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
Announcement Coming Soon
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!
OPERATIONAL SUPPORT SPECIALIST
Payton Rozhanskyy
Payton brings a background in design and business along with a genuine love for being involved wherever kids 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 is detail-oriented, resourceful, and the kind of person who keeps the behind-the-scenes of Hill Country Day School running smoothly so teachers can stay focused on what matters most. Payton is one of those people who just quietly makes everything better.
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.
POPPY INFANT 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 INFANT 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.
DANDELION 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 TEACHER
Announcement Coming Soon
Our Dandelion teacher 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 toddler 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.
HONEYSUCKLE 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.
HONEYSUCKLE TEACHER
Announcement Coming Soon
Our Honeysuckle 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.
SUNFLOWER 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
Andrea M.
Andrea comes to HCDS with a background in early childhood education and a degree in horticulture, which means she brings a genuine love of living things into everything she does with kids. She has a deep connection to the 2 to 3 year old age range, where she says the small wins are the ones that matter most. She believes children learn best when adults get out of the way and let them explore, and she has a gift for bonding quickly with a group and creating a classroom that feels safe enough for real learning to happen.
BLUEBONNET/VERBENA TEACHER
Kali
Coming Soon
BLUEBONNET/VERBENA TEACHER
Announcement Coming Soon
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.
BLUEBONNET/VERBENA TEACHER
Announcement Coming Soon
Our Bluebonnet teacher comes to HCDS from a Reggio and Conscious Discipline led school where she watched children construct their own learning every single day. She builds her lessons around what kids are actually interested in, keeps strong bodies and calm classrooms through relationship-first boundaries, and genuinely believes children are capable of more than we give them credit for. We cannot wait to introduce her to the Hill Country Day School community this fall.
LAVENDER/BUTTERCUP TEACHER
Announcement Coming Soon
Our Lavender teacher brings experience across some of the most respected early childhood programs in the area, including Primrose, the Goddard School, and Hill Country Montessori, with a true gift for all ages. She is Conscious Discipline trained, deeply passionate about child-led learning, and the kind of teacher who turns a bug found on the playground into a full science conversation. On a free weekend you will find her at the lake, gardening, or out on a long walk, which tells you everything you need to know about how she shows up for kids outdoors.
LAVENDER/BUTTERCUP TEACHER
Announcement Coming Soon
Our Lavender teacher comes to HCDS from the Goddard School with a genuine love for the 3 to 4 year old age range, when kids are just starting to grow into their own personalities and independence. She takes college coursework in Reggio Emilia learning, lets her students lead with their interests, and has been known to weave movement and music into her classroom when the energy calls for it. She is a natural collaborator, a relationship builder, and someone who is excited to go deeper into nature based learning alongside the HCDS team.
LAVENDER/BUTTERCUP TEACHER
Announcement Coming Soon
Our Buttercup teacher brings nearly eight years of early childhood experience across a range of programs, including the Goddard School and O2B Kids, with a background that spans both the classroom and leadership roles. She has a calm, grounded approach to conflict resolution and a genuine love for the infant and toddler years. She has is relocated to the Hill Country from Minnesota and we could not be more excited to welcome her and grow together.