All our teachers are well educated in early childhood education and believe in the power of children. They are all experts at inspiring children toward a lifelong love of learning in all aspects of their development. Our teachers and staff are men (over 40%) and women who come from many different cultures and backgrounds.
Susana – Program Coordinator
Susana joined the Step One team in July 2013. She received a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley and an Ed.M. from Harvard University. As a graduate student she worked as a Play Therapist for children in a Boston Head Start program. She has also worked at Habitot Children’s Museum, developing parent education programs and leading parent-child playgroups. Most recently she worked for the Life is Good Playmakers, supporting preschool teachers in implementing therapeutic play into their classrooms, with a focus on children who have experienced trauma or stress.
Jennifer – Education Coordinator
Jennifer received her MA in Early Childhood Education from Mills College in 1991, and designed and oversaw child development programs for the government’s General Services Administration before founding her own nonprofit, Working for Quality Child Care. Knowing Step One from the viewpoint of being the parent of two students who attended, she also served on the Board of Directors for three years before joining Step One’s Administrative team in 2012.
Cynthia – Afternoon Director and Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Cynthia has taught and directed in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 30 years, working at Step One since 1998. For many years she has gracefully balanced the dual roles of teacher (in the late afternoon) and administrator.
Daniel – Administrative Assistant
Daniel has worked part-time in the front office since 2001 and has a successful private practice as an acupuncturist.
Marisa - Administrative Assistant
Marisa started working at Step One in 2011 and in her spare time devotes herself to a variety of volunteer opportunities.
Lolla – Financial Controller
Lolla joined Step One in 2009 as Financial Controller, bringing more than 10 years of accounting and finance experience to the school. In her “prior life” she was a Controller for software companies in Palo Alto and Oakland. Her first language is Russian.
Tess – Teacher, Bridge Kindergarten
Tess earned her BA from Mills College in Child Development. She currently lives in Oakland with her son and spends her free time doing a variety of hobbies including capoeira, gardening and music.
Steve – Teacher, Bridge Kindergarten
Steve has been teaching at Step One School since 1999 after working in several preschools and with the East Bay Conservation Corps. He has been a Co-Teacher in the Bridge Kindergarten program since 2003. A Piedmont native, Steve earned his BS degree in Science, Health and Living Systems from JFK University.
Zeena – Head Teacher, Nursery School
Zeena has been a significant presence at Step One School since 1986. She attended UC Berkeley, is fluent in Spanish, and is an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction. She has dedicated the bulk of her long career to Step One families and continues to be in contact with many former students.
Amalie – Teacher, Nursery School
Amalie began teaching at age 18 at the same preschool she attended as a child. At age 21 she moved to the Bay Area as a teacher intern. Her tenure at Step One started in 1991 as a substitute teacher and she has been teaching with Zeena for most of the past 20 years. She is a talented artist and brings her enthusiasm for drawing to the classroom.
Anthony – Teacher, Nursery School
Anthony began working in Early Childhood Education in 1991 and worked at several large and small child development programs before joining Step One in 2005. He dedicates many extra hours to enriching the outside environment at Step One and is also passionate about our work in anti-bias education.
Alexis – Head Teacher, 2 Year Old Program
Alexis started at Step One as a student in 1983 in the 2 year old program, and happily decided to return in 2003. She has been Head Teacher in the 2 year old program since 2008. She attended UCLA, studying both Political Science and African American Studies.
Eric – Teacher, 2 Year Old Program
Teaching since 1999, Eric has been an integral part of the 2 year old program at Step One since 2002. He brings his musical prowess to his work, and can be found playing guitar, singing, and dancing with the children on a regular basis.
Raquel – Teacher, 2 Year Old Program
Raquel has been working in the field of Early Childhood Education since 1999. She enrolled her son at Step One from 2008 to 2010, then later joined Step One’s faculty in 2012. Alongside her study of Early Childhood Education at Contra Costa College, she is very interested in diversity and inclusion issues, and she incorporates Spanish into her teaching role.
Angie – Head Teacher, Nursery School
Angie began working with young children during summer sessions at her mom’s former preschool in Albany and then began substitute teaching in the area and at Step One. Angie has worked at Step One full-time since 1999. “Step One is a very special place to me. It’s a supportive, talented, diverse group of people who ooze with commitment to teaching young children. I knew this was the place where I wanted to stay for a long time.”
