Teachers
Alicia Mers
Head Preschool Teacher &
Head of School
Alicia is an alumnus of Two Rivers Farm School and a graduate of The University of Arizona. Alicia has an amazingly calm and reassuring presence within which children find a sense of security and freedom to be themselves and explore the world around them. She has a natural patience with young children that is part of her own essence, and she also learned from raising twin daughters. In 2013, she began teaching preschool at TRFS.
When she is not teaching, she can be found in her barn caring for and riding the horses, working as a veterinary assistant, spending time with her husband and teenage girls, and in her kitchen cooking fabulous meals.
Karl Schaefer
Previous Headmaster & current chief advisor and part-time teacher.
Karl Schaefer was born and raised in Willmette, a suburb of Chicago. After graduating from Loyola Academy, he attended the University of Colorado, followed by the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. After working at Le Perroquet Restaurant in Chicago, he and his wife moved to Portland, and in 1980 Karl opened the nationally acclaimed restaurant Le Cuisinier as the chef/owner. During this time, his oldest son was enrolled in the Portland Waldorf School, where Karl served as a board member for 3 yrs. While there, he began a study of early education out of a desire to serve his children and the children within his community.
Karl and his young family moved south of Portland to raise their children and discovered Two Rivers Farm School in 1988. The founder, Annie Lou Staveley, and Karl shared a similar philosophy of educating children, and he was influenced by her extensive experience and understanding of children. Before starting TRFS, Mrs. Staveley had spent many years as a preschool teacher in London, then returned to Portland, where she taught at Catlin Gabel School. In 2003 Karl accepted the role of Head Master at TRFS. Mrs. Staveley’s influence is alive today in Karl’s approach to primary school education.
Karl has a strong affinity for working with young children and remains in contact with many TRFS alumni.
When he is not at the school he is most often found in a kitchen, in his garden, reading, or spending time with his children and grandchildren.
Abigail Millbrooke
Assistant Preschool Teacher
Abigail is a second generation Farm School alumni and starting fall of 2025 a TRFS preschool
teachers assistant. Many of her family members are teachers including her mother and
grandmother who both taught at TRFS for many years helping to cultivate the unique education
and environment that can only be found in a school such as this. She has always been drawn to
work involving interaction with children. Spending the last three years as a full time nanny has
solidified how she thrives helping to guide young minds. Abigail has a gentle and encouraging
presence with children, letting them come as they are, and helping them navigate the world in
their own way. Two Rivers is where many of her core values and interests began. Now, returning
as a teacher she hopes to share these parts of herself with students and provide them with the
same stability she found during her time at the school. She is an artist, often using creativity to
connect with children through crafts of all sorts, encouraging them to find confidence in creating.
Outside of work she spends her time gardening, painting in her art room, cooking or preserving
food, going on morning runs in the orchard, making pies for family dinners, reading or enjoying
an audiobook, and off on adventures building a grounding life with her fiancé and their dog.
