Staff

Katherine Murphy, Director; 2/8 Math Teacher

Katherine Murphy was born and raised in Oxford, Mississippi.  During college, Katherine was a classroom assistant at a small, independent school where she began teaching full-time after graduating from The University of Mississippi in 1996.  After teaching a few years, she decided to relocate to Asheville.  After spending two years working on her graduate degree at Western Carolina University, Katherine found The Learning Community School through an ad in a local newspaper.  She fell in love with the school and began as the 3/4 classroom teacher in the fall of 2000.  She became the Lead Teacher in the spring of 2001 and the Director in the summer of 2005.

Ms. Katherine’s classroom is a multi-sensory, hands-on educational experience for all students.  Math is taught through the use of manipulatives, games, and movement lessons.  Katherine helps her students to create a rich, inquiry-based classroom, allowing each student to become fully engaged and enthusiastic about learning.

Katherine adopted two children from Russia in the spring of 2004 and they are the light of her life.  Her time at home is spent with Nick and Sophia Dasha, reading books, swimming, playing soccer, sculpting figures out of play dough, and taking in the sights and sounds of Asheville.  They all enjoy vacationing at the beach and spending holidays with family back in Mississippi.  

Holly Baumgartner, Office Manager

Holly Baumgartner was born and raised in the farmlands of northeastern Indiana.  She spent much time on her grandparents’ 7^th generation family farm where she developed a deep love for the environment and the outdoors. She left home to attend Indiana University and then headed out to see the country and the Grateful Dead. She returned to her family farmland in 1993 with husband, Shawn, and daughter, Sequoia Rose. While back in Indiana, she apprenticed concurrently with three different midwifery practices. Deciding to put midwifery on hold until her family was older, she and her family moved to Earthaven Ecovillage (www.earthaven.org) in 1998 where their son, Eli, was born. There they built an off-grid, passive solar home with sustainably harvested wood (cut and milled by Shawn), rainwater collection for all water needs, and a composting toilet. Holly commutes from Earthaven to TLC in a diesel VW Beetle that runs on biodiesel, an alternative fuel made from vegetable oil.

Holly’s family became a part of the TLC community when her daughter entered 1^st grade in the fall of 1999.  Now both her children are a part of the school community.  Holly became an employee of the school in the fall of 2004, and has been keeping the TLC office running smoothly ever since.  She communicates with families each and every day to ensure that everyone has what they need, when they need it! 

In her spare time, Holly enjoys contra dancing, Appalachian music and dance, working in her family's garden, making fermented foods, learning to play claw hammer-style banjo, and supporting local farmers and businesses.  

Mitzi Prendergast, K/1 Lead Teacher

Born and raised with her feet in the sand of the southeast barrier islands, our K/1 teacher, Ms. Mitzi, was tempted to remain a beach bum for life.  Realizing her love for working with and teaching young children, she pursued a college education with a degree in early childhood education as her goal.  While attending Berry College and having many opportunities to teach and interact in a nearby kindergarten classrooms, Mitzi began to envision and dream of teaching the youngest of children in a non-traditional setting.  She began to realize that children are individuals who develop at their own pace and deserve the opportunity to do just that without any outside pressure.  It appeared to Mitzi that a love for learning and a natural curiosity were two key ingredients that seemed to quickly be lost as many children settled into school routines.

Many years later, pure fate brought the Prendergast family to Black Mountain, where Mitzi now lives with her husband and four children.  Searching for the perfect school environment for her youngest child brought her to The Learning Community School.  Shortly afterwards, she became part of the teaching staff herself.  Mitzi feels very fortunate to have found the school she had only imagined for herself, and the wonderful community is a part of that.

Mitzi began working at TLC in the fall of 2001.  She brings a little bit of acquired wisdom, a great love for children, and a commitment to teaching to her classroom each day.

 Niki Swann, K/1 Math Teacher, K/8 Spanish Teacher

Niki Swann moved to the Asheville area in August of 2001.  She became a part of TLC in the fall of 2002 as an assistant in the K/2 classroom.  Over the past several years, her role expanded into the K/2 lead math teacher and the K/8 Spanish teacher.  As the school expanded to four classrooms in the fall of 2005, Niki became a full-time lead teacher for the students in the 2/3 class.  After Niki was married in the summer of 2006, she decided to return to the K/1 classroom where she will be once again working with Ms. Mitzi and our youngest students.

