THE HEARTS BEHIND HILL COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
Hill Country Day School was built by a team of educators, leaders, and child advocates who believe that the earliest years of a child's life are the most important ones. Every person on our team was chosen not just for their experience, but for their heart. We are proud to be rooted right here in the Hill Country, and we cannot wait to welcome your family into ours.
FOUNDER / CEO
Haleigh Almquist
Haleigh brings nearly 20 years of experience in early childhood care and education, including building Hush Little Baby Newborn Care into a national agency. She holds a degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Texas Tech University and a Master of Public Administration from Penn State. She founded Hill Country Day School to create the nature-based, community-rooted school she always wished existed in the Hill Country. When she is not building something new, you will find her with her family!
DIRECTOR OF SCHOOL OPERATIONS
Kelsey McKay
Our Director of Operations holds a degree in Child and Adolescent Development and has spent her career growing from lead preschool teacher to assistant director to director at a NAEYC accredited program. She has since moved into roles focused on program quality, grant coordination, and coaching early childhood leaders to strengthen the care they provide in their communities. She is systems-minded, people-first, and exactly the kind of person you want running the day-to-day of a school like this. More details coming soon.
DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT & FAMILY EXPERIENCE
Ashley Willingham
Ashley is a New Braunfels native and proud Comal ISD grad who has spent 16 years working with children from infancy through age 12, starting in the classroom and growing into leadership. Over the last four of those years she has been deep in the administrative side of early childhood, planning grand openings, auditing child files, coordinating summer camps, and making sure every detail of a school meets Texas standards. She is thrilled to bring all of that experience home as part of the very first nature-based preschool in New Braunfels, and she brings the same genuine warmth to every family she meets.
DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM & NATURE EXPERIENCE
Nik Farrell
Nik brings nearly a decade of experience in nature education, from building outdoor learning programs from scratch to leading preschool classrooms and running large scale summer camps at the Blue Hole with Texas Parks and Wildlife. He has supervised and mentored teams of staff along the way, and he knows what it takes to help both children and teachers thrive outside. When he is not out in nature, you might catch Nik on stage. He recently played Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and this September, he is marrying his fiance. We are so excited to welcome Nik and his wealth of nature knowledge to Hill Country Day School!
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST
Danica Pacheco
Danica holds a Bachelor's in Early Childhood Education and a Master's in Special Education, with classroom experience spanning Pre-K through elementary special education. She has a deep belief that every child deserves to feel safe, seen, and supported, and she brings real expertise in helping children navigate transitions, build self-regulation skills, and thrive in a learning environment. She has a particular love for the 2 to 4 year old age group and uses nature and hands-on sensory experiences to meet children exactly where they are. Danica is the kind of steady, caring presence that makes a whole school feel calmer.
OPERATIONAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST
M.J.
She comes to us with years of experience as both a classroom teacher and an assistant director, which means she has stood on both sides of this work and knows what teachers actually need before they have to ask for it. She keeps the behind-the-scenes of Hill Country Day School running smoothly so our teachers can stay focused on the children, from supplies and paperwork to the hundred small things nobody notices until they are missing. We will introduce her properly soon.
LEAD CLASSROOM SUPPORT
J.M.
Our floating guide brings nearly eight years of early childhood experience across a range of programs, with a background that spans both the classroom and leadership roles. She moves between our rooms, which means she knows children across the whole school and is there with an extra pair of hands wherever the day needs her most. She has a calm, grounded approach to conflict and a genuine love for the infant and toddler years. She recently relocated to the Hill Country from Minnesota, and we could not be more excited to welcome her and grow together.
PERMANENT SUBSTITUTE
Payton R.
Payton brings a background in design and business along with a genuine love for being involved wherever children and community intersect, from volunteering in Sunday School classrooms to leading a group of kindergarteners through Vacation Bible School to serving as Room Mom in her daughter’s first grade class. She moves between our classrooms, which means she knows the children across the school and they know her, and she steps in wherever she is needed with the same steady, resourceful energy she brings to everything. Payton is one of those people who just quietly makes everything better.
POPPY TEACHER
Denise B.
Denise brings 14 years of infant classroom experience across several early childhood programs, including Primrose and Kinderberry Hill, with a deep fascination for the way the infant brain grows and discovers the world in those very first months. She has Conscious Discipline training, Reggio-inspired classroom experience, and a gift for observing what children need before they can even ask for it. A lifelong learner, a gardener, and someone who genuinely loves babies, Denise is exactly who you want caring for your littlest one.
POPPY TEACHER
Joy W.
Joy comes to HCDS with experience at a nature school and a genuine passion for the outdoors that shows up in everything she does. She has a special love for the young infant years, that magical window where everything in the natural world is brand new and full of wonder. Her warmth and gentle spirit make her exactly the kind of presence little ones feel safe and settled with from day one.
DANDELION INFANT TEACHER
Violet F.
Violet brings 10 years of early childhood experience, including work with foster infants at a Title 1 school and eight years developing curriculum for infants and toddlers ages 6 to 24 months. She believes play is how children absorb the world, and she is not afraid to ditch the lesson plan when a bird lands nearby or a ladybug shows up on the windowsill. Violet creates classrooms that feel like home, right down to the family photos on the wall, because she knows that when a child feels safe, everything else follows.
