Jay has been the school’s musical pied piper since 1996! He has a BA in Music from Middlebury College and plays an array of instruments. Jay enjoys instrumental and vocal improvisation, and plays bass, keyboard and sings with his bands, Jazzberry Jam and Hipfunk Associates. He introduces rhythm, movement and song to our youngest students;...Read More

Françoise’s journey in the Montessori field began when her 10 year old daughter started attending a Montessori school in 2003. Françoise believes that her daughter’s Montessori education helped build skills and self-confidence in a way that her prior  schooling did not allow. Over time, Françoise became more and more involved in her daughter’s school, first...Read More

Annie joined the Hilltop community in 2018 and is glad to bring her love of children and teaching experience back to Hilltop for a third year. She studied Education and Child Development at Marlboro College, where her thesis focused on the ideals of early childhood education and the importance of play in child development. She...Read More

Rebecca Baiser joined us in 2014 and puts Montessori training and experience into practice as the assistant teacher in the Willow Room. She obtained her Children’s House credential from the Princeton Center for Teacher Education in 2002 and received her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education in 2007. She has been an educator for over...Read More

Jonathan joined the Willow Room in 2014. Jonathan has his Children’s House certification from the Princeton Center for Teacher Education. He has five years of experience teaching in Montessori Children’s House classrooms, including at Amherst Montessori School and the New Century School (language immersion) in Baltimore, Maryland. Jonathan has a calm, nurturing, thoughtful, and mature...Read More

Julia joined Hilltop in 2019 as AfterCare staff. She was introduced to the Montessori world at age 3 and attended a Montessori school in Ithaca, NY for 6 years.  She got her undergraduate degree at Hampshire College in Animal Behavior, studying African elephants in Botswana. Since college, she has found herself back in the Montessori...Read More

Mariam has been the warm and welcoming pillar of Hilltop since 2011. Mariam attended training through the Montessori Elementary Teacher Training Collaborative (METTC) at Lexington Montessori School and the Advanced Assistant’s Overview training at the Gordon College. She studied the philosophy, pedagogy and methodology of Montessori education and how to guide children with the vast...Read More

Cheryl has been teaching in the Children’s House program since 1987, she is truly a “Master” Montessori teacher. She has a BS from Lyndon State College and has both her Primary (age 3-6) and Lower Elementary (age 6-9) AMS (American Montessori Society) certifications as well as her elementary education state certification from Franklin Pierce College....Read More

Marco joined Hilltop in 2015 as an After Care and Children’s House assistant, after seeing what a positive effect Hilltop had on his two children, who are currently in the Lower and Upper Elementary Programs. He moved to Brattleboro in 2014 from his home country of Ecuador. In Ecuador he taught language through music to preschoolers...Read More