Red Cedar School has a full-time opening for an Operations Administrator.

We are looking for an individual with management skills who shares the values of the school and is comfortable balancing a variety of projects in a school environment. We are looking for someone who would be a good fit to work with our close, collaborative, lively and dedicated team. 

Key responsibilities of the position include management of the school budget, human resources, compliance and policy, fundraising, facilities and operations, enrollment and admissions support, office management, and support for the daily life of the school. This is a full-time position. The operations administrator’s schedule follows the general rhythm of the school year. This is an on-site position when school is in session, with flexibility around working remotely during school breaks. 

A detailed description of the job can be sent upon request.  

Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume, references and letters of recommendation directly to:

Jacquie Werner-Gavrin, Director 

jwg@redcedarschool.org 

or at Red Cedar School, PO Box 393, Bristol, VT 05443

Outdoor Educator & Teacher

Red Cedar School has a full-time opening for an outdoor educator and teacher. 

We are looking for someone with the knowledge and experience to lead and support outdoor, nature-based, hands-on activities with our two younger groups (grades K–2 and 3–4). The position also entails supporting academic classes, leading groups and workshops, and participating all around in the daily life of the school. 

On our two-acre campus our outdoor facilities include a small barn with a variety of tools and other handwork materials; a greenhouse; an apple orchard; pollinator, vegetable, and herb gardens; bird houses; a cob oven; a large sand and water play area; and other outdoor spaces.

We are looking for someone who

• Will be a good fit and bring diversity and balance to our close, collaborative staff team
• Shares our educational philosophy and values 
• Appreciates all kinds of learners
• Has strong and intuitive social skills
• Has experience supporting the social and emotional growth of students

This is a full-time position.

Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume, references and letters of recommendation directly to:

Jacquie Werner-Gavrin, Director

jwg@redcedarschool.org 

or Red Cedar School, PO Box 393, Bristol, VT 05443

December 20, 2025

Dear Red Cedar Community,

We hope this finds you well and enjoying the season! 

Red Cedar is humming these days with rehearsals and set-building for a production of the musical Alice in Wonderland. We recently had a sharing of learning and students presented literary essays, readers’ theater, data from science experiments, poems for two voices, simple machines, leaf identification books, descriptive narratives, historical letters, and more. The growth and learning that happens every day often makes it seem, in the words of Alice, “… it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” 
The year also included our 35th anniversary reunion (so good to see many of you!); 

a school-wide family history project; trips to Washington D.C. and Mystic, CT and camping trips In the Pharaoh Wilderness of the Adirondacks and Branbury State Park with our older groups; a water conservation project with Echo Science Center and Very Merry Theater in which our younger students wrote and produced a play; the finishing of the new cob oven with a post and beam roof; many 

new books, as always, and much reading; a bountiful garden and many cooking projects; a production of the musical The Wizard of Oz under the direction of Jen Allred; science investigations; all kinds of writing; debates; Arts Immersion Week; 

the Red Cedar Flea fundraiser; and so much more. 
Red Cedar has grown over the past ten years. We now have 54 students and a waitlist, and five full time and one part time teacher. We’ve expanded our resources, done renovations to the building, and further developed the campus. We have decided to hire a business administrator who will take over this side of responsibilities from 

me  (Jacquie). It has been deeply satisfying to help the school become a solid and thriving business, but I am ready to just concentrate my focus on teaching, supporting the staff and guiding the community life of the school. Separating the role of director and business administrator will also help to ensure a stable future for the school.

We are living in changing and challenging times. The need for young people who are discerning and independent thinkers, who understand that the world is one interconnected whole and our future is inextricably dependent on the wellbeing of us all and our planet, who feel a sense of belonging and purpose, who are clear communicators, who are authentic and confident in their dignity and their voice and that of others — this has never been stronger. These are the values that define Red Cedar and which weave their way through every day in all we do. Please consider supporting Red Cedar at this time with a donation to our scholarship fund. This support helps makes an education at Red Cedar possible for a diversity of students.

And please stay in touch. Red Cedar has the most wonderful community and staying connected with you keeps us energized and strong!

Jacquie

Donate to Red Cedar Scholarship Fund

December 12, 2024

Greetings Everyone!

We are thrilled to announce that Red Cedar School is celebrating its 35th anniversary!  We’re planning a big reunion at the end of the school year and hope all of you can join us.

Red Cedar 35th Anniversary Reunion

Sunday, June 8th

2:30 – 5:30

Come celebrate with us!

What a journey these 35 years have been. It’s gratifying to look back and consider all that we have learned and accomplished, and to realize that Red Cedar is thriving in every way.

The school feels infused with the energy of a close and vibrant community in which everyone matters, everyone belongs. This morning as we gathered for an all-school meeting in the middle school room, mentors sat with their mentees and many of the youngest students sat on laps. Discussion centered around the December workshops, the upcoming holiday gift exchange, construction of the skating rink, and the village. Six-year-olds spoke up as comfortably as older students and staff. 

Later in the morning I went upstairs to check on the workshop sign-ups. I entered Brendan’s room and saw the upper elementary students spread among the two big tables, deeply engrossed in taking measurements of their faces with partners, and diagraming these to begin sketches for self-portraits. The room was full of contented focus. As I made my rounds, each group had a similar level of engrossment: the middle schoolers with Megg, gathered around the low tables in the primary room, discussing the progression of voting rights in our country over time; the elementary with Stacy suggesting ideas for thank you letters; and the primary with our new outdoor educator and math teacher, Grace, immersed in collaborative play in the outdoor classroom. 

