Teachers

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Miss Michelle

Executive Director

Education

B.A., Child Development, California State University, Sacramento

Bio

Michelle founded Friends Preschool in 1999 and has been an active member of the education community ever since. Michelle enjoys working in her garden, cooking, reading, and a baguette with some good French Brie.

Due to her love for early childhood education, Michelle studies other educational systems around the world and is an avid reader of educational thought and pedagogy. She travels the world collecting artifacts and experiences to intertwine into her teaching to expose her students to various cultures, traditions, and communities.

Permit

Child Development Program Director Permit, State of California 

Miss Kristian, M.Ed.

Lead Teacher

Education

M.Ed., Early Childhood Education & Special Education, Boise State University

B.A., Early Childhood Education & Special Education, Boise State University

Bio

Kristian is a lover of all things that early childhood embodies: play, creativity, storytelling, art, literature, silliness, and celebrating the beauty in each child. She is a photographer, an aspiring children’s author, and an advocate for the arts.

Kristian is a part-time lecturer at Sierra College in Rocklin where she teaches various courses in Early Childhood Education as a way to share her knowledge and love of this field. Past experiences include working as an arts educator to various elementary schools, a lead teacher at Head Start, and a preschool teacher for almost ten years.

Permit

Child Development Program Director Permit, State of California 

Shared Professional Experience

Michelle and Kristian regularly lead workshops and presentations together from the local to national level. Additionally, they have spoken at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference, the California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC) conference, and regularly teach workshops for the Placer County Office of Education. They value these opportunities to share their expertise in their field to educators and parents as a way to support the development of young children around the country. Additionally, they are both members of NAEYC and CAEYC.

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"Every child deserves a champion; an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best they can possibly be." – Dr. Rita Pierson