Neighborhood Schoolhouse welcomes new program director

BRATTLEBORO-Neighborhood Schoolhouse, a small nature-based school founded in Brattleboro in 1980, welcomes Maureen Velsor to the role of program director.

Velsor has been caring for children for 15 years as a babysitter, in-home nanny, teacher, and ski instructor at Stratton Mountain, which, according to the news release, she affectionately calls "daycare on ice."

She first began teaching at Neighborhood Schoolhouse in the nursery classroom from 2019 to fall of 2020 through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic before taking leave to have a baby of her own. Velsor returned to Neighborhood Schoolhouse in March 2023 as lead teacher in the newly opened 2- and 3-year-old room, and has now grown into a director role.

"I love Neighborhood's philosophy of teaching the whole child and encouraging curiosity and adventure in education," Velsor said in a news release. "We have a wonderful team of nurturing and resourceful teachers as well, and it's a joy to come to work each day - even with all the complexities of managing schedules, finances, and staffing."

Through the pandemic, Neighborhood Schoolhouse shifted its focus from elementary education to early childhood, becoming a year-round child care center. Board President Norma Willingham notes that they saw parents of small children "struggling during and after Covid, and we shifted our resources to meet that need. In future years, we hope to add some elementary classes once again, but meanwhile, we've really seen the early childhood program blossom into something remarkable."

Willingham is also serving as interim executive director. Neighborhood Schoolhouse is seeking a permanent part-time executive director to start this fall.

"I get a huge smile on my face when I step outside of my office and see a troupe of toddlers heading off for a woods walk, or a group of babies playing with a creative sensory project their teachers have prepared for them," Velsor said. "I am particularly excited about our new ⁽¹⁾pre-K teacher, Ana Williams, who has a tremendous amount of experience and creativity around social-emotional learning."

Neighborhood Schoolhouse is now enrolling for the fall and accepts year-round applications for infants from 6 weeks old through children preparing to enter kindergarten. Learn more at neighborhoodschoolhouse.com.

This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.