Our students are full of ideas, they’re talkative, they’re problem solvers, they’re curious, they’re questioners. They take initiative and they make things happen. They strive to be kind to each other and a culture of inclusion and respect prevails. They speak up when things go astray and are willing to resolve conflicts constructively. 

I believe this vibrant culture of engagement and ownership exists because students are active partners in their education and in our community. Their ideas, interests and questions matter. They have responsibility, not just to themselves, but to each other. 

Teachers give a structure and rhythm to the days and our classes; we create expectations and provide support, we develop content and skill progressions and find resources for activities. But within this structure exists a wide array of opportunities and expectations for student agency and initiative.  A degree of personal choice is integral to most activities. It’s not unusual to take a detour or head in a new direction based on the expressed interests and new discoveries of a group. 

In addition to the core of academics, our days, weeks and seasons include building projects, planting and harvesting of the garden, cooking, visual arts, performing arts, workshops, music and singing, mentors, all kinds of games and physical activity, field excursions, camping trips and travel study. 

The range of activities gives everyone the opportunity to work in their wheelhouse from a place of strength, to be a leader. It enables the camaraderie and excitement and satisfaction of creating and experimenting and adventuring together in creative projects. All this in turn has a positive impact on the level of engagement and success academically, and the degree of closeness and care as a community.   

Celebrating 35 years feels fantastic! We have a wonderful community of families, current and alum, who share the values of the school. We have a talented and deeply devoted staff with exceptional continuity over the years. The staff, along with the Board of Directors, have stayed a steady course with our mission over time. There’s much to celebrate! 

We are living in a time of great change with many challenges for our world. The world needs curious, questioning, inclusive, community-minded citizens and leaders. Our planetary ecosystem needs environmental stewards who understand the interdependence of all life. We believe that Red Cedar is providing the ideal education to raise these kinds of world citizens.

Please continue to support Red Cedar on our journey by keeping us close in your hearts, by staying in touch, and by contributing to our fundraising and community events. As always, we strive to make an education at Red Cedar available to students who need financial support. Your donations to our scholarship fund are crucial!  

We are grateful for all of you and thank you for your support in these many ways. 

And we hope to see you at our reunion in June! 

Jacquie

December 14, 2023

Dear Families, Friends and Alumni,

The scene at Red Cedar these days is lively and joyful. We are in the midst of rehearsing an all-school musical, Frankenstein and Friends, and everyone is singing, dancing, practicing scenes and painting sets.

At our recent Sharing of Learning the older groups presented the new cob oven they finished building this fall, complete with brickwork and decorative tiling around the base. The primary shared science experiments and a puppet show. The elementary group treated their families to some reader’s theater presentations. The upper elementary group shared personal narrative writing, along with identity maps and a persuasive letter project from social studies. And the middle school presented literary essays which were the culmination of a focus on neuro- diversity and the shared, analytical reading and discussion of a novel.

During this darkest time of the year, and what is becoming a historically challenging time for the world, Red Cedar feels like a safe and bright harbor.

Raising good citizens of the world is at the heart of our mission. We believe that creating such a harbor gives students the nurture, strength and voice they will need to be active citizens of democracy and caretakers of our planet.

Where does some of the joy at Red Cedar come from? Being present with each other through the day (phone free). Open-hearted, thoughtful discussions in which everyone’s contributions take us to new understandings. The safety to be our authentic and unique selves. Appreciating diversity in all its manifestations. Building things together. Physical movement. Spending real time outside. Feeling needed. Working hard. Thinking. Following curiosity. Speaking up. Laughing often. Having time for different kinds of play. Resolving social conflicts in a way that maintains the dignity of everyone involved, gives space for each to be heard, enables resolution and amends, and supports change going forward.

Our safe harbor must also be a place from which we look out onto the bigger waters beyond. We want our students to begin grappling with the complex and often difficult realities of the world while in this harbor. If they are to develop into strong world citizens who value and defend democracy, diversity and justice, they need to look at the world as it is and as it has been, while also considering the world as it could be.

How do we do this at Red Cedar? Consideration of the many perspectives that contribute to the whole. Decentering the dominant and most powerful voices. Critical thinking: teaching it, and exercising it, every day. Looking at systems. Asking questions. Considering evidence, considering sources. Learning dialogue and civil discourse. Reading, reading, reading. Direct and frequent experiences in the natural world combined with academic study to foster informed environmental understanding. A belief in the dignity and worth of every person. A belief in the interconnectedness of all life.

I’m so pleased to say that the school is doing well. Enrollment is robust, we have an extraordinary staff, and our building and grounds are well cared for. We continue to prioritize financial aid in our fundraising efforts to support diversity in our community and to make an education at Red Cedar possible regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Would you consider a donation to our scholarship fund at this time?

Please do stay in touch. It gives us great joy to think of our alum and we treasure the legacy of each here at the school. The world needs you!

Jacquie

We invite parents and grandparents to join us for our opening from 8:15 – 9:00 and look forward to welcoming everyone at our opening circle!

Students read these papers at their graduation to the school community including students, parents, grandparents, friends and alum. It’s a rite of passage for the students and a special night of celebration.