TEACHERS

Amber Pommarane
School Director/Lead Teacher

Amber joined RCS in 2017 and has lived in Grand Junction since 2008. She holds degrees in History, Sociology, and Psychology from the University of Wyoming. Amber finished her Early Childhood Education in 2019 from CMU. Amber has worked with children and families for over 20 years. She found Waldorf Education when researching alternative educational philosophies for her oldest child, the Waldorf approach was the right fit for her and her family. She truly loves working with young children and building relationships with the River Canyon families. Amber believes the first 7 years of childhood should be cherished and guided with a loving, gentle hand.

Amber and her husband have three children and live on a small hobby farm. They enjoy spending their weekends on the local trails or participating in various sporting events. 

Diana Soto - Lead Teacher

Diana Soto will be joining River Canyon School as the Apple Blossom Lead Teacher. Diana is a certified Waldorf teacher and is currently working on completing her Director’s license. Diana taught kindergarten at Juniper Ridge Community School, first as an assistant teacher and later as a lead kindergarten teacher. She spent the last year working at Eureka Math and Science Museum, where she worked with an array of age groups and program offerings. Diana spent her youth living in Mexico before moving to the Grand Junction area to be closer to her mother’s family. Diana has two teenage daughters and a slew of pets, both furry and feathered. Diana enjoys the outdoors and can often be found working in her garden. Diana brings a vast knowledge of Waldorf Early Education to RCS. Her rich imagination, playful personality and joyful outlook are intertwined in everything she does.

Heidi Bassignani - Lead Teacher

Heidi is a Colorado native who joined River Canyon School as the assistant in the Apple Blossom classroom. She then worked as the assistant in the Sweet Pea classroom and is now the lead teacher in Sweat Peas. Heidi is a mother of three young children who all attend Waldorf school as well. She believes in keeping children close to nature and immersed in the dreamy state of childhood. Heidi is so happy to have found a home at River Canyon School, where a love for children and childhood comes first. She is committed to continuing her education on teaching and leading children, and loves spending her time with such bright little beings each day.

Alex Frederick - Lead Teacher

Alex has lived in Grand Junction and taught at River Canyon since the Fall of 2020. She has been an Apple Blossom assistant, Sweet Peas lead teacher, and is now the Sweet Peas assistant teacher and RCS Coordinator. Her child care career began in 2008 and has included being a nanny, a Montessori teacher and a substitute teacher in preschools across Denver. She has found her teaching home in the Waldorf philosophy and believes in teaching with slow-paced wonder and respect for our inner and outer worlds.

In her free time, Alex enjoys spending quality time with her spouse, son, and their 2 cats. She also enjoys reading, doing arts and crafts and outdoors she likes to bike, hike, and camp. 

Assistant Teachers: Cassidy Garwood, Emera Rinehart, B Frederick, and Afton Hollstein

Bios Coming Soon