Anne Marie McNichol, Reading Specialist

Anne Marie Mc Nichol, reading support teacher, came to Green Woods in September 2005 with a diverse background in education and social work. From1997 to 2005 she worked at Norwood-Fontbonne Academy as the learning support teacher. In her capacity there, she coordinated and facilitated the process of meeting the needs of students who may be struggling or who learn differently than most. Another aspect of her job was helping students learn to read. In order to best meet students' needs she received training in various programs that are proven to help students increase their reading skills. The Lindamood-Bell LIPs program and the Wilson Language System target the skills that are the building blocks of reading and spelling words correctly. The Lindamood-Bell programs: Seeing Stars and Visualizing and Verbalizing further develop these skills and provide students with skills to increase their reading comprehension in a variety of ways. She recently received her Certification as a Wilson Reading Program Instructor. This is a multi-sensory, structured method of teaching reading. Her other experiences in education include: five years as a classroom teacher for fifth and sixth graders: two years in Lancaster and three years in North Philadelphia, and two years as the social worker in a center-based early intervention program. She is a graduate of Rosemont College and Temple University. Anne Marie was honored in the 2005-2006 edition of "Who's Who Among America's Teachers" for high academic excellence, community leadership, and positive performance.

As a social worker Anne Marie had the privilege of advocating for and helping to establish a residence for women with severe and persistent mental illness who were homeless. She worked at Women of Hope for seven years. In her spare time Anne Marie likes to walk, read, and listen to many different types of music. She creates pins and magnets from corrugated cardboard and makes original cards.

Jean Wallace, Academic Director

As the Academic Director and CEO, Jean is responsible for guiding the design and implementation of our award-winning curriculum and for supporting the direction of all areas of school life. Jean works in collaboration with our staff, Board, community and educational partners to build on our successful past toward an even greater future.

Charter schools are public schools.  As such Jean is accountable to the Department of Education for ensuring that our students are receiving a standards-based learning experience from qualified teachers within the guidelines and mandates of Federal, State, and Charter School Law. In addition to the many responsibilities associated with curriculum and instruction, Jean supports Green Woods through successful grant writing, ongoing website communication, mentoring our Jr. School Leadership Team mediation team, and by networking with key partners from within and outside the Green Woods community.

As a member of the Governor's Council for Environmental Education, Jean works with many of the State's environmental experts and agencies. "By working collaboratively with the Department of Education and the outstanding environmental agencies throughout our state, Green Woods is able to gain both valuable resources along with well-deserved local, state and national recognition for the exceptional work being done by our teachers and students," Jean said.
In addition to the daily interactions with Green Woods dedicated staff and parents, Jean enjoys those rare and special times when she gets to trail along on hikes with our budding naturalists. "Hiking with even our youngest students and seeing how they interact with the natural world always presents a wonderful learning opportunity for me. While many young children enjoy walking in the woods, Green Woods students are skilled observers, able to take in the big picture of the field ecosystem while at the same time patiently exploring the leaf litter in search of the smallest signs of life."
Jean currently holds four Pennsylvania education certifications: Principal K-12, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction, K-12 Environmental Education, and Elementary Education. She earned her post-graduate certifications and her MAEd in Environmental Education from Arcadia University, a BA in Elementary Education from Beaver College, and an Associate Degree in Health Science from Gwynedd Mercy College.

Each day is a new day of exploration and discovery as we challenge each other to provide the best possible learning environment for our students.

In less than four years time our amazing teaching staff has taken teaching and learning to a whole new level. Working in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, our teachers, themselves, developed our K-8 award-winning EIC Curriculum which engages our students in integrated learning experiences that span all disciplines. Utilizing our 350-acre learning laboratory as an outdoor classroom, our partnership with the Schuylkill Center continues to grow and thrive as the Center’s expert educators spend many hours working with our classroom teachers to enhance the teaching of environment and ecology concepts.

Green Woods is the only public/charter school in the entire country to be housed directly within a nature center. Years ago I earned my graduate degree by utilizing this same setting as a laboratory for learning. It is so rewarding to now spend time observing our students as they explore and discover new things while hiking in the same woods where I learned so much about the natural world.