About Our Staff
Meet Our Staff
We carefully select teachers for their warm and caring nature, credentials in child development and experience. Together, we bring a full range of educational and cultural backgrounds, providing bilingual Spanish-speaking teachers to every classroom; as well as teachers who speak Cantonese and Vietnamese. Many staff are committed to life-long learning and continue to pursue advanced credentials and degrees during their employment with us. All staff are re-certified biannually for CPR and go through background checks: fingerprints, coursework, credentials & references.
Alma Ortega
Director
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Alma oversees the program here at Sequoia Children's Center. She previously taught the Eagles Pre Kindergarten class, and was assistant director for several years before becoming director in 2015. Some of her recent achievements include: designing and implementing center-wide COVID protocols allowing the center to remain open during the pandemic, co-developing our parent partnership program to enhance teacher-parent communications, re-vamping the PreK curriculum to reflect California school-readiness objectives for transition to Kindergarten, and co-creating our Spanish Immersion Circle Time. While she was a teacher, she held a site supervisor credential, which provided her a leadership opportunity to mentor and supervise students of the early child development program at Canada College. Alma also serves California Teacher Credentialing as a professional growth advisor to local teachers seeking to obtain or renew their California teacher permits.
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Alma holds an MS in Early Childhood Studies-Teaching and Dual Language Learning, a BA in Early Childhood Education, and a Director's Permit from the State of California. Alma has been with us since 2000.
Kathy
Administrative Manager & Accountant
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Kathy takes care of business matters in the administrative office along with Alma. She manages business operations running the Center, such as resource planning, family billing, human resources, website, and marketing. Kathy has served in various management, administrative, and board membership roles throughout her corporate and non-profit careers, and she has been with us since 2003.
Kathy is a former CPA, has a BS in Business Administration, and 20 units Early Childhood Development.
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Carol
Pre-Kindergarten Teacher - Eagles & Curriculum Coordinator
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Teacher Carol co-teaches with Ann. She brings a rich teaching experience, having previously been a kindergarten teacher for the Redwood City School District. She enjoys multi-sensory modes of teaching, as with cooking projects, introducing the children to new foods, etc. She also takes pride in introducing children to life science through hands-on experiences, such as growing seeds and growing and harvesting vegetables and flowers in the garden.
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Carol holds a BA degree in Liberal Studies and is working toward her Site Supervisor Credential from the State of California. She has been with us since 2010.
Ann
Pre-Kindergarten Teacher - Eagles
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Teacher Ann co-teaches in the Eagles classroom with Carol. Ann believes that social and emotional development is a key component in preschool and pre-k education. She uses her love for arts and crafts to create a fun and explorative environment in her classroom. She was previously a lead preschool teacher at a school in the East Bay Area, where she grew up. She has a background assisting in special education.
Ann has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in Psychology with additional coursework in Early Childhood Development. She has been with us since Summer 2023.
Valerie
Preschool Teacher - Woodpeckers
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Teacher Valerie co-teaches the young four-year-olds in the Woodpeckers class with Varsha. She enjoys teaching and working with children. Valerie has a wealth of knowledge in child development and experience, having been in the field for about two decades.
She has a Masters Degree in Education. She has been with us since 2017.
Varsha
Preschool Teacher - Woodpeckers
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Teacher Varsha co- teaches Woodpeckers with Valerie. Her personal philosophy is that each child is an individual who should be respected for unique ideas and beliefs. In the classroom she utilizes the power of spontaneity, and children's willingness to learn, and the spirit of having fun. Varsha has over a decade of experience working with children of all ages, infants to teenagers. She has had the privilege of running her own home-based daycare for more than a decade.
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Varsha holds a Bachelors in Education, majoring in Child Development and Geography with a minor in Language Arts, as well as a Certificate in Early Childhood Education Administration. She has been with us since winter 2018.
Nancy C
Preschool Teacher - Redbirds
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Teacher Nancy co-teaches the young three-year-olds in the Redbirds class with Elizabeth, along with co-teaching Spanish Immersion Circle Time for this classroom. She has terrific results in creating a positive experience for the "reluctant" potty trainers. She and Elizabeth plan and provide a very rich curriculum that meets the children individual needs and interest.
Nancy has completed 24 units of Early Childhood Education from Canada. Nancy holds a Teaching Certificate from Mexico City. Teacher Nancy has been with SCC since 2013.
Elizabeth
Preschool Teacher - Redbirds
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Elizabeth, co-teacher at the Redbirds class. She has worked with children since she was 16 years old. Started as a babysitter, then worked at a summer camp with preschoolers. After that she had the opportunity to work with children in elementary as an aide. She strives to provide a good educational environment while respecting the code of conduct and the standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Her goal as a teacher is to guide and teach through positive modeling and reinforcement. She is happy to join the Redbirds class again.
Elizabeth has an ECE certificate from Canada College and is pursuing her Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education. She initially joined our teaching staff in the Spring of 2021.
Nelly
Preschool Teacher - Owls & Curriculum Coordinator
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Teacher Nelly co-teaches the two-year-olds in the Owls classroom with Ruth. Utilizing her international perspective from Lima, Peru, she loves to teach children about the world around us, and about people in different countries.
