Meet the Team
Theresa Elliott
Owner/Director/Lead Teacher; Certified NH Educator
Theresa is a certified NH Teacher with Elementary Certification K-8 since 2008. Prior to obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Sociology from Southern New Hampshire University in 2008, she worked as a paraprofessional at New Boston Central School from 2003-2007. She taught 5th grade at New Boston Central School for 10 years and for the last 3 years she was the first math interventionist at New Boston Central School.
Her passion for the early learning years was where it all began. After teaching for over 10 years in the upper elementary grades, and building the math intervention department for a local public school, she is now pursuing the roots of her entry into the field of education. Her years as a public educator were marked by her belief in building a community with her colleagues, her students and families, and the local community. She is a nature enthusiast and believes that all children belong outside every day. Theresa has a long time love for this local community and is on the Board of Directors and the Hillsborough County Youth Center Foundation and the Director of the Children's Tent at the Hillsborough County Fair.
Theresa loves being outside, aerial yoga, reading, drawing, hiking, biking, and skiing. She and her husband Mark have two children and an adorable springer spaniel. Theresa has a love for this local community, growing up in Dunbarton, NH, living in Goffstown, NH, raising her children in New Boston, and now residing in Weare in Mark's childhood home. She is looking forward to being able to give back to the community that raised her.
Ali Burkhamer
Lead Teacher/Co-Director
Ali has been working in childcare for 7 years, working with infants to school-aged children. She grew up in Weare and decided to continue her education at New England College, where she got her bachelor's in business administration. After a year, she pursued her love for teaching and go her Early Childhood Education certificate at NHTI. Ali believes one of the most essential parts of being a teacher is allowing the children to express and feel their emotions. She is excited to create many memories with everyone at Roots and Wings.
She has always loved the outdoors, from bugs to birds and everything in between. Her passion for community and togetherness brought her to Bennington, where she lives with her two cats.
Ellen Shea
Assistant Teacher
Ellen Shea has been taking care of children in one capacity or another for the better part of her adult life. She is a mother to two grown children, Gary, and Theresa - Owner of Roots and Wings School. She has watched children in her home while her children were young, became a substitute teacher in the public school system, which ultimately led her to become a paraprofessional before leaving the school system to again watch her grandchildren in her home day care setting. She was a paraprofessional at New Boston Central School for 14 years where she worked in a variety of grade levels. Her longest assignment was working as the Kindergarten paraprofessional for seven years. After her years in public school, Ellen left the profession to watch her grandchildren. For the last 10 years she has watched children from birth through age 5 daily and has watched elementary age children after school.
Ellen loves to read, craft, and spend time with her family.
Paige Phelps
Assistant Teacher
Paige has proudly called New Boston her home for her entire life. An alumni of the Class of 2025, she completed her education through homeschooling alongside her five siblings. That experience nurtured her creativity, curiosity, and a love of learning. Many local families may recognize Paige from working at The Cure Cafe, volunteering at the Whipple Free Library, or selling her handmade crochet creations at the New Boston Farmers' Market. In her free time, Paige enjoys creating art, playing guitar, thrifting, and spending time outdoors. Paige is excited to begin her teaching journey at Roots and Wings School because she admires the school's commitment to its students and the caring, supportive environment it provides. She hopes to model kindness and creativity in the classroom while encouraging curiosity.
Meghan Tewksbury
Associate Teacher and Administrative Assitant
Meghan is a creative and caring mom of three with years of experience working with children. For the past decade, she has worked with children and adults of all ages, instructing and guiding them in a creative studio setting. She enjoys creating positive, welcoming environments where children feel comfortable learning, exploring, and being themselves. She recognizes that every child learns and experiences the world in their own way and is excited to nurture their curiosity and be a part of creating opportunities that help them flourish. Meghan is also passionate about being involved in the New Boston community and spent six years as a Girl Scout troop leader, where she enjoyed encouraging children to build confidence, try new things, and develop a sense of connection to the community around them. In her free time, Meghan enjoys reading, especially historical fiction, fiber arts and crafts, restorative yoga, and spending time with her family at home in New Boston, where she has lived for the past 13 years.
