Leah Balkoski
KindergartenLeah is a Kindergarten homeroom teacher. She loves working with students as a team to practice foundational values, like mindfulness, friendship, and diversity, in addition to learning classroom skills.
“I enjoy leading nature connection activities, guiding outdoor exploration, and finding the connections between children’s play and our curriculum. I love finding ways to incorporate movement, creativity, and humor into learning.”
Leah first became interested in education through a teaching apprenticeship program at the Bryn Mawr School, where she was an assistant for Upper School French. Afterward, she transitioned to working with elementary-aged students in various settings. Most recently, she was an assistant director and lead teacher at Notchcliff Nature Programs, teaching K-2 students in an immersive outdoor setting and directing summer camps. Leah was also a hands-on learning coach for FutureMakers, where she designed and taught project-based STEAM curricula for grades K-6 and facilitated challenging course workshops for K-12.
Before transitioning to education, Leah was an archivist. “I worked at an oral history archive in Chapel Hill, NC, a historic clothing archive, and at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, NM, where I catalogued O’Keeffe’s artwork and personal effects.”
Leah holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a double major in Comparative Literature and Religious Studies and a minor in French. In 2022, she earned her Nature-Based Teacher Certification from the Association for Nature-Based Education.
“I love birdwatching, knitting, and rock climbing!”