Her commitment to quality early education shines through in all the little things she does. She co-created the philosophy for our "Spanish Immersion Circle Time" program in 2013, and she also co-developed our pilot "Early PreK" Woodpeckers program in 2014. She has also mentored and supervised aspiring students from a nearby college for their classroom experience. She is a volunteer for the Nine Lives Foundation since 2022.
She holds a BA in Education, and a Site Supervisor Credential from the State of California. She has been with us since 2004.
Ruth
Preschool Teacher - Owls
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Teacher Ruth co-teaches the Owls class. Some core values she emphasizes with her students are respect for yourself and others and a love for learning. She teaches these through fun structured activities, and also by role modeling. She loves to sing, dance and make learning fun! She has worked with young children from different backgrounds, special needs and English language learners. Ruth has worked in early childhood education for approximately 5 years.
Ruth holds a BA in Sociology with a minor in Child Development. She has been working with us since August 2021.
Doreatha
Toddler Teacher - Hummingbirds
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Teacher Doreatha co- teaches the Hummingbirds class with Gabby. With decades of experience working with young children, Doreatha enjoys providing an engaging and nurturing environment for young children. She enjoys hands-on activities (getting dirty hands is ok), and she loves dancing to music from the 80's. Doreatha's favorite hobby is to cook everything from sweet potato pies to mud pies.
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Doreatha holds an AA degree, with 36 units in Early Childhood Education coursework. She has been with us since 2019.
Gabriella
Toddler Teacher - Hummingbirds
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Teacher Gabby co-teaches the Hummingbirds class with Doreatha. She enjoys planning fun art activities, games, singing and dancing with the children. She helps the toddlers learn self-help skills. Gabby has over twenty years of previous experience, and has a certificate in Early Childhood Education.
Gabby is currently working towards her AA degree in Early Childhood Education, and has over 30 ECE units. Gabby has been with us since 2019.
Fabiana
Infant Room Head Teacher Infants/Young Toddlers - Butterflies
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She co-teaches Butterflies with Lizzeth. ​Teacher Fabiana brings to SCC a wealth of knowledge in early childhood education. She loves teaching the Butterflies (18-22 months) at SCC using LearningGames™ and Baby Signs™, Spanish and Mexican culture in the daily activities. Fabiana works and plays with the children using age appropriate toys and books, with much love. Fabiana serves as our Infant Room Head Teacher and helps to oversee the infant program.
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She is a graduate of Sonoma State University with a BA in Psychology and is continuing her education toward a Master’s Degree in Child Psychology and she also has 24 ECE units. Fabiana is also bilingual (English/Spanish). Fabiana has been with us since January 2021.
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Lizzeth
Infants/Young Toddlers - Butterflies
​​Lizzeth co-teaches the Butterflies with Fabiana. She especially loves supporting toddlers in reaching developmental milestones with the support and encouragement they need to take on new challenges. She also enjoys speaking to the children in Spanish and teaching them words such as agua (water) and besitos (kisses). An activity she most enjoys is circle time, reading books, singing songs, and talking about the theme of the week.​
Since 2016 Lizzeth has had the opportunity to teach students of different ages, from toddlers up to middle school. She has been working with toddlers for about 3 years, and is currently working on completing her ECE certification and AA in Psychology. She is happy to return with us again, and looks forward to meeting all future Butterflies and watching as they spread their "wings" and "fly". Lizzeth initially joined our teaching staff in the spring of 2023.
Miriam
Infants - Ladybugs
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Miriam works with the Ladybugs with Patty, being the primary caregiver to infants who are crawling and learning to walk, beginning at 10 months of age. Miriam has two decades experience as a teacher and a mother, including 8 years with preschool age children.
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Miriam has a teacher's degree in Secondary Education from South America, as well as 15 units of Early Childhood Education. She has been with us since Spring 2023.​​
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Patty
Infants - Ladybugs ​
Patty works with Miriam in Ladybugs is the primary caregiver for the youngest Ladybugs, beginning at 5 months of age. She especially enjoys observing children's development, whether they are learning to crawl, walk, or communicate. What she likes about infants is observing how they learn to crawl, sit up on their own, and gain vocabulary.
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One of our newest staff members, Patty has ten years previous experience with infants and toddlers. Patty has 12 units of Early Childhood Education and she is working toward earning her associate degree. She has been with us since Spring 2025.
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​Floating Teachers​​
Maria
Floating Teacher
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Teacher Maria enjoys playing and doing fun art projects with the children. Maria Adriano assists with the Spanish Circle Time in the PreK class, as well as helping out in all classrooms.
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Maria Adriano has 15 units of Early Childhood Education. She has been with us since 2011.
Aaliyah
Floating Teacher
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Aaliyah supports the preschool teachers and assists with the Spanish Circle Time in the Hummingbirds class. She enjoys creating special play time moments with all the children. She helps with teacher breaks, lunches and curriculum planning time. She has 6 years of experience working with young children and school age children.
Aaliyah holds an Early Childhood Education certificate from Canada College and her Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education. She has been with us since Summer 2021.
Cecilia
Floating Teacher
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Cecilia primarily supports the infant room, sometimes other areas, with teacher’s vacations, lunches, breaks, parent drop-offs and special activities or playtime for the children. One of our newest staff members, Cecilia has 15 years of teaching experience as a preschool teacher and several years as a private nanny.
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Cecilia has 36.5 units in Early Childhood Education. She has been with us since Fall 2024.
Yazmin
Floating Teacher
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