Founder & Lead Educator · Gründerin & Haupterzieherin

The person your child
spends every day with.

Christina — Founder & Lead Educator

"Before you choose a school, choose a person.
Your child will spend more waking hours with their educator
than with almost anyone else."

The Discovery Atelier · Opening August 2027

Why I started this.

I grew up in Austria, where childhood looks different. Children spend hours outside regardless of weather. Learning happens through doing, not sitting. Language arrives naturally — not through drills, but through life.

When Jonas and I moved to Lake Norman, I looked for a preschool that felt like home. A place where my future children could grow up bilingual, curious, and unhurried. I couldn't find one.

So I built it.

The Discovery Atelier is the school I would have chosen. Every decision — about time, space, language, and rest — reflects what I believe childhood should feel like.

Hintergrund · Background

Background

  • ◆
    Raised and educated in Austria
    European pedagogy is not a method I studied — it's how I grew up. Play-based learning, unhurried childhood, and time outdoors aren't philosophy to me. They're memory.
  • ◆
    Native German speaker
    Your child learns from someone who dreams in the language. German isn't a subject at The Discovery Atelier — it's the air in the room.
  • ◆
    Trained in Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia approaches
    Three frameworks, each with something essential to offer. The Discovery Atelier draws from all of them — and is bound to none of them.
  • ◆
    Former experience working with children ages 2–6
    In Austria and in the United States. Different contexts, different children — the same truth: a child who feels safe will learn anything.
  • ◆
    NC DCDEE licensing in progress
    Fully compliant before August 2027. Licensed as a NC Family Child Care Home — intimate, home-based, and intentionally capped at 6 founding families.
Ehrlichkeit · Honesty

What you should know before you trust me with your child.

I will know your child's name on day one. Their favorite color by day three. What makes them light up by the end of the first week.

I don't believe in observing children from a distance. I sit on the floor. I follow their curiosity. I speak German — always — not because I was told to, but because that's where the magic happens.

I will send you a photo every day. Not because it's policy — because you deserve to see your child happy.

And if something is wrong, I will call you. Not email. Call.

Nächster Schritt · Next Step

Want to meet me before you decide?

Every family has a personal conversation with me before committing. No pressure. Just a real conversation about your child.

Schedule a Conversation →

No payment today. No commitment until both of us say yes.