing archery, listening to local music and old-time jazz. She enjoys learning about survival skills, education, neuroscience, psychology, herbalism, and traditional healing diets. 

Jungwoo Kim

Jungwoo Kim

Jungwoo Kim

Sweet Clover Nursery, Rosebud Room

Jungwoo Kim joined Sweet Clover Nursery in 2017, starting as an assistant and is now Co- Lead Teacher of the Rosebud Room working with infants. She earned her Waldorf Early Childhood Birth-to-Three Certificate through Sophia's Hearth Teacher Education Center in Keene NH. She is currently working toward completion of her Early Childhood Certification for children ages Birth - 7.

Jung grew up in South Korea, where she earned a BA in fashion design. Her journey to Vermont began by traveling across the world and eventually to New York City where she met her husband Michael. Her family moved to Vermont in 2014.

Jung’s desire to bring a natural and loving education to her children inspired her to first explore Waldorf Education in 2015. After enrolling her first two children, Joon and San, she decided to start a new career path in early childhood education. During her free time she enjoys reading, sewing, and spending time with her three children.

Nolwenn Renault

Nolwenn Renault

Lead Teacher - Sweet Pea Room

Nolwenn began working at Sweet Clover Nursery in 2019. She is finishing a dual Vermont licensure in early childhood and early childhood special education from UVM and Goddard College, where she wrote her Senior Study on the topic of Rudolf Steiner's perspective on early childhood.

Before Orchard Valley she worked in early childhood at the Trinity Children Center and Campus Children School, as well as with older children at the Maplehill School Farm and with teens at year round outdoor education camps. Nolwenn was born in France, and arrived to the US during her middle school years where she began to learn English. She often incorporates French and Breton nursery rhymes to the repertoire of songs in the classroom.
Nolwenn is truly passionate about the early toddler years and feels deep gratitude and reverence for the children she is able to help teach and care for.

Outside of her time at Orchard Valley, Nolwenn also trained at the Marshfield School of Weaving and through a variety of courses around the state, and continues to weave textiles as well as many different modalities of basketry from her home studio, both of which she teaches children and adults from time to time. She also enjoys knitting, farming/gardening, snowshoeing, fishing in all seasons, and other wild food harvests.

Michelle Gullage

Michelle Gullage

Michelle Gullage

Farm & Forest Kindergarten

Michelle worked in Adventure Education and Wilderness Therapy for twelve years before stumbling upon Waldorf Education while looking for a school for her oldest child.

Now with over a decade of experience serving as an Assistant and Lead Teacher in Waldorf Kindergarten, Michelle is so happy to have found OVWS—a place where her love of the outdoors and Waldorf Education meet. She looks forward to the many years of adventures with her students, all the while assisting them in finding the goodness in themselves and in the world around them.

In her spare time, Michelle loves to drink coffee, listen to bluegrass, and disappear into the forest on bike and foot. She has two children, who attend OVWS, a husband and an entire menagerie of animals who live on a mountaintop just a few miles from school.


Peggy Roche

Peggy Roche

Peggy Roche

Apple Tree Kindergarten

Peggy has been in a Waldorf Early Childhood classroom since 2003. Having initially been drawn to the beauty of the Waldorf Early Childhood classroom and the artistic, soulful quality of Waldorf education, Peggy especially enjoys the laughter and joy of sharing snack time together and creating handwork with little ones. She studied fiber arts in college, earning a Master of Fine Arts, and has always believed in the gift of creating beauty for our world. Peggy has traveled extensively in West Africa, Asia and Europe. She taught preschool in South Korea and there her love of the small child was born. She and her husband Moss enjoy camping, reading, and going out to eat with their daughter, Maeve and their son, Rowan.

Stephanie Hoelscher

Stephanie Hoelscher

Stephanie Hoelscher

Director and Co-Teacher

Stephanie Hoelscher is the director of the Child’s Garden and lead teacher of the Sunflower class for children ages 3 to 6 years. She came to Orchard Valley in 2010 when she started the Apple Blossom program, serving very young children. Stephanie received her certification in Waldorf Early Childhood education from Sunbridge and began her Waldorf work with young children at a charter Waldorf School in Phoenix, AZ where she taught in a large, mixed-aged kindergarten. Stephanie finds that her past training as a cultural anthropologist deepens the observational skills important to her work as a teacher and is deeply committed to creating a learning environment where the young child’s need for play, movement, and practical work can find its truest expression. Most recently Stephanie has started an advanced training course in therapeutic movement in order to bring new pedagogical insights to her mixed-aged class.

Marianne Perchlik

Marianne Perchlik

Marianne Perchlik

Co-Teacher

Marianne earned her BA in Theater and English from Holy Cross College, then earned a JD and a Masters in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. She served as an Agriculture Volunteer in the US Peace Corps in Paraguay, then returned to Vermont to serve as a VISTA volunteer. She also worked as an attorney for the Vermont Juvenile Defender. Childbirth and motherhood stirred her inspiration toward the craft of caring more consciously for people and for the natural world and brought her to Waldorf Education. For 12 years, while her three children attended OVWS, Marianne developed her own practice as a certified Childbirth Mentor, Doula and Simplicity Parenting Coach. Marianne completed Certification as a Waldorf High School Teacher from the Center for Anthroposophy in 2015. She was a member of the faculty of the Initiative; a Vermont Waldorf High School, for four years.