LEADERSHIP

With a rich and fulfilling career spanning 25 years, Jeremy has dedicated his life to helping others learn differently, advocating for local youth in Big Sky, and sharing his love of the outdoors with his students. Throughout these years, he has made a significant impact on countless students, inspiring a love of learning and personal growth. 

After a brief stint in retirement, Jeremy was presented with an exciting opportunity to take the helm as Head of School at Big Sky Community School. Embracing this new chapter, he has been instrumental in developing innovative educational approaches that prioritize mindfulness, outdoor connections, community awareness, and the pursuit of personal passions. Jeremy believes that learning happens best when students are pursuing ways to find personal balance and are actively engaged with the world around them. 

Through his dedication to education and community involvement, Jeremy continues to inspire the next generation of learners, fostering curiosity and adventure both inside and outside the classroom.  When not actively participating in the learning space, Jeremy enjoys exploring the outdoors on foot, skis, or a bike with his family, often with a fishing rod or book in his hand.  

A Chicago native, he was pegged by his classmates as the guy most likely to be reading Tolstoy while skiing in the Swiss Alps. This has proven prophetic. His passion for reading led to a bachelor's in English and Philosophy from Boston College and master's degrees in Writing from DePaul University and in English from Middlebury's Bread Loaf School of English. His appetite for new experiences has taken him around the world. Most days you can find him paddling on a lake or skiing, sometimes even while listening to a book.

For much of his career, Mel taught at New England independent and boarding schools including a decade each at Westminster School and Brooks School, where he helped kids (his own and others) find joy in the threads of their lives. Most recently he taught English and history at Carrabassett Valley Academy. His approach pairs nature with technology, writing with discussion, and film with literature, blurring the boundaries of the classroom and nurturing curiosity.

Mel helps students see, discuss, and write about the rhetoric of everything and the role of thinking everywhere. With apologies to the Alps, he prefers the Rockies, mostly with his earphones off, because chairlifts can be the best places for conversation. He also co-founded Next Exit College, coaching students through college essays and applications. Mel will be helping lead the upper school in many ways, but humanities and writing will be his primary focus. 

Woody Dexter leads athletic performance at Big Sky Community School and coaches on-hill with the Big Sky Ski Education Foundation (BSSEF), where he has spent four years as an Alpine ski coach working with young racers, many of them BSCS students. He knows the competitive student-athlete life firsthand: he raced Alpine at the regional, national, and international levels through middle school, high school, and two gap years, missing nearly half his school days each season while maintaining a 3.9 GPA. That experience shapes how he coaches, and he builds programming that respects both training and academics.

Woody holds a B.S. in Kinesiology with a minor in Coaching from Montana State University, where he graduated with highest honors and interned with Bobcat Athletics Strength & Conditioning, supporting NCAA Division I volleyball and track & field athletes. At BSCS, he is building a performance program rooted in the belief that sport is not just a chapter of life but a foundation for it, giving every athlete the tools, habits, and mindset to carry forward long after their competitive years end.

Outside of school, Woody spends his time making music, training for triathlons, skiing, running, and biking.

Passionate about fostering a lifelong love of learning, Tamara Brocato is dedicated to creating an engaging and inclusive classroom environment where every student feels valued and known. She brings 20 years of experience in elementary education, most recently at Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, along with a master's degree in Learning and Technology, and 15 years as a business owner. She believes in the power of personalized instruction that shapes how students approach learning and problem-solving.

Tamara inspires academic growth and cultivates critical thinking skills through research-based practices that connect to real-world applications. Tamara is trained in and prioritizes developing social-emotional learning, executive functioning, and cooperative learning skills.

She joins us from her hometown of Kansas City, where she raised her three grown children and enjoyed watching them play their respective sports in high school and then as college athletes. She also spends time traveling, reading, listening to live music, camping, hiking, fishing, kayaking, and gardening. Tamara will be helping co-lead the lower school. 

Carolina is so excited to join the BSCS team. She has just moved to Big Sky from Baltimore, Maryland, where she was born and raised. Carolina loves crabs, the Ravens, and a close-knit community. She comes to us from Baltimore's Calvert School, where she spent two years as a Clapp Teaching Fellow. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Towson University and is continuing her master's in Elementary Education while she teaches.

Carolina is curious, driven, and eager to learn from the people and experiences around her. She finds joy in building genuine relationships and creating spaces where others feel seen, supported, and encouraged to grow. Whether she is in a classroom, on a team, or in her everyday life, she values kindness, collaboration, and a willingness to embrace new challenges.

Her passion for education comes from the belief that school is about much more than mastering content: it is about developing confidence, resilience, and a lifelong love of learning. She believes the best learning happens when the classroom becomes a community where students feel safe asking questions, taking risks, making mistakes, and celebrating progress. Carolina will be helping co-lead the lower school.

Jamie Sullivan co-founded Big Sky Community School with her husband, Patrick, and runs the business side of the school: operations, enrollment, and fundraising. She holds a bachelor's in Economics from the University of Virginia and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Earlier in her career, she practiced securities litigation in New York City before stepping away to raise her children.

Jamie and her family moved to Big Sky from New York, drawn by the mountains, the outdoors, and the chance to raise their children in a close-knit community. As a mother of four, she believes there's no better place to grow up than Big Sky, and no bigger dream than giving kids an education to match. Her kids take full advantage of everything Big Sky has to offer; Jamie usually experiences it all while driving them from place to place.