Early Education Faculty

Main Campus

Peggy Roche, Nursery Teacher
Peggy was initially drawn to the beauty of a Waldorf Early Childhood classroom and then fell in love with the artistic, soulful quality of Waldorf education. 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. Peggy has been in a Waldorf Nursery classroom for since 2003 and especially enjoys the laughter and joy of sharing snack-time together and creating handwork with little ones. She and her husband Moss enjoy camping, reading and going out to eat with their daughter, Maeve and their son, Rowan.

Jennifer Stein, Kindergarten Teacher
Jennifer Stein completed her Waldorf Teacher Training through the Waldorf Teacher Education Program in Eugene OR in 2010. She has a B.A in French from the University of Michigan and spent this past year as the Lead Teacher in the Waldorf Extended Day Program while working as an assistant in the Kindergarten during the mornings.

Child’s Garden

Stephanie Hoelscher, Early Childhood Teacher for Apple Blossom Nursery, Morning Garden and Star Meadow
Many years ago after her son, Winslow’s, first day of preschool at a charter Waldorf school in Phoenix, AZ, his teacher – a master Waldorf Early Childhood teacher – said to Stephanie, “Thank you for your child.” She went home and wept for reasons unbeknownst to her at the time. Thus began Stephanie’s personal and professional journey in Waldorf education. Trained and certified in Waldorf Early Childhood Education at Sunbridge College, Stephanie has an undergraduate degree in liberal arts and graduate degrees in Chinese Studies and Anthropology. She taught large mixed-aged kindergarten classes in Arizona before coming to Vermont and OVWS in 2010 when she started the new Apple Blossom nursery program at the Child’s Garden. In her work with children and families Stephanie brings a commitment to cultivating a community where all can experience the wonder and joys of childhood. Stephanie lives in Montpelier with her husband, son, and belovedly stubborn basset hound, Cleo. They all feel blessed to have made the journey to their new home here in central Vermont.

Laura Karstensen, Mixed-age Early Childhood Teacher
Laura was first inspired by Waldorf Education while working on her degree in Anthropology and Sociology at Johnson State College. While studying and teaching at a small Waldorf school located within the beautiful valley of Mount Mansfield, she instantly fell in love with the nurturing, developmentally-appropriate curriculum and emphasis on cultivating a reverence for the natural world. While spending a few years exploring the mountains and deserts of the southwest, Laura was pleased to gain a position as a kindergarten teacher at an independent Waldorf-inspired school in Colorado. She then returned to the east to complete her Masters of Education at Antioch University New England where she gained certification in teaching early childhood through eighth grade and concentrated in Waldorf Education. Laura came to work at OVWS in the fall of 2009 where she was pleased to join many of the very teachers who first introduced her to this holistic and healing education. She now enjoys mountain life in Stowe, Vermont, with her partner Phil and a chocolate lab called Moqui.