NORTH BENNINGTON — The Village School of North Bennington has announced the appointment of Mary McMahan True to its Board of Trustees.
Prior to moving to Bennington County in 2019, True was a professor of psychology at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., and completed her doctorate in developmental psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. It was there she began her research program studying the development of infant-mother attachment in rural West Africa. The work is regarded as seminal in the field of attachment studies.
At Saint Mary’s, True taught courses in infant, preschool, and lifespan development as well as internship courses in early childhood and social service programs. In 2010, with another faculty member, she established the national “JumpStart” program on campus. It has allowed over 400 students to use their federal work-study grants to provide literacy education at local Head Start programs. She received the Engaged Teaching Award in recognition of this work.
True and her husband moved to Vermont in 2019 after 30 years of vacationing in the area. She volunteers with the Meals on Wheels programs in Bennington. She was excited to hear about the mission of the Village School and to join in the school’s work.
As Dr. True arrives, three other trustees — Thom Loubet, Darrin Smith and Jill Van Orden — are stepping away.
Loubet was instrumental in securing funding for the school’s annual campaign and served well as a Governance Committee member. As a parent of two Village School students, Smith was extremely helpful with school-related events and serving as the Board’s secretary.
Van Orden, also a parent of two Village School alumni and a Mount Anthony Union High School teacher, was invaluable in providing input on development campaigns and was extremely generous in sharing her artistic talents in creating promotional materials for the school and for launching the process of creating a new soon-to-be erected school sign.
The Village School is an independent town academy for children from pre-K through sixth grade located in the Village of North Bennington. For more information about the school and the Fall reopening plans, contact Head of School Tim Newbold at 802-442-5955 or tnewbold@vsnb.org, or visit the school’s website at www.vsnb.org.
