President
Damore is a recovering lawyer turned homeschool mama. She and her husband, Sean, have been homeschooling their three children (ages 12-17) from the beginning and joined Lilac Children’s Garden in 2011. Two of her children are Lilac graduates and her third child is a current student. Damore has served on the Board of Directors since 2011, and has served as President since 2012. It has been a blessing to be part of Lilac’s growth over these years. Damore oversees most every part of the administrative life of Lilac, from admissions to communications, festival planning to teacher hiring, but she particularly enjoys holding space for Lilac traditions and festivals, singing, working with our talented, bright, funny, warm group of directors, teachers, and parents who maintain the spirit, vision, and mission of Lilac, and getting to see our lovely Lilac children grow up from the Willow class to graduation. What a gift.
Treasurer
Wendy has been part of Lilac since 2012. She currently homeschools two children (ages 13 and 17), and proudly celebrates her 2024 homeschool graduate/current RIT student. Her favorite things about Lilac are the seasonal festivals, the welcoming community, and the lifelong friendships made by both children and parents.
Secretary
The newest member of the board, Abbie joined Lilac Children's garden in 2021. She was thankful to find such a beautiful and inclusive community that welcomes diversity and provides space for homeschool families to build meaningful connections. The Bellamy family's educational journey has traveled through Montessori and progressive private school before determining homeschooling was the best fit. Abbie enjoys learning about the many homeschooling philosophies drawing inspiration from Waldorf, Classical, Charlotte Mason, and unschooling to find the best strategies to bring to her learner. Their eclectic homeschool approach involves lots of books, time in nature, and everything from lego robotics to knitting projects. When she's not homeschooling, Abbie works as a biostatistician supporting clinical research and is proud of the studies she's supported over her career contributing to improvements in public health. In her free time she loves learning new handwork skills!
Admissions Director
Parent Jobs Coordinator
Chantal is a multipotentialite who seeks to understand herself and others by pursuing her seemingly endless curiosity by trying and learning new things. She and her husband, Joshua, use child-led learning to homeschool our two children, Ember and Mika. Chantal’s children have attended Lilac since they were 5 years old, and Chantal has been on the Board since 2015. In that time Lilac has been fortunate that Chantal has, consistent with her character and many talents, served in multiple roles. She is currently responsible for coordinating parent jobs. Chantal particularly enjoys administrative work, which brings her to the center of the action, working alongside a team of Board members and teachers that have all grown to be friends.
Board member
Shannon joined Lilac Children’s Garden in 2022 with her then six year old, and eagerly anticipates her youngest to join when he becomes Willow aged. After attending the information meeting for new families, Shannon was drawn to the rapport the older children had with one another, as if they were cousins, and can now feel that close knit community developing for her own family. She loves the reverence of weekly rhythm in the classroom and the seasonal shifts that are brought to life with yearly festivals. Shannon is currently learning the ropes of how the Lilac Board works, and soaking up cultural history by browsing through decades of old newsletters. In her free time she can be found stitching tiny dolls and animals, and learning new crafts from her son.