DANDELION INFANT TEACHER
Avery Q.
Our Dandelion coteacher comes to Hill Country Day School with a love of the earliest years, where a scarf can become a butterfly, then a veil to see the world through, then a lesson in color and movement all in one afternoon. She keeps portfolios for the children in her care, so a family can look back six months later and see scribbles turn into careful lines. Outside the classroom she has spent time in a plant nursery learning propagation and growing things, which is exactly the kind of knowledge we want out on the trail with our children. We will introduce her properly soon.
HONEYSUCKLE TEACHER
Miranda P.
Miranda holds her CDA in infant and toddler care and brings hands-on lead teaching experience from Bright Horizons, where she became the go-to collaborator for her entire program. She has a gift for turning challenging moments into connection and believes every child thrives when they feel genuinely seen and needed. A sensory table enthusiast and cozy corner architect, Miranda brings warmth and resourcefulness to everything she does.
HONEYSUCKLE TEACHER
Sage L.
Sage comes to Hill Country Day School with nearly six years of experience at a local Nature School, where she built a deep foundation in nature-based and Reggio-inspired learning. She is a mother herself, which means she brings both professional expertise and a parent's heart to everything she does in the classroom. Sage is also a creative at her core, and that energy shows up in the way she designs experiences that invite children to explore, imagine, and lead.
SUNFLOWER TEACHER
Chereyelle L.
Cheryelle joins Hill Country Day School as a Classroom Guide with 12 years of preschool experience. She was first introduced to the Reggio Emilia approach at Children’s Discovery Center in South Carolina, and she recently moved to Texas with her husband, who just retired from the military. Toddlers are her favorite age, and she loves helping them through big milestones like potty training. She is a huge asset to our founding team, and we are so glad she is here.
SUNFLOWER TEACHER
Briana G.
Briana joins Hill Country Day School as a Sunflower Room Classroom Guide, working with our 2 year olds. She spent time at a Reggio Emilia nature school in Boerne, where she saw how much young children learn when they have time outdoors and room to follow their curiosity. She is excited to support our youngest explorers as they build independence, language, and confidence. We are so glad she is part of our founding team.
BLUEBONNET TEACHER
Kali Mance
Coming Kali joins Hill Country Day School from Goddard School, where she built her classroom around play and let children follow whatever they were curious about that day. She studied Reggio Emilia in her coursework and has been practicing it ever since, giving children real choice in where they go and what they dig into. Three and four year olds are her favorite, right when big personalities show up and independence starts to take hold. She keeps a calm, comfortable corner in every room she runs, works through conflict with children rather than talking over it, and would happily spend an entire afternoon outside looking for bugs and plant life. Off the clock she reads, swims, paddle boards, and is currently learning to dance.
BLUEBONNET TEACHER
S.K.
Our Verbena teacher brings experience from both Kiddie Academy and Paloma Montessori School, where she developed a deep love for the four-year-old classroom and the way big personalities bloom at that age. She has worked alongside BCBAs, built drop-off transition plans with families, and brought lessons outside whenever the classroom walls felt too small. She is the kind of teacher who drives past a school being built and cannot wait to be part of what grows there.
VERBENA TEACHER
Lauryn R.
Lauryn graduated from Texas State University with a bachelor's degree in Human Development and Family Studies, bringing both academic grounding and real classroom experience to HCDS. She spent a year teaching in a special needs classroom in NEISD, where she developed a deep appreciation for meeting every child exactly where they are. Her introduction to nature-based learning during her undergraduate coursework planted a seed that Hill Country Day School is proud to help her grow.
VERBENA TEACHER
S. C.
Our Verbena teacher brings a strong academic foundation in Reggio Emilia and emergent curriculum, including hands-on lab experience at Texas State's Child Development Center. She has a natural gift for meeting children in hard moments, whether that means naming big feelings, mediating a conflict, or simply walking to the window together to take a deep breath and name what you see outside. She is thoughtful, collaborative by nature, and deeply committed to letting children lead their own learning.
BUTTERCUP TEACHER
Hannah H.
Our Buttercup teacher joined us from Breckenridge, Colorado, where she taught at Timberline Learning Center, a Reggio inspired preschool. She spent her days moving between classrooms there, which taught her how much children rely on a calm, predictable rhythm and how differently each group of children finds it. Her favorite kind of learning is the open ended kind: story stones, clay imprints of the leaves and sticks children gather on a walk, and long stretches of time outside. When a child is having a big feeling, you will usually find her down at eye level, breathing slowly alongside them until the hard part passes. She is new to Texas and looking forward to putting down roots here.
LAVENDER TEACHER
K. M.
Our Pre-K 4 guide brings fifteen years in early childhood to Hill Country Day School, starting with infants and toddlers and growing into the preschool years. She is Montessori trained and has spent most of her career watching closely, learning what a child is working on before stepping in. She believes strongly in process over product, and families in her room will hear more about what their child figured out than what came home in their bag. We will introduce her properly soon.