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Samantha completed a degree in Child Development at Chico State University in 1997. After graduation, she moved to the Bay Area to continue her education and to teach preschool at Hoover Children's Center in San Mateo. In December of 1999, Samantha earned her teaching credential and for the next five years went on to teach Kindergarten at Westlake Elementary School and The Hilldale School, both in Daly City. Samantha holds a California Child Development Permit and enjoys continued professional development through a variety of different Bay Area and National organizations. Being at the beginning of a child's educational path is both inspiring and rewarding to Samantha. Sweet Peas was created shortly after the birth of her first son as Samantha decided to create a family based preschool where children are both nurtured and stimulated, a place where she would want her own children to be if they were in someone else's care. Her vision to offer this kind of nurturing learning environment was what inspired her to create multiple locations for Sweet Peas and she feels very blessed to work with so many wonderful families throughout their children's formative years.

Rebecca is a San Francisco native and has been in the preschool teaching field for 5 years. Her passion for working with young children developed as she helped care for her younger siblings and cousins almost her whole life. Her joy in being around children and learning about them deepened as she grew up watching her aunt and grandmother shared their teaching passions. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Child and Adolescent Development with a concentration in Early Childhood and a minor in Special Education from San Francisco State University. She also holds an Associates’s degree of Science in Early Childhood Education from Skyline Community College. Rebecca enjoys every learning moment with children, as it is also an opportunity for her to learn from children. She is passionate about supporting children in realizing their fullest potential, whether it be physically, socially, or cognitively. She loves traveling, exploring hidden gems in her home city, and practicing lettering in her free time.

Grace grew up in the greater Sacramento area and fulfilled her dream of moving to San Francisco. She is a passionate preschool teacher who has experience working with children of many different backgrounds and abilities. She is an Early Childhood Education student working towards transferring her associate's degree to continue towards her bachelor's degree in elementary teaching. Her passion for working with children developed at a young age. Seeing her mother run an in-home daycare for eight years exposed her to nurturing and caring for children of various ages. However, her spark for teaching began as a volunteer in a special day preschool, assisting in classroom centers and children's speech and language development. Seeing the progress and development in those children pushes her to impact all children she interacts with positively. Since then, she has worked as an assistant preschool teacher with STAR Education, a nonprofit organization in Sacramento, and most recently taught as a transitional kindergarten teacher at Building Kidz in Pacifica. As an educator, she hopes to provide a fun, engaging environment where children can grow and develop their own unique identities. Grace's favorite things to do are traveling and learning about new cultures; her ideal travel destinations are anywhere warm and tropical.

Angelica has been involved with the lives of children from a young age! During high school, she volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club in their after-school program. After a few visits and getting to know the children and their families, she knew that working with children was where she wanted to be! During college she decided to start taking Early Child Education courses and it became clear that she wanted to become a teacher! She began working with young children in 2006 as a substitute teacher at Bright Horizons in their infant/toddler program and then moved onto teaching preschool, which she enjoys so much. She has a number of units in ECE and dreams of continuing to further her education in the near future. Angelica began working at Sweet Peas in 2014 and feels that it’s been a great place to become a strong and confident teacher! What she loves most about this field is being able to watch the children grow and learn each day, and being able to guide them toward building their social, emotional, motor and cognitive development. Angelica truly enjoys building relationships with the children as well as their families so that we can all work as a team to provide the best care and guidance for the children during their school days! One of her favorite things to do with the children is literacy activities and she enjoys sitting with children and looking through and reading books and listening to their thoughts or questions! She loves using books as inspiration to create fun and engaging art projects too. During her free time, Angelica enjoys family time playing board games, watching movies, and especially bbq’s! Most recently spending time going for walks in the park with her husband and 7 month old Sofia has been such a joy!

Ellen is a recent Skidmore College graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Education and a concentration in Early Childhood Development. She has always been passionate about working with young children and creating safe spaces for different learning styles to thrive. She has experience working in many New York based early childcare centers, including the 92nd Street YMCA special needs program and has volunteered with 826NYC youth education organization. She especially loves reading with young children, early literacy lesson planning, and has recently authored her own children’s book! In her free time, she enjoys exploring all the beautiful hikes and outdoor experiences the Bay Area has to offer, and is bursting with enthusiasm to be teaching in San Francisco!

Alvina is a Bay Area native who has been working in the education field for over 6 years. She developed an interest in working with children when she took a Child Development course in high school. She continued to study early childhood education in college. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Child and Adolescent Development and a minor in Special Education. Throughout her years of working in the field, she has worked with children and adolescents from the ages of 6 months to 18 year olds and has taken on various roles including teacher, school administrative assistant, art instructor, and behavioral skills therapist. Alvina finds this field to be very rewarding when she builds trusting relationships with the children and families and is able to watch her students grow. During her free time, she enjoys drawing, traveling, exploring the great outdoors, doing aerial silks, lyra, and hammock, and performing the circus for her friends and family. Alvina is excited to be part of the Sweet Peas community and hopes to continue to positively impact the children and ensure that each child reaches their fullest potential.

Luci has recently graduated from Drew Highschool in San Francisco and will be continuing her education at UC Riverside where she plans to major in, liberal studies with an emphasis in child development. In 6th grade, Luci began working in the preschool at the San Francisco School and continued to work there throughout middle school. Starting her freshman year in high school, Luci began working for Sweet Peas during the summer. As a Sweet Peas alumna herself she loves returning to the place where her education began. When she’s not working Luci enjoys hiking, cooking, babysitting, and spending time with her friends and family.