Ika – Teacher, Nursery School
Ika started as a substitute teacher at Step One and has worked almost continually here as a teacher since 1991. In her over 40 years’ experience, both in her native Brazil and in the U.S., she has been a child care provider, elementary school teacher, and a teacher of music, drama, arts and crafts, and physical education. She has a teaching credential from Brazil, and 2 additional years of study in Education and Child Development at the Federal University in Brazil. She teaches Portuguese and Brazilian dance and is a professional dancer and director of Aquarela Dance Group in Berkeley.
Tim – Teacher, Nursery School
Tim has been at Step One since 2004, and in Early Childhood Education for over 25 years. He received his BA in Education from the University of Arizona Tucson, and before Step One taught in two child development centers in San Francisco. “Step One doesn’t just accept difference – we thrive on it. We celebrate it. And we support it, for the benefit of our teachers, our students and the future of our families.”
Aaron – Head Teacher, Nursery School
Teaching at Step One since 2000, Aaron has been an Early Childhood Educator since 1996. He began teaching in the town of Orange, continued in San Francisco, and then the East Bay where he found Step One and ‘fell in love’. He engages deeply with children through literature and music, and he sings and plays guitar with them daily.
Charlie – Teacher, Nursery School
Charlie has been in Early Childhood Education for over 37 years, and at Step One School since 1983. He received a Child Development Associate credential from Bank Street College. For many of Step One’s early years Charlie was the only male teacher, but he attracted a following, and now Step One has 9 men among its faculty of 20.
Therese – Teacher, Nursery School
Therese joined the Step One faculty in 2012 after teaching several years in preschool and Bridge Kindergarten programs. She attended UC Berkeley and earned an M.A. in English Literature at Stanford prior to getting her K-8 credential. She is currently enrolled in the Basic and Advanced Early Childhood Education Certificate Program at UCLA.
Leticia – Permanent Substitute Teacher
Leticia worked as a nanny for 20 years and came to Step One first as a parent, and more recently as a substitute teacher in 2010. She continues to study Early Childhood Education and Child Development at Contra Costa College, and she incorporates Spanish into her daily interactions with the children.
Maria – Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Born in Barcelona, Spain, where she majored in Interior Design, Maria soon discovered that her passion was working with young children. She realized how important it is for children to be introduced to art at an early age, and she’s been instrumental in developing Step One’s Late Afternoon Art Program. She also speaks and teaches Spanish to the children, introducing them to new words every day. Maria has been at Step One School since 1997.
Lilly – Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Lilly has been at Step One School, first as a Substitute Teacher, and then full-time since 2001. She immigrated to America from her native Peru in 1982, where she worked with Downs Syndrome children. She studied at California Nanny College in Sacramento and worked in various childcare development programs before finding Step One. She also enjoys teaching the children introductory Spanish.
Amber – Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Amber started working in the Afternoon Program at Step One in 2011, following a variety of positions as a camp director, ropes course challenge facilitator, and adolescent rite-of passage leader. She has a Masters Degree in Psychology with specialized training in Art Therapy and loves doing extensive art projects with the children.
Kevin – Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Kevin received a BA in English from UC Berkeley, and previously taught in our nursery school program from 1990 to 1995. After moving on to work in the music publishing field and in summer programs for children, he returned to Step One’s late afternoon program in 2011, and brings his passions of literature, baseball, and bluegrass back into our program.
Susana – Program Coordinator
Susana joined the Step One team in July 2013. She received a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley and an Ed.M. from Harvard University. As a graduate student she worked as a Play Therapist for children in a Boston Head Start program. She has also worked at Habitot Children’s Museum, developing parent education programs and leading parent-child playgroups. Most recently she worked for the Life is Good Playmakers, supporting preschool teachers in implementing therapeutic play into their classrooms, with a focus on children who have experienced trauma or stress.
Jennifer – Education Coordinator
Jennifer received her MA in Early Childhood Education from Mills College in 1991, and designed and oversaw child development programs for the government’s General Services Administration before founding her own nonprofit, Working for Quality Child Care. Knowing Step One from the viewpoint of being the parent of two students who attended, she also served on the Board of Directors for three years before joining Step One’s Administrative team in 2012.
Cynthia – Afternoon Director and Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Cynthia has taught and directed in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 30 years, working at Step One since 1998. For many years she has gracefully balanced the dual roles of teacher (in the late afternoon) and administrator.
Daniel – Administrative Assistant
Daniel has worked part-time in the front office since 2001 and has a successful private practice as an acupuncturist.
