Bianca Hagen
Founder and Preschool Teacher
Our Team
Bianca is the founder and preschool teacher at Hidden Valley Forest School. Before having kids, Bianca worked as a foreign policy analyst and Portuguese/Spanish linguist for the U.S. Departments of Defense and Justice. After having kids, Bianca discovered a passion for child development in her efforts to become the best mom she could possibly be.
Through her research, Bianca ended up developing an in-depth understanding of environments that allow children to truly thrive and learn naturally. Her research eventually pointed to the wonderful world of Forest Schools. During the pandemic, she and her husband found the magical 9 acre property of Hidden Valley. A year later in 2022, Hidden Valley Forest School was founded. It is now a beautiful, magical oasis where children can safely explore and learn from nature in a way that is fun, natural, and organic.
Bianca Hagen is a certified Forest School Teacher through the Forest School Teacher Institute (Level 1, 2, and 3). She is also CPR/First Aid certified through the American Red Cross, and completed an intensive 9-month Wilderness Immersion course at the Living Earth School in Afton, VA in May 2024. She is a self-professed “training enthusiast,” and is constantly looking for opportunities to learn more and grow as an educator. Previously, she worked as a Lead Afternoon Teacher at Little Explorers Discovery School, a Reggio Emilia preschool located in Crozet, VA, where she received training in the Reggio Emilia educational approach.
Jacqueline Simounet
Curriculum Developer and K-2 Teacher
Jackie Simounet is joining Hidden Valley Forest School as the Kindergarten through Second Grade Teacher. She is excited to move from public school to a program that allows for more student led exploration and outdoor time. As a mama to two nature lovers, she has observed first hand how important time in the forest is for child development and well-being.
After graduating from Emory and Henry College with a degree in Spanish Cultural Studies and Theater, she moved to Spain for a year to teach English abroad. This experience set in motion a desire to become a teacher, which led her to become a teaching assistant in an English Language Learners program.
She continued working as a teaching assistant in various grades while completing her Masters program for Elementary Education. She has been a licensed Virginia Teacher for 10 years and thinks the best part of teaching is building meaningful relationships with her students.
Each year of teaching, Jackie has received We Notice Awards from students and families. In 2018 she won a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to attend an elite workshop studying the impact and legacy of Thomas Jefferson. In 2023 she was awarded a Golden Apple Teaching Award for excellence in community building among her students. Teaching is a passion and joy for Jackie, and she is looking forward to blending academics and theatrical flair into the forest school model.
Her hobbies include spending time exploring with her two kids and husband. She loves reading and almost always has two or three books going at the same time. Traveling and experiencing different cultures are also among her favorite things, not to mention a great way to brush up on her Spanish.
Juliet Chapman Band
Preschool Teacher
Juliet is Hidden Valley Forest School’s Friday teacher and substitute, in addition to being a parent to an HVFS student. With a history in elementary education, Juliet is passionate about childhood mental health and the importance of play, exploration, and ample time spent in nature.
Juliet grew up in Canada, and went to high school in North Carolina. She obtained undergraduate degrees in Music and English at UNC-Greensboro, and a Masters in Elementary Education at NC State University. After completing her education, Juliet had the opportunity to live and work in several different countries, which greatly influenced her teaching philosophy. In particular, working at an international forest school and several other schools in Norway taught Juliet the importance of providing children with access to nature, and the freedom to play, explore, and nurture their innate curiosity and wonder. Not only was it clear to her that children in these schools were happier and more resilient, Juliet discovered that she was happier working in outdoor classrooms as well!
Juliet was also lucky enough to work at an alternative, multi-age school in BC, Canada. There she experienced in real time the power of a curriculum that focused on the whole child and prioritized social and emotional learning. When Juliet moved back to the United States, she worked hard to incorporate all that she had learned into her first grade classroom in North Carolina.
In her free time Juliet enjoys hiking, traveling, curling up with a good book and a cup of tea, and watching The Great British Baking Show.
Kelsey Fatsi
Art Teacher/Art Therapist
Kelsey is passionate about weaving mental health support into an early-childhood setting through intentional art exploration. She works at a couple of other local schools, bringing “Open Studio” to as many Crozet kiddos as she can! Kelsey holds a Masters in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Art Therapy from Naropa University. She has worked as an Art Therapist at Girls Athletic Leadership School in Denver, Colorado, facilitated groups for pregnancy and postpartum, used art as a healing resource with women and children survivors of sex trafficking in Cambodia, and spent many years teaching process-based art at Tinker Art Studio in Boulder, CO.
Kelsey integrates process art, creative play, and intuitive learning into our Open Studio art time. Students dig into their creativity, work on social relationships with their classmates, and challenge themselves through new materials. Creating art has been proven to increase self confidence, autonomy, strengthen attunement with one’s emotions and needs, and encourage self exploration and expression. In Open Studio, we lean into that intuitive creative space and watch as kids learn and grow more deeply into themselves.
Some of Kelsey’s favorite things to do include creating art with any and all types of materials, perfecting her chocolate chip cookie recipe, and bringing as much color and life as she can into the purple house that she shares with her handyman/techie husband, Elias, three spirited daughters (one a HVFS student!), and an array of cats, chickens, and other critters.