Niki graduated from Samford University with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Music Education.  Her teaching style is creative, energetic, and hands-on. The students are active participants in Ms. Niki’s classroom… whether they are enjoying a math game, phonics lesson, or TEAM game, they are engaged in learning activities throughout the morning academic block.

Niki studied Spanish for four years and has lived in Matamoros, Mexico where she worked with a local service ministry. She brings many of her personal experiences to the classroom as she leads both cultural and language lessons in Spanish to all TLC students.

Outside of TLC, Niki's interests include spending time with her husband, reading, and cooking.  She is often found enjoying nature with her family, friends, and her dog, Jack.

Rhea Fitzgerald, 2/3 Lead Teacher, 4/8 Science Teacher

Rhea was born and raised in Michigan and graduated from Western Michigan University with both a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership.  She taught for eleven years in a small town public school in Michigan , where she was the school district’s K-12 science curriculum director and K-5 science curriculum writer.  She was the county- and state-wide trainer of science teachers, as well.

Rhea left  Michigan and teaching to pursue her dream of being a studio artist.  She lived in South Padre Island, Texas, where she honed her photography, clay, and writing skills.  During this time, she participated in art shows, worked as a magazine editor and columnist, taught creative writing and photography, and was a university clay studio lab assistant.

After moving to North Carolina four years ago, Rhea traveled extensively throughout the southeast by exhibiting her work at a variety of art shows.  Her artwork is represented in galleries both locally and nationally.

Rhea’s interests include the arts, music, hiking, and camping. She is also an avid reader.  Rhea is excited about her return to teaching, as she missed being in the classroom during the years that she devoted to her artwork.  She is eager to combine her two passions, education and art, as she joins The Learning Community School as the 2/3 lead teacher.  

Tonya Clanton is originally from Edwardsville, Illinois and graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Education from Eastern Illinois University. She taught second grade for a year in Charlotte and has been teaching language arts and social studies for fourth through eighth graders at TLC since 2003.

Tonya enjoys reading, taking walks, learning guitar, listening to music, and enjoying the outdoors. She runs her own tutoring business called Growing Young Tutoring to work with children and adults on an individual or group basis on their reading and/or writing skills.

Tonya draws joy from sharing her love for literature and history with the children of TLC.  

Anne Knoflicek is an alumnus of our local Warren Wilson College with a BA in Environmental Studies and a love for the natural world.  With her feet and hands firmly planted in Mother Earth, she works passionately in all areas of her life to restore vitality, beauty, and love to the planet, and to spread awareness and gratitude for everything that sustains us. 

Anne grew up for most of her life in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and spent the first couple of years of college searching for a place where her heart and mind could coexist and flourish until finally finding that home in the mountains of western North Carolina.  The granddaughter of Nebraskan farmers, Anne is reviving her heritage of a simple, rustic life and incorporating the basic human needs for community and culture to create a truly wealthy and abundant existence.

Anne began to work with TLC students in the fall of 2005.  She is the lead science teacher for students in grades 4-8 and the homeroom teacher for the 6-8 classroom.  With a background in herbal medicine and healing, she can be found working alongside the students in the soil of TLC's educational gardens or on a plant walk in the richly biodiverse forests of our region, enjoying a bit of wild food and wading in the rivers.  

 Aline Carillon, K/8 Music Teacher

Aline Carillon, TLC’s music teacher, began singing before she could speak.  As a child she could be found in the mountains of New York State dancing and singing to anyone and anything that would listen!  Realizing that music would be a life-long passion, she earned a Bachelor of Music at Ithaca College and taught elementary school music in upstate New York for several years.  A yearning for warmer weather and new horizons led Aline south, where she pursued graduate work in the business world and met her husband Jim. Their son Jeffrey brought them to TLC in 2000.  It was only a matter of time before Aline was singing and playing instruments with TLC students.  In addition to General Music instruction, you will now find her enjoying music with TLC students in chorus, on xylophones, recorders and guitar and on stage in musical theater.  

Theresa Cote, Arts Integration Coordinator and Teacher
photo and bio coming soon

Joyce Hunter, Classroom Assistant; Lead Afternoon Teacher
photo and bio coming soon

Amy Maze, Classroom Assistant; Afternoon Dance Instructor; Choreographer
photo and bio coming soon

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