Middle School Coordinator Katrien Vance teaches humanities and language arts to North Branch middle schoolers and leads the school's chorus of 5th-8th graders. She received her BA from Williams College and has an MA in English from Villanova University. She has also studied English at Breadloaf School of English in Vermont, which included a summer at Lincoln College, Oxford. Katrien lives in Crozet with her husband, David, and sons, Nathan and Luke, who regularly attend NBS. She sings alto in the Virginia Consort and is the founder of the Blue Ridge Family Chorus. A teacher for eighteen years, eleven at NBS, Katrien has taught students from ages 7-17, and has found her home in middle school. She loves reading, writing, history, thinking, singing, laughing, and loves that she gets to do all of them with the middle schoolers.

Senior and Art teacher Michael Donegan graduated from Mary Baldwin College with a B.A. in Art. After four years of teaching art at NBS, Michael accepted the Senoir class teaching position and is energized by the prospect of teaching a wider range of subjects, especially math! He has been an artist-in residence at Churchville Elementary School and entertains a variety of ongoing musical adventures. Michael enjoys sharing his lifelong love of art and stories with children. His sons attend NBS. He can be reached at: art@north-branch-school.org
Science/Math Teacher Maggie Buchanan earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Science and Environmental Education from Cornell, her M.Ed. in Elementary Education from Smith College and an M.Ed. in Science Education from the University of Massachusetts. She has been working with 10- to 14-year-olds for the last 25 years in a variety of environmental education, public school and private school settings. This is Maggie’s 8th year at North Branch, where she teaches 5-8th grade science, 6th-7th grade math, and 5th grade art and challenge activities. Favorite activities are camping and hiking with her husband and two children, both of whom have attended NBS. Maggie recently worked under a grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment to compile and describe North Branch School’s Environmental Studies Program in a book called Fostering Appreciation of Our Natural World.
 
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