Our Teachers

 

Anne Branzell-Spiegler, M.A., Head Teacher


My husband Jeff and I moved to New England nearly ten years ago with 2-year old Maeve and 6-week old Galen. Our Maryland roots are deep but we love being in New Hampshire with its many amenities. 

We first encountered Waldorf education at Morning Song Preschool where our daughter, and later son Galen, attended. Daughter Fiona also attended as infant assistant to me, while I worked in the office. 

I was my son’s assistant one day a week and loved being in the nursery. Currently, our three children are enrolled at the Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene, NH.

In the fall of 1999, I happily joined Cobb Meadow as assistant teacher. After two years in that position, I enrolled at Antioch New England in the Waldorf Teacher Training Program and am now beginning my second year as head teacher and fifth year in the Cobb Meadow community. I received a B.A. in Russian Studies from the University of Maryland (1986) and a M.A. in Elementary Education with Waldorf Teaching Certification (2003). 

I am very excited and awed at being a teacher. Outside of school I am busy parenting three beautiful and very active children. I love folk music, singing and canoeing. When possible I try to keep up my command of the Russian language, in hopes of traveling there again, family in tow.



 Photo of Cobb Meadow children and teachers
Ivy Vann , M.A.,  Assistant Teacher

Ivy's passion for teaching, music, storytelling and cooking is evident every day in her work with the children of Cobb Meadow.
 
Ivy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature at Harvard University, followed by a Masters in Education at Antioch N.E. Graduate School in Keene, NH.
 
She has an extensive teaching background in the Monadnock region, spanning all ages from preschool through high school. Prior to joining the teaching staff at Cobb Meadow in 2005, Ivy was a classroom teacher at Mountain Shadows School in Dublin, NH from 1998-2004 and she taught nursery school in Peterborough, NH from 1996-1998. Ivy also served as the children's librarian in Amherst, NH from 1981-1984.
 
In addition to raising her four children, Ivy is a musician (studying singing and dancing in the classroom), an accomplished storyteller, a seasoned writer and editor, and an inventive cook. She has written a cookbook and she prepares the weekly community supper at All Saint's Church in Peterborough.
Libby Haddock, Parent-Child Playgroup Coordinator

Libby recently completed teaching young children for more than 30 years. For nine years she taught at the Well School in Peterborough, and for twenty years she taught at the Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene.

In 1992, Libby founded Cobb Meadow School and taught there for five years. Her kindergarten training was completed at Forrest Row in Sussex, England in 1991. Libby completed a three-year training program in Puppetry and performs with a troupe locally. She is currently mentoring three students who are engaged in the Early Childhood Program at Sunbridge College. Libby serves on the board of Sophia's Hearth Family Center and Cobb Meadow School. She and her late husband, Jim Haddock, are the parents of three adult sons and eight lovely grandchildren. She loves toy-making, gardening, searching for wild mushrooms, travel and, most of all, children.