Rachel Kennedy
Founder/Lead Teacher
From the time I was a child growing up on a homestead in the Maine woods, purposeful work and connection to the land have been woven into my life. My parents built a home with stones from the river and logs from the woods. They raised vegetables and dairy goats. I played with magic stumps and built houses for wee people, had milkweed fights with my brothers, clipped brush from the edges of the pastures, dug outhouse holes, swam in the lake as the loons called, and was acutely aware of the wonder of life. I went to Sterling College in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. I swung an axe, read literature of the rural experience, learned to drive draft horses, canoed rivers with my handmade paddle as the ice broke, planted seeds, and studied environmental science. I studied sustainable building and agriculture at Prescott College and Carpentry at the North Bennett Street School. I received my Waldorf Teacher Training at Antioch New England University and my Curative Education Training from the Mulberry Center for Curative Education.
An Early Childhood teacher at The Hartsbrook School for 14 years, I founded The Hartsbrook School's Forest Kindergarten in 2014.
Emily Clough
Assistant Teacher
Much of my own early education happened in the forest, homeschooling in Western Mass. This helped me to develop values that have guided my life since—curiosity, play, and an appreciation of the world around me. In college I studied Communications, earning my B.A., before moving back to the Valley in order to join the year-round staff at a local camp. There, I leaned into my early love of the forest while also nurturing a passion for working with youth. Since then, I have had the pleasure of working in the Children’s Department at the Amherst Jones Library and am now thrilled to be working at the Tree of Life Forest School.
Dan Kennedy
Business Manager/Support
I act in a support role, from balancing the books to being the Go-To Guy. A professional musician, my recorded music has garnered over 725,000 plays on the internet. I've played Solo Piano concerts in 21 states as well as Canada.