Dr. Amanda Stone-Norton has been in education for thirty wondrous years. Her teaching repertoire ranges from toddler to PhD, but her favorite age group–by far–is adolescents. When asked why, her answer is simple: “They are old enough to engage me in intellectual debates while young enough to join me in climbing trees.”  

Amanda is a native Kentuckian, but being the explorer that she is, left home for college and never moved back. She earned her BA in Communication Studies at Furman University in South Carolina; her MA in Educational Administration and Adolescent Development at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and her PhD in Higher Education with an emphasis in Multicultural-Education from the University of Denver. In between her educational pursuits, she ventured to Arkansas and Texas where she held various university administrative and faculty positions, teaching courses and facilitating student affairs programs centering on education, leadership, multiculturalism, organizational development, research, communication, and adolescent development theory. 

Her time in Texas was the most profound, as that was where she discovered environmental education and Montessorian pedagogies: both cornerstones of her practice. While there, she was the Executive Director for an endowed non-profit program dedicated to educating teachers how to use the outdoors as a classroom and the Regional Director and founding member of the North Texas Children in Nature Network, inspired by Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods. (A must read!) 

While taking a sabbatical from professional life to raise her only child, Amanda started volunteering at her daughter’s Montessori school. Not long after, her volunteering transformed into a full-time position with the middle school.  That’s when she knew she had finally found her home in education.  Amanda went on to earn a secondary I and II credential from the American Montessori Society in Houston, TX. She later was trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching literacy, writing and spelling. 

Upon  moving to Colorado, Amanda met two amazing women, Julia Ogden and Emily Greenberg, with a similar vision to start a farm-based middle school. Together they founded the Farmstead Collective at Five Acre Farm, where she was the Academic Director, Curriculum Developer, and Lead Guide. 

In a search to expand socialization opportunities for her Farmstead students, Amanda reached out to Mountain Shadows. A few months later, the two programs made the decision to continue their journeys together. 

As an educator, she strives to create a joyful learning environment where adolescents are empowered to develop independence and critical thinking, foster a deep sense of social responsibility, and explore the endless possibilities before them with real world, hands-on experiences.

Amanda is a multi-award winning children’s book author; an avid yoga, meditation, and Tai Chi practitioner; and an undaunted explorer with dreams of hiking the Himalayas. She moved to Broomfield in 2017 where she lives with her husband Matt, their daughter, Madeleine, and their two fur babies, Murphy and Potter. When she’s not working on her latest novel or camping in the woods, Amanda enjoys tickling the ivories, knitting wintery hats, snorkeling coastal reefs, and volunteering in her community.