Jane Elliott has been passionate about learning and teaching her whole life, and has always been interested in alternative approaches to education that include travel, project-based learning, community service, and creativity. She has extensive experience teaching children in the elementary grades, with unique expertise in reading, writing, and math instruction. She’s also trained and certified as a school counselor.

This is how she sums up her teaching philosophy: “The most important gifts we can give a child are the abilities to explore, self-reflect, evaluate, and ask questions and seek answers. As educators, it is our job to lead children toward this.”

Hi, I am Ms. Cary.  I am from Minneapolis, Minnesota and I am excited to be here in Crestone, Colorado.  I have been in education for 17 years working in primary education as a classroom teacher, literacy coach, writing teacher, also as a reading and math interventionist.  I like pie, birds, and the color blue.  The river birch is my favorite tree and floating in northern Minnesota lakes sounds like a wonderful day.

Daya has worked at the charter school off and on for many years as Middle school teacher, music lead, theater inspiration and now the 4/5 classroom Lead. He bring passion, personality, and creativity to every hour he spends with his students

Denise Vargas comes to us from Pueblo, CO, as the middle school ELA/SS instructor. She earned a master's degree in applied natural science and a bachelor’s in biology. She began her teaching career as a  Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho, Southern Africa (1987-1991). Her eclectic teaching philosophies range from Paideia which implements socratic seminars to Montessori that allows her to guide the child following their curiosity and natural development. She is thankful for her ability to teach a variety of subjects to a diverse population of students which includes elementary, MS, HS, and the General Educational Development test to adults.  Her passion for the natural world allowed her to be an outdoor educator at the Nature and Wildlife Discovery Center in Pueblo/Beulah areas and the love of children granted her the opportunity to create fun programs at the Pueblo Library. Most of all, Denise is connected to Crestone through her spiritual practice and has traveled here since 2002 and considers Crestone as her second home.    

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Lee, is our secondary science teacher! Lee comes to us from Leadville with extensive teaching experience both in science and math. In addition, he is a geologist. 

Lee lived and taught on Native reservations where he learned restorative practices first hand, long before schools introduced restorative practices into their discipline approach. Lee has a gift for teaching and was recommended to us by one of his students and former LINK-student. 

Lee loves to write, to Practice Martial Arts, he loves his pets, and of course loves his mother and two sons, who are going to move to Crestone with him.

Sam Goering, HS English Language Arts and Social Studies, comes with four years of experience teaching in Longmont where he used traditional methods but also experiential and integrated approaches. His recent work in environmental education and project-based learning at Wild Bear Nature Center furthers his fit with CCS.

Sam: “I am ecstatic to move to Crestone and work at CCS. I bring a passion for the humanities, the outdoors, and adventurous learning. I am excited to connect with our young adults and utilize democratic, student-centered learning. I put student choice at the center of my teaching practices, I design fun projects that incorporate authentic skills as I plan personalized, blended, and hybrid units. I am also fascinated by game-based and simulation-based learning--I love team-building activities and Dungeons & Dragons. I look forward to hiking and exploring the Sangre de Cristos and skiing Monarch! Last, you might recognize me as the alto saxophone player in The Alcapones.

Robin comes to us with a doctoral in mathematics, years of teaching in undergraduate settings, experience in gaming and tutoring with students of all ages and now leading the G6-12 math program. He connects with students over math worksheets and in the band room from behind the drums with enthusiasm!

Hello to family, staff, and students! My name is Layla and I'm currently the Mathematics Aid for grades six through twelve. I'm a lover of cats and coffee, and I thoroughly enjoy taking long drives and rainy weather. Before working here, I never would have guessed I'd want to be a teacher, but this job has brought such fulfillment and joy to my life. Working at CCS has been such an honor, as the kids are wonderful and the staff is a guiding hand, helping me through this experience. Mathematics has always been something that I understand and love, and helping the kids to understand and possibly enjoy it makes me extremely happy. I look forward to continuing working with them and working at CCS!

Jennie Joined CCS in 2021 and has come back again to support the running of the office, partiularly financials. She plays a vital role providing stability with the office staffing changes during the summer and fall of 2022. Jennie loves to travel, spend time with her husband, and learn new things.  

Nina has been with ccs since 2022 arranging performances and recently expanding her role into HS student government and mentorships where she is developing new learning opportunities for all!

Kristy is a certified art teacher who has been with the school since at least 2014. See the displays she makes with kid art on the walls adorning CCS! She also has lead a variety of mentorships.

Patrico leads our PE program K-8 with joy and enthusiasm fostering healthy competition and inspiring teamwork. He is also a father of 3 students.

Aaron comes to CCS with a wilderness therapy and restorative practices background. A no-nonsense communicator who is learning the student information system, credits, scheduling, post-high-school pathways and more, all with a heart for helping students succeed.

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