Marisa - Administrative Assistant
Marisa started working at Step One in 2011 and in her spare time devotes herself to a variety of volunteer opportunities.
Lolla – Financial Controller
Lolla joined Step One in 2009 as Financial Controller, bringing more than 10 years of accounting and finance experience to the school. In her “prior life” she was a Controller for software companies in Palo Alto and Oakland. Her first language is Russian.
Tess – Teacher, Bridge Kindergarten
Tess earned her BA from Mills College in Child Development. She currently lives in Oakland with her son and spends her free time doing a variety of hobbies including capoeira, gardening and music.
Steve – Teacher, Bridge Kindergarten
Steve has been teaching at Step One School since 1999 after working in several preschools and with the East Bay Conservation Corps. He has been a Co-Teacher in the Bridge Kindergarten program since 2003. A Piedmont native, Steve earned his BS degree in Science, Health and Living Systems from JFK University.
Zeena – Head Teacher, Nursery School
Zeena has been a significant presence at Step One School since 1986. She attended UC Berkeley, is fluent in Spanish, and is an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction. She has dedicated the bulk of her long career to Step One families and continues to be in contact with many former students.
Amalie – Teacher, Nursery School
Amalie began teaching at age 18 at the same preschool she attended as a child. At age 21 she moved to the Bay Area as a teacher intern. Her tenure at Step One started in 1991 as a substitute teacher and she has been teaching with Zeena for most of the past 20 years. She is a talented artist and brings her enthusiasm for drawing to the classroom.
Anthony – Teacher, Nursery School
Anthony began working in Early Childhood Education in 1991 and worked at several large and small child development programs before joining Step One in 2005. He dedicates many extra hours to enriching the outside environment at Step One and is also passionate about our work in anti-bias education.
Alexis – Head Teacher, 2 Year Old Program
Alexis started at Step One as a student in 1983 in the 2 year old program, and happily decided to return in 2003. She has been Head Teacher in the 2 year old program since 2008. She attended UCLA, studying both Political Science and African American Studies.
Eric – Teacher, 2 Year Old Program
Teaching since 1999, Eric has been an integral part of the 2 year old program at Step One since 2002. He brings his musical prowess to his work, and can be found playing guitar, singing, and dancing with the children on a regular basis.
Raquel – Teacher, 2 Year Old Program
Raquel has been working in the field of Early Childhood Education since 1999. She enrolled her son at Step One from 2008 to 2010, then later joined Step One’s faculty in 2012. Alongside her study of Early Childhood Education at Contra Costa College, she is very interested in diversity and inclusion issues, and she incorporates Spanish into her teaching role.
Angie – Head Teacher, Nursery School
Angie began working with young children during summer sessions at her mom’s former preschool in Albany and then began substitute teaching in the area and at Step One. Angie has worked at Step One full-time since 1999. “Step One is a very special place to me. It’s a supportive, talented, diverse group of people who ooze with commitment to teaching young children. I knew this was the place where I wanted to stay for a long time.”
Ika – Teacher, Nursery School
Ika started as a substitute teacher at Step One and has worked almost continually here as a teacher since 1991. In her over 40 years’ experience, both in her native Brazil and in the U.S., she has been a child care provider, elementary school teacher, and a teacher of music, drama, arts and crafts, and physical education. She has a teaching credential from Brazil, and 2 additional years of study in Education and Child Development at the Federal University in Brazil. She teaches Portuguese and Brazilian dance and is a professional dancer and director of Aquarela Dance Group in Berkeley.
Tim – Teacher, Nursery School
Tim has been at Step One since 2004, and in Early Childhood Education for over 25 years. He received his BA in Education from the University of Arizona Tucson, and before Step One taught in two child development centers in San Francisco. “Step One doesn’t just accept difference – we thrive on it. We celebrate it. And we support it, for the benefit of our teachers, our students and the future of our families.”
Aaron – Head Teacher, Nursery School
Teaching at Step One since 2000, Aaron has been an Early Childhood Educator since 1996. He began teaching in the town of Orange, continued in San Francisco, and then the East Bay where he found Step One and ‘fell in love’. He engages deeply with children through literature and music, and he sings and plays guitar with them daily.
Charlie – Teacher, Nursery School
Charlie has been in Early Childhood Education for over 37 years, and at Step One School since 1983. He received a Child Development Associate credential from Bank Street College. For many of Step One’s early years Charlie was the only male teacher, but he attracted a following, and now Step One has 9 men among its faculty of 20.
Therese – Teacher, Nursery School
Therese joined the Step One faculty in 2012 after teaching several years in preschool and Bridge Kindergarten programs. She attended UC Berkeley and earned an M.A. in English Literature at Stanford prior to getting her K-8 credential. She is currently enrolled in the Basic and Advanced Early Childhood Education Certificate Program at UCLA.
Leticia – Permanent Substitute Teacher
Leticia worked as a nanny for 20 years and came to Step One first as a parent, and more recently as a substitute teacher in 2010. She continues to study Early Childhood Education and Child Development at Contra Costa College, and she incorporates Spanish into her daily interactions with the children.
Maria – Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Born in Barcelona, Spain, where she majored in Interior Design, Maria soon discovered that her passion was working with young children. She realized how important it is for children to be introduced to art at an early age, and she’s been instrumental in developing Step One’s Late Afternoon Art Program. She also speaks and teaches Spanish to the children, introducing them to new words every day. Maria has been at Step One School since 1997.
Lilly – Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Lilly has been at Step One School, first as a Substitute Teacher, and then full-time since 2001. She immigrated to America from her native Peru in 1982, where she worked with Downs Syndrome children. She studied at California Nanny College in Sacramento and worked in various childcare development programs before finding Step One. She also enjoys teaching the children introductory Spanish.
Amber – Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Amber started working in the Afternoon Program at Step One in 2011, following a variety of positions as a camp director, ropes course challenge facilitator, and adolescent rite-of passage leader. She has a Masters Degree in Psychology with specialized training in Art Therapy and loves doing extensive art projects with the children.
Kevin – Teacher, Arts Enrichment Program
Kevin received a BA in English from UC Berkeley, and previously taught in our nursery school program from 1990 to 1995. After moving on to work in the music publishing field and in summer programs for children, he returned to Step One’s late afternoon program in 2011, and brings his passions of literature, baseball, and bluegrass back into our program.
From The Beginning.....
Lisa (Co-Founder and Co-Director 1981-1985)
Lisa’s strong vision for what Step One could be propelled the school forward in its early years, such that we were able to move into our current site in 1983. She helped develop the Twos program before she journeyed on to the Wright Institute to develop her psychotherapy practice in Marin County.
Eric (Co-Director 1986-2008)
Eric was a teacher, Assistant Director, and finally Co-Director for many of Step One’s formative years. Among many other notable accomplishments, he was the originator of Step One’s famous annual campout. Eric retired from Step One in 2008 and continues to work in the field of Education Management.
Katie (1985-2002)
Katie was Head Teacher in Room 4 for many years, delighting in music, gardening and cooking, and the preschooler’s scientific mind. She trained a number of teachers who were embarking on their Early Childhood Education careers, several of whom are now Head Teachers at Step One. She retired in 2002 and moved with her husband to the East coast to be closer to her family.
Gege (Teacher, 1983-2011)
Gege was one of the founders of our Bridge Kindergarten program and her gifted teaching, creativity, and hugs are greatly missed. She is on a sabbatical after a family tragedy in 2011.
Tina (Office Manager, 1983-2012)
Tina, whose 2 children both attended Step One in the early 80’s, retired in 2012 after a long and dedicated career at the school, and is fulfilling her dream of living in Mexico.
Lisa’s strong vision for what Step One could be propelled the school forward in its early years, such that we were able to move into our current site in 1983. She helped develop the Twos program before she journeyed on to the Wright Institute to develop her psychotherapy practice in Marin County.
Eric (Co-Director 1986-2008)
Eric was a teacher, Assistant Director, and finally Co-Director for many of Step One’s formative years. Among many other notable accomplishments, he was the originator of Step One’s famous annual campout. Eric retired from Step One in 2008 and continues to work in the field of Education Management.
Katie (1985-2002)
Katie was Head Teacher in Room 4 for many years, delighting in music, gardening and cooking, and the preschooler’s scientific mind. She trained a number of teachers who were embarking on their Early Childhood Education careers, several of whom are now Head Teachers at Step One. She retired in 2002 and moved with her husband to the East coast to be closer to her family.
Gege (Teacher, 1983-2011)
Gege was one of the founders of our Bridge Kindergarten program and her gifted teaching, creativity, and hugs are greatly missed. She is on a sabbatical after a family tragedy in 2011.
Tina (Office Manager, 1983-2012)
Tina, whose 2 children both attended Step One in the early 80’s, retired in 2012 after a long and dedicated career at the school, and is fulfilling her dream of living in Mexico.
