The Head of School Welcome

It is an honor to be a part of the launching of a very important and unique school. Thanks to a wonderful Board of Directors, generous volunteers, extraordinary donors, a handful of staff/consultants, the support of our local school district, we are so excited to have opened J.S. Bryant School in September 2025! For over two years, we have been in community conversations, developing new learning models, exploring wellness program options, visiting summer camps to co-design with LGBTQIA+ teens, renovating facilities, planting and maintaining the campus lands, partnering with organizations and donors, and so much more.

We are enjoying this coming year as we continue our admissions process to welcome our growing number of students to J.S. Bryant School. We are eager to talk with parents and/or students, to answer any questions, offer more information, and support you in the admissions process.

My husband and I personally know how challenging it can be to find a school that makes sense for a teen who is struggling. Five years ago our kid was hurting, yet trying to understand his own identity to be his most authentic self within the LGBTQIA+ community. Our trans-teen wanted to be heard, seen, and affirmed by teachers & clinicians that had lived-experience, were deep allies, and were highly trained to support LGBTQIA+ youth. He wanted to find a community of students that were on a similar journey as he was. We did eventually find a school for our teen that helped in many ways, but didn’t have all the support that we were hoping for. We couldn’t stop asking– why wasn’t there a school like this? We talked with so many parents like ourselves, searching for this school.

Fast forward a few years, and we have stopped asking why.

As Head of School, I want to welcome you to a school that is for and with the LGBTQIA+ community. It will offer a learning environment that weaves together the sciences with arts, farming, project-based learning, and mental health in a LGBTQIA+ supportive environment. Families will be an important part of our learning journey. I look forward to welcoming you to the J.S. Bryant School community!

―Allison Druin, Ph.D. (she/her)

HEAD OF SCHOOL

Tree with red leaves and sun shining through

The Board of Directors

Dr. Cathy Schaeff

Dr. Cathy Schaeff is an Associate Professor of Biology at American University. She has served as the Department Chair of Biology and the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her research is focused on understanding how sexual orientation, gender, and sex/gender inform people's identity or sense of self and how people's sense of self shapes and is shaped by their relationship with their body.

Jo Erwin

(ANY)

Jo Erwin, RN, BSN (any) serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Transhealth. Previously the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, Jo brings decades of experience as both a healthcare provider and executive. Their areas of expertise include outpatient medical clinics, strategic operations, start-up business and non-profit development, and hospital management. A lifelong resident of Western Massachusetts, Jo grew up in South Hadley, earning their first bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College, followed by a second bachelor’s in nursing from UMass Amherst. As a registered nurse, she worked primarily in emergency and critical care before moving into administrative and leadership roles. As a gender-non-conforming lesbian with non-binary children, Jo brings an unyielding passion for removing barriers to quality healthcare.

Dr. Ben Bederson

(HE/HIM)

Dr. Ben Bederson (he/him), J.S. Bryant School co-founder (Head Unicorn Wrangler) is an educator, entrepreneur, and problem solver. With a Ph.D. in Computer Science from New York University, he was a professor, Director of the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center, and Associate Provost of Learning Initiatives at the University of Maryland. He co-founded 3 companies as well as the non-profit International Children's Digital Library.

Scott Rogers

(HE/HIM)

Scott Rogers (he/him), Chair of the J.S. Bryant School Finance Committee, has more than 30 years of experience as a professional economist, including more than 20 years in senior roles at the International Monetary Fund. Scott’s expertise—in both the government and corporate sectors—covers fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policy, debt management, inflation risk management, and national energy planning. His current service as Chair of the Finance Committee for the Town of Windsor [MA] ensures he’s deeply aware of the needs of our rural population.

Dr. Allison Druin

(SHE/HER)

Dr. Allison Druin (she/her), J.S. Bryant School co-founder and Head of School (Co-designer of Joy) has a lifetime of experience as an educator, innovator, and administrator. With an M.S. from MIT in Media Arts and Sciences and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of New Mexico, she was a professor in the Information School at the University of Maryland for 20 years. She recently stepped down after seven years as the Vice Provost of Research and Strategic Partnerships at Pratt Institute to become Head of the School. She has co-founded three high schools, including the new Design Works High School in Brooklyn, developed in collaboration between Pratt Institute and Bank Street College of Education.

Dr. Jazmin A. Peralta

(SHE/THEY)

Dr. Jazmin A. Peralta (she/they) is Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Pratt Institute and a transformative justice scholar-practitioner with nearly 20 years of experience advancing equity and institutional change in higher education. Their research examines the impact of carceral systems on higher education and systems-impacted students. As an Afro-Latine, first-generation, queer, and neurodivergent leader, Dr. Peralta brings a trauma-informed and justice-centered approach to building affirming, accountable educational environments for historically marginalized communities.

Dr. MJ Bishop

Board Chair

Dr. MJ Bishop (she/her) is Vice President of Integrative Learning Design at the University of Maryland Global Campus. She lives in a long-term same sex marriage and has used her personal experience to inform her life long work as an academic innovator focused on student success, equity, and inclusion. With numerous teaching awards and over a decade of experience working as a senior administrator at the state level, she focuses on institutionalizing equitable and effective pedagogical practices.

About our Founders

The founders, Dr. Allison Druin (she/her) and Dr. Ben Bederson (he/him), are life-long educators and innovators with a commitment to experiential learning and listening to the voices of young people. They are lovers of craft, creativity, and the healing properties of outdoor education and life. They are also the parents of a college student who walked this journey, attending a therapeutic boarding school during his high school years. In seeking a supportive environment for their son, they learned what was and wasn’t available. Coupled with their history of living in the Berkshires, they have been inspired by their family journey to create a much-needed therapeutic learning community in the northeast.