Elizabeth Elliott
Extended Care Assistant
Lizzy is a student at John Stark and is one of the original Roots and Wings kids! She is Theresa's daughter and Ellen's granddaughter. She enjoys boating, snowboarding, snowmobiling, drawing, hiking with her dog, and spending time with her friends and family. Lizzy is excited to officially be a member of the Roots and Wings Staff.
Sam Millas
Aftercare Assistant
Sam lives in Goffstown with her family and two dogs. She is a junior at Goffstown High School where she runs track during the winter and spring. In her spare time, Sam loves traveling to new places with her family, reading, shopping, and hitting the gym. Sam enjoys working with kids and is excited to be part of the Roots and Wings team.
Emily Damron
Aftercare Group Leader
Emily is Roots and Wings newest addition to our aftercare program. She enjoys rock climbing and is excited to join the Roots and Wings family.
About The School
The connection to the community and nature will play a vital role in the educational environment at Roots and Wings School. Children at Roots and Wings School will spend time outdoors exploring everyday both on site and within the community. Roots and Wings School provides enriching opportunities for them to be outside curiously connecting to their environment. Roots and Wings School’s play based, outdoor experiences supports the natural development of gross motor skills, attention, visual skills, auditory processing, fine motor skills, social skills (sense of community), creativity, emotional stability, and conflict resolution skills. These lessons also include being prepared, dressing for the weather, listening to your body to build awareness of one’s self, as well as how to interact with the environment.
By observing nature, children learn to build a connection to their immediate environment and community to foster positive citizenship roles in the future. Nature can be used to connect all curricula: math, science, literature, as well as physical and social-emotional growth. As the children learn to connect to nature, they will also be taught how to connect to the community through projects, events and activities that foster citizenship and community involvement.
Roots and Wings School uses nature and the seasons as a backbone for all curricula. We also use Blossom and Root, Heggerty, UFLI Foundations and Greg Tang Math with inspiration from other supplemental materials that follow the Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio, and Mason educational philosophies. These can be seen in daily routines and general atmosphere of the school. In addition to these, Roots and Wings core values are rooted in love and respect. Love and respect for individuals, groups, our school, the community and the environment.
Our daily school flow will be a mixed age grouping with small group learning instruction, occurring at all different levels. Every child will participate in a skills check, three times per school year to monitor growth and development. Results of those will be discussed with families during a winter parent-teacher conference. Skill mastery data will be collected using a skills check benchmark sheet that was developed by owner/director/lead teacher Theresa Elliott. A written narrative will accompany the skills check as a means of interpreting and more thoroughly understanding the child's learning profile. The skills are based on Kindergarten benchmarks aligned with the state of New Hampshire's Department of Education's recommendations. As children age through our school setting, parents can easily monitor growth and progress over time using the same benchmark goals.
History
Roots and Wings School has been a dream of Theresa’s for a long time. As opportunities presented themselves in 2020, she decided to take the leap and pursue the opening of her own school after a 17 year career in the public school system.
Little People’s Depot, a pillar in the community of New Boston since 1977, had operated as a voluntary, non-profit cooperative organization. It was planning to close in June of 2020, but when the pandemic hit, LPD closed its doors for the last time earlier than expected in March 2020. The building at 20 River Road was not LPD’s original location but was purchased in 2006 to save the school. It’s previous location was being renovated into the Gravity Tavern of Molly Stark’s Restaurant. In 2006, lifelong community members Jon and Jess Willard purchased the property at 20 River Road, originally built in 1890. It was the perfect location for the new home of Little People’s Depot in the barn at the back of the property. LPD was able to thrive for 14 more years before closing its doors in 2020 thanks to the Willards.
In 2021, a new school began its journey at 20 River Road, bringing back a community preschool and Kindergarten. Just like a garden, Roots and Wings School continues to grow and cultivate its roots. Beginning in 2025, Roots and Wings School will open The Learning Garden, a co-op learning collaborative for children seeking an alternative educational opportunity. See our Services page for more details.