Our Team
Beyond Exceptional, is deeply committed to fostering an environment of continuous learning and growth for our faculty and staff. Our professional development program is meticulously designed to align with our mission, vision, values, and goals, ensuring that our team is well-equipped to deliver our innovative curriculum and support the unique needs of our twice-exceptional and neurodiverse learners.
Our professional development strategy includes: ongoing training in specialized teaching methods, neurodiversity awareness, outdoor education techniques, and trauma-informed education. Educators also participate in collaborative planning sessions and have access to a network of experts in 2e and neurodiverse neuroscience.
Megan Patterson
Megan Patterson is the Founder and CEO of Beyond Exceptional, offering free and tuition-based homeschool enrichment. She holds a certification in School Management and Leadership from Harvard Business School and a professional teaching license in the state of Colorado from preschool through 12th grade.
Specializing in neurodiversity and twice-exceptionality, Megan is dedicated to creating dynamic educational systems where students can thrive. Being twice-exceptional herself, as is her son, she understands the importance of tailored educational environments.
While working on her master's degree in Ecological Teaching and Learning, Megan conducted research on outdoor-based and place-based education and various neurodiversities, including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and giftedness. Her passion led her to collaborate with the State of Colorado as the only pilot program for outdoor-based early childhood education, resulting in state licensure for outdoor-based preschools.
Megan is trained in trauma-informed education through Life Space Crisis Intervention. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, backpacking, and camping with her son and dog.
Caroline Griesel
Caroline completed a Level 3 Forest School Certification from the Forest School Association in the UK, she began teaching Forest School programs in Elementary and Middle School.
Caroline holds a bachelor’s in Zoology with a focus on Entomology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has 8 years of experience in education, including teaching children’s English classes in Japan and being a para-professional in public schools. She also spent some time in Ecotourism, researching ecological relationships between ants and sea birds and guiding kayak tours to the research site.
Caroline specializes in neurodiversity and twice-exceptionality, and she is trained in trauma-informed education through Beyond Consequences Institute. She is an amateur naturalist and adventurer who loves stargazing, bushcraft, and curating her collection of rocks and minerals.
Scott Levi
Scott is proud to be from Denver. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Northern Arizona University and a master’s degree in Teaching from the University of Northern Colorado with an endorsement in elementary education. After working in both state and national politics, he found his next public service calling via education. He started out teaching chess and frisbee after school, became a substitute teacher for Cherry Creek School District, then worked for two years as a Denver Math Fellow teaching middle school math intervention in Denver Public Schools. Camping, backpacking, and other positive outdoor experiences proved vital to his formative years; they instilled in him both a respect for sustainable adventuring and a deep appreciation for Mother Earth. Equity and mathematics are especially important to Scott, and he perseveres to inspire the next generation of lifelong learners to think critically and resourcefully about global and local issues.
In his free time, Scott enjoys cycling, disc golfing, ultimate frisbee, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and developing computer programs with his lifelong friends online.
Amy Snodgrass
Amy holds a master’s degree in Secondary English Education and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. She began her career in education by volunteering with creative writing programs in Oregon School for the Deaf and Oregon State Penitentiary. She worked as an assistant teacher in Dallas, Texas before finding her home in Denver, where she spent four years teaching fifth grade reading. In addition to English Language Arts, she has experience teaching music, creative writing, and art. Amy is a proponent of the outdoor-based model because she believes the best education fosters curiosity and confidence in learners. She is passionate about project-based curriculum design that fosters strong habits of discussion through both shared readings and choice texts.
She spends her time reading, practicing yoga, playing cooperative board games, hiking, writing poetry, and illustrating comics and graphic novels.
Charles Rupert
Charles is thrilled to join the team at Beyond Exceptional as a STEM teacher. Charles graduated from Southern New Hampshire University where he studied computer science and honed his skills in problem-solving, analytical thinking, and innovation as a software developer and engineer. Alongside his technical expertise, he brings a deep appreciation for mathematics as a foundation for logical reasoning and discovery, a passion he looks forward to fostering in the classroom.
Beyond academics, Charles has a long-standing involvement in sports, including serving as a professional soccer referee for half a decade and counting. Through officiating at the national level and for international academies, he has learned the importance of teamwork, discipline, and perseverance—values he hopes to inspire in my students. Combining his enthusiasm for math, engineering, and sport, Charles is committed to creating an engaging and supportive environment where every student’s curiosity and unique strengths are celebrated and nurtured.
