Rhianna Schlief
Director & After School Adventure Lead
Rhianna has been teaching in both the public and private education worlds as a licensed elementary and middle school teacher for eleven years. After completing her student teaching abroad at the British School of the Netherlands, she achieved her Bachelor's and Master's in Education from James Madison University. She began her teaching career in Alleghany County, Virginia in 2012. In 2016, she and her husband moved abroad to teach at American Pacific International School in Thailand for two years, followed by four years at the American School of Warsaw, Poland.
This variety of teaching experiences helped define the philosophy and mission of the Blue Ridge Outdoor School which is to ensure the student comes first and to provide an inclusive environment with outdoor learning and experiential opportunities.
After moving back to Lexington, VA with her husband and three children, and exploring all that Rockbridge County and the surrounding areas have to to offer, she realized that this area would be the perfect location for an outdoor school environment.
Having experienced from childhood the joy and opportunities of the outdoors, she has come to value and appreciate how important spending time outdoors is to our physical and mental well being. Introducing many diverse nature experiences early in childhood inspires a lifelong familiarity and comfortability with engaging the outdoors. The natural learning setting offers students an even playing field where every child can discover their own strengths and feel successful while learning.
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