Heading 1

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.

Annette Medrano (she/her/hers) is a native Californian who received her Bachelor of Arts in Child Development from Whittier College in Southern California. She has had the opportunity to teach in Germany, Spain and Los Angeles before finding her passion in the educational management industry in the San Francisco bay area. Annette is entering her sixteenth year of early childhood education and has experience in program management, mentoring, leadership development and community engagement. Annette strives to make a lasting impact in the lives of her staff, students and community by fostering compassion and intellectual curiosity, igniting imagination and instilling a love of learning. In her spare time, Annette enjoys spending time outside with her husband and two daughters, getting up early for a sunrise trail run in the Marin Headlands, and being enthralled by the latest thriller novel.

JohnPaul Meza, but most people call him JP, was born and raised in San Francisco, so he's very proud to call this city his home. He began working with children back in 2015 when he was just 18 years old and exploring career options, and as he started to learn more about childcare he really enjoyed it and knew he wanted to make this a career! He started taking classes at CCSF to expand his knowledge of Child Development. He has worked in a variety of childcare settings, including the YMCA and Live Oak School and after taking a break and exploring some other career paths, he’s decided Early Childhood is what he enjoys the most! He is currently working toward a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Studies and looks forward to supporting families and children. He enjoys being outdoors and exploring new places. He also enjoys spending time with family and friends, enjoying quiet time while laughing and enjoying good food, because he’s learned it’s important to appreciate and cherish every moment you get with your loved ones. He's a self taught drummer, and started playing drums at the church growing up and fell in love with it, and since then every weekend he’s been playing drums at church/events.

Chloe was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and is excited to return home after graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a BS in Human Development and Family Studies and Psychology. She is continuing her education on the side to get certified as a Postpartum Doula and hopes to eventually go back to graduate school to specialize in perinatal mental health. Chloe has been working with kids since she was a kid and almost all of her jobs thus far have involved working with kiddos—as a babysitter, behavior technician, swim teacher, preschool teacher, and a summer camp counselor! She is passionate about mental health and social emotional learning and believes that learning how to identify, communicate, and regulate our emotions is one of the most important sets of skills that we can have. In her free time, Chloe enjoys putting a blanket down at