Co-Heads of School:

Christa Niven. M. Ed.
Co-Head, Administration and Business Development, Ms. Fancy Pants

Christa Niven began her career as a researcher at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development working for Dr. Anne Masten, Dr. Andrew Collins, Dr. Maria Sera, and Dr. Albert Yonas conducting research in Child Psychology. It was during this time that Christa was a contributing researcher on two articles with Dr. Andrew Collins that were later published. While at the University of Minnesota, Christa earned a B.S. in Child Psychology as well as a M.Ed. in Youth Studies. During graduate school, she worked with at-risk children living in homeless shelters in Minneapolis as well as homeless teen parents and their children as a youth liaison and program director.

After Christa left the University of Minnesota she worked as a youth advocate and drug and alcohol counselor for a charter school in Northern Minnesota. When statewide budget cuts forced the school to close, Christa began a private school serving youth at-risk of high school failure. She left the school in 2001, relocated with her family to North Carolina, and took a job writing curriculum for the Carolina Ballet and the Wake County Public Schools.

In 2002, Christa left curriculum development and again opened a private school serving at-risk youth in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. She closed the school in 2005 and opened the Little School of Hillsborough with business partner, Jennifer Dock.

In 2009, Christa began an MBA program at Cornell University where she is currently studying Business Leadership. In addition to her studies, Christa is currently spearheading the expansion efforts of the Little School organization.

Christa is the happy wife of Mr. Jim and the very proud mother of three very entertaining and beautiful children. In her free time, Christa loves to spend time with her family playing music, listening to music, going to see music, and talking about music! She also loves all kinds of art and particularly enjoys interior design and mixed media collage as means of personal expression. Christa is also a very active member of her church and an avid reader of all things relating to her faith and education.

In the future, Christa hopes to grow very old with her husband, her children and her friends. She thinks they are very funny and looks forward to a time when there are more hours in the day to sit and laugh together.

Jennifer Dock, M.Ed., CAS School Psychology
Co-Head, Curriculum and Instruction, Big Cheese

Jennifer Dock has worked with children her entire career. She was born into a family of educators; her father was a superintendent in the public schools and her mother was a head of The Summit School, an independent school in Winston-Salem for children four years old through ninth grade. Jennifer attended Summit School where she was given the opportunity to learn in a stimulating child-centered environment that sparked learning and creativity. She spent summers working as a camp counselor at a local art camp, and during her first years of college, she worked as a preschool teacher while taking classes in the evenings.

In 1992 Jennifer moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to attend Colorado State University. There, she worked as an assistant teacher in a middle school classroom for children with learning and emotional disabilities. Upon graduation, Jennifer and her husband moved to Delaware where she earned a Masters in Education with a concentration in education of children with disabilities.

During her graduate program, Jennifer worked as a researcher at the University of Delaware's Center for Disabilities Studies. Through this experience, she was given the opportunity to help design the state's alternative assessment portfolio for students who were unable to take the state's standard end of grade assessment. At that time, Delaware was one of the leaders in the formulation of the alternative assessment and Jennifer was given the opportunity to present the portfolio assessment at conferences and forums across the country.

Jennifer began her teaching career in 1996 as a middle school teacher for students with learning and emotional disabilities. There, she learned about the benefits and importance of inclusive education, positive behavior support, and differentiated instruction. Jennifer returned to the University of Delaware and earned a Specialist Level degree in School Psychology in 2002. She and her family returned to North Carolina and Jennifer began work as a school psychologist in the Alamance Burlington School System. Jennifer has continued on this career path in addition to her work at The Little School and currently works in the public schools on a part time basis. In this role, Jennifer works as a consultant to teachers, counselor to children, and educational diagnostician. She is also a member of the district's Autism Evaluation Team and has received training in the assessment, evaluation, and instruction of children with disabilities on the Autism spectrum.

Jennifer has used that training as well as her knowledge earned in all of her settings to create and implement the Little School curriculum. In addition to working with the teachers, Jennifer helps to coordinate the adapted curriculum used for the Little Schools children with autism and sensory disorders. In the future, Jennifer hopes to further develop the services the Little School offers to exceptional children while also collaborating with other Reggio-inspired schools in order to improve the Little School curriculum overall.