The people behind the learning.
Our faculty bring curiosity, craft, and deep commitment to every child’s education — in the classroom, outdoors, and in the community.
Danhee Kim Bhakta grew up in South Korea, where her education was grounded in discipline, rigor, and high academic standards. When she moved to Canada for middle school, she discovered that her strong foundation allowed her to navigate a freer system with confidence — and that insight never left her. She went on to earn a BSc in Cell Biology and Anatomy from McGill University and a Master’s in Biotechnology from Columbia, before building a life as an entrepreneur alongside her husband. When they traded Manhattan for a farm in Vermont to raise their growing family, the question they kept returning to was a simple one: what and how do we want to teach our children?
The answer came in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the question into action. Drawing on the campus of the former Green Mountain College — founded in 1834 — Danhee built the environment she had been envisioning: hands-on, experiential, community-minded, and deeply personal. In September 2021, Green Mountain Community School opened its doors. As she transitions out of the day-to-day leadership role, Danhee remains actively engaged as a member of the Board of the nonprofit.
Brylea Davenport is a third-generation Poultney resident — and that lineage matters. She carries with her a deep understanding of and commitment to this town that is rarely found. As a mother of three young children, she is fully invested in the long-term success and sustainability of GMCS. Brylea attended the University of New England, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Dental Hygiene and Health Sciences. She is also a certified TimberNook Provider, passionate about supporting children’s development through outdoor, play-based learning — a calling that brought her to GMCS first as a parent, and then as an outdoor educator. She understands our mission and the heart behind this school. Most importantly, she believes in what GMCS makes possible for families.
April has long believed that children learn best when education is rooted in curiosity, creativity, and the world around them. In 2011, she co-founded Roots & Wings Academy, where students applied academic skills to real-life experiences and their natural surroundings. Years later, while homeschooling her daughters during the pandemic, she transformed the project of building a backyard winter roost into a cross-curricular study of bird migration, observation, research, and experimentation — an experience that reflected her deep commitment to project-based learning. That same philosophy would later help shape the founding of Green Mountain Community School.
As the K–2 lead teacher at GMCS, April creates learning experiences that encourage students to explore their interests while building strong academic foundations. She thoughtfully weaves together subjects like literacy, math, science, music, and Spanish, helping children see learning as connected, meaningful, and alive. April holds a BA in Elementary Education from Bay Path University and a K–6 Level II Teaching License with “Highly Qualified Teacher” status.
Over the past two decades, Thom has served as a classroom teacher to elementary students, a special subjects teacher to 1st–12th graders, a dedicated math teacher to middle school students, and an outdoor educator. He has a passion for teaching mathematics and a special interest in number relationships, pattern recognition, and all forms of geometry. As a trained movement educator, Thom has found that physical movement, rhythm, and repetition play a significant role in teaching and learning the universal language of mathematics.
He believes in teaching from the inside out — that children are not empty vessels to be filled with information, but seeds of potential that, when exposed to the proper conditions, can thrive and grow into the unique individuals that they are. In Thom’s experience, children learn best when they have an interest in the subject being presented, and when it is connected to life.
Sarah graduated from Green Mountain College with a BA in Fine Arts, with a focus on Painting, Figure Drawing, and Batik. She spent years at New Leaf Montessori teaching preschool, where she designed a children’s garden and created art lessons for the children. In 2010, she and her husband moved back to Poultney and bought an organic dairy farm. In 2014, Sarah co-founded Poultney Children’s Art Studio at Stone Valley Arts, where she has been designing art classes and teaching children in grades K–6.
In 2017, she became the art teacher at Roots and Wings Academy. Sarah has had work in group shows and galleries throughout Vermont, and recently completed illustrating her first children’s book — What Leads Her — a collection of batik artwork celebrating inspirational women.
Zoë Marr Hilliard received her BA in Dance and Sculpture from Smith College. She has since worked as an independent artist, dancer, choreographer, and art educator in Vermont. She has danced professionally for the Vermont Opera Project and Cradle to Grave Arts, performed with Vital Spark North and Ballet Vermont, and participated in DanceFest Vermont as a choreographer, performer, and co-director.
Zoë teaches dance at Vermont Center for Dance Education and Stone Valley Arts, leads art camps at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, and leads workshops in dance and art at schools, libraries, and recreation centers. She has choreographed for Rutland Youth Theater and Marble Valley Players, and is currently choreographing and teaching dance at Castleton University.
A tour is the best way to understand what makes this school different. We’d love to meet your family.