Our name, our vision
Our name captures our vision for the school. Pando Little School combines two ideas we hold dear: interconnectedness and belonging.
Pando comes to us from southern Utah. It’s the name of a grove of quaking aspens connected through an elaborate network of roots. The grove is just one organism, thousands of years old. In Latin, Pando means “I spread.”
When one tree becomes injured, the others send nutrients to nourish their sick kin. Pando's roots are a metaphor for the interdisciplinary, non-linear curriculum we strive to create; a curriculum where children are empowered to draw connections between the ideas and experiences that speak to them.
In our community, children call their preschools “little” schools. The expression contrasts the “big” elementary school that one day, they’ll enter. We loved how they expressed understanding of their early schooling experience, and respectfully incorporated the phrase into Pando’s name.
It is with pride that we refer to Pando as a little school, a space where children and families have a sense of ownership and belonging.
Faculty
Director
Melissa Scott
melissa@pandoschool.com
Melissa is a seasoned early childhood professional with experience working in some of the best early childhood programs in the country.
In her work with children, she embraces a radical willingness to listen. She believes that one of her most important responsibilities as an educator of young children is to instill in them the belief that their perspective matters, ought to be taken seriously, and can be the impetus for meaningful change in our world.
As a director, she empowers teachers to be creative, critical thinkers who are committed to their continuous professional growth and development. She is passionate about supporting practitioner-initiated research as a way of advocating for school practices and governmental policy that empowers children and early childhood professionals.
Education
University of Chicago
M.A. Social Sciences, 2014
University of Cincinnati
M.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction, 2011
Haverford College
B.A. Anthropology, 2008
Activities & Affiliations
• NMCCEA Board Member
•Active member of the Collaborative Teachers’ Institute
• Regular presenter at Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education Conference
• Member of New Mexico Early Childhood Mentor Network.
Member of the New Mexico Reggio Emilia Exchange.
Expertise
• The Reggio Emilia Approach
• Tinkering and messing about
• Project work
• Pedagogical documentation
• Democratic participation among young children
• Chickens and compost
Assistant Director
Valerie Stefani
pandolittleschooloffice@gmail.com
Valerie has been inspired by children’s thoughts and ideas for as long as she can remember. She has experience working with young children in many arrangements – school classrooms and home child care settings, in both teaching and leadership roles. She believes that relationships are at the heart of education, and that education is not a matter of right or wrong answers, but of experimentation and collaboratively constructing meaning as a community. In her free time, she sings barbershop harmony, reads voraciously, and works on complex jigsaw puzzles with her partner.
Education
Portland State University, Oregon
M.S. Early Childhood Inclusive Education, concentration in Constructivism, in progress
St. John’s College, Santa Fe NM
B.A. Liberal Arts
Activities & Expertise
• Teacher collaboration and the Reggio Emilia approach
• Piano player and barbershop singer
• Spreadsheet aficionado
• Nurturer of houseplants and house cats
Interim Director and Sunflower teacher
Michaela “Micci” Fournier
pandoliaison@gmail.com
Michaela has dreamed of working with children ever since she lined her dolls up for “lessons” at age four. She has worked in childcare in a variety of settings from nannying and after school care, to youth yoga classes and immersive French summer camps. Her teaching philosophy could be summed up as “say ‘yes’ as often as possible” and she enjoys helping kids find their voices and explore their unique interests. She believes firmly that children are a vital part of our community and that their thoughts, opinions, and imaginings should be valued and recognized. An advocate for equity and social justice, she works to establish a classroom culture that translates into far-reaching change
Michaela has two children— One, a Pando alumnus and another who is a student in the Poppy Classroom. She is passionate about establishing connections amongst parents and community members to create lasting partnerships in the educational lives of young children
Education
Grand Canyon University
B.S. Educational Studies
M.Ed. Early Childhood Education, in progress
University of New Mexico
French and Africana Studies
Activities & Expertise
• Music and movement
• Anti-racism and social justice
• French language
• Cooking elaborate meals on weeknights
• Reading aloud with all the voices
• Small talk that leads to big talk
• Powerlifting
Atelierista
Hollie Putnam
pandoartstudio@gmail.com
Hollie loves art studios—the way materials end up both strewn about and somehow still perfectly in their places, the smells of charcoal and paint, the buzz in the air of an idea that you can’t quite yet put your finger on. Studio spaces have always comforted Hollie and simultaneously challenged her. Working as the studio teacher/atelierista at Pando is her dream. Hollie brings years of experience as an elementary school teacher and her fine arts background together to curate and present aesthetic materials to young children. She always returns to the studio environment as her main instructive collaborator, switching out the furniture and re-arranging the space frequently as she asks herself: How do I create an environment that guides children to deepen their relationships with aesthetic materials? Having studied the Reggio Emilia Approach in graduate school and under the mentorship of experts in the field, Hollie enjoys reflecting on her practice and continually returns to the approach for guidance. She believes that listening is a critical and deceptively challenging skill for educators—listening to the many ways that children communicate includes their work with aesthetic materials. When she’s not at Pando, she enjoys exercising and dancing, walking with her adorable pitbull in the Bosque and checking things off of her endless yardwork and home improvement to-do list.
Learn more about Hollie’s research interests, publications, and presentations in art education on her website.
Education
University of Oregon
B.A. Fine Arts
University of Missouri, St. Louis
M.Ed. Early Childhood Education
University of New Mexico
M.A. Art Education
Activities & Expertise
• Active member of the Collaborative Teachers Institute
• Art education and the Reggio Emilia Approach
• Having strong opinions about art materials
• Forever being an amateur dancer
• Blindly DIYing her way through home improvement projects
• Sewing her own clothes
• Powerlifting
Outdoor Educator
Madeline Foy
pandooutside@gmail.com
Maddie has been working with young people for nearly her whole life! She’s collaborated with children in art museums, schools, art therapy spaces and in her community. She values building meaningful relationships with children rooted in mutual respect and joy! An enthusiastic novice gardener, she is so happy to be with children outside among the plants and critters at Pando.
Co-Teacher in the Poppy Room
Brittany Jerome
poppy@pandoschool.com
Learning, playing, and being silly with young children is what Brittany was born to do. Even as a young child she would ask to stay behind from field trips so that she could help take care of the infants at the preschool she attended. Since then, Brittany has been volunteering and working in early childhood centers for over 10 years and continues to expand her education around her passion for early child development. She firmly believes that children are not empty vessels that need knowledge poured into; children are active participants in their own development. Brittany believes that her role is to learn beside children, and support their curiosity and creativity.
Activities & Expertise
• Hiking
• Motherhood
• Car karaoke
• Chocolate connoisseur
Education
Central New Mexico Community College
A.A. Early Childhood Education
assistant teacher In the Poppy Classroom
Carissa Garcia
poppy@pandoschool.com
assistant teachers in the sunflower classroom
Zoe Daves-Brody
sunflower@pandoschool.com
Zoe is a New Mexico native, but spent many years living overseas. She's wanted to work in education since childhood when she started to help younger children discover reading. Her favorite part of working with young children is witnessing them explore the world around them, making discoveries, having novel experiences, and finding wonder in the mundane.
Education
Central New Mexico Community College
A.A. Early Childhood Education, in progress
Taylor McKenzie
sunflower@pandoschool.com