Teacher Nessa
I was born and raised in Hayward and am the youngest of four girls. I attended Cal State Hayward (it will always be Hayward to me), earned my teaching credential, and immediately began teaching Kindergarten. As a toddler myself, I knew I wanted to work with very young children and this passion has never ceased. Ever since my first experience with the cooperative preschool philosophy at CVPNS with my first child, I have been passionately committed to three things: the power of play, building a strong community for families and friends, and providing an empathetic classroom with endless exploration.
Previous to co-directing at CVPNS, I taught music classes for toddlers and the grownups who love them through Music Together for ten years. This was an incredibly rewarding experience as it was magical to see relationships build and the amount of community that grew each semester. In addition to teaching music, I have seen many of our CVPNS smiles at the Castro Valley Library for Musical Storytime. I love to share my joy of music with children (and the parent helpers) at every possible opportunity as music feeds the soul, activates the brain, and strengthens human connections.
My husband, Paul, and I have four children, all of which were part of the co-op life and CVPNS alumni. Much of our family time is spent working on home projects, visiting neighbors and family, or attending our Italian club events. I love music of all types, spending time outdoors, and traveling. My absolute favorite thing to do is to explore new places without any plans or expectations and just wander; seeing where the road leads.
It is an absolute honor to be part of the CVPNS community and to help families build lasting friendships well beyond preschool.
Teacher Sandra
I was born in San Francisco and lived in California most of my life. I am married to Matthew and am a happy mother of three children spanning 11 years in age. Our family is boisterous, loving, enjoys cooking/baking/playing together, and most of all absolutely love to laugh together. Personally, I love to read, and love being in nature and hiking as much as possible.
I *love* all things science and nature, and have from a very early age! My undergraduate degree was in Biology, minor in Chemistry. I worked in the corporate world for a time but went back to get my Masters in teaching, focus science, in 2009. My intention was to teach high school…but when I started student teaching, I came to the realization that was NOT the age group for me! Through some soul searching, workshops, spending time with a wonderful mentor, and internships at various preschools, I realized that early childhood was my definite passion, and went back to school again taking early childhood classes to obtain a Program Director credential in early childhood development.
I have a fascination with the brain and development, and because of what I have learned about how important and impactful those first years of life are to the brain, I started a STEM preschool out of my home in 2014. It was an amazing journey and such a positive experience for me, the children, and the parents! My school was open for a few years. Through this process, a few things became completely solidified for me: My absolute love of little children and their families, this extremely important and sometimes challenging time of life, and incorporating science, math, art, self-esteem, and social skills into the most important beginning of their school lives. This is the time to instill the love of learning that will last their lifetimes!
I feel very lucky that I found my life-long passion and focus. And I am even luckier to live this journey with CVPNS and all the amazing families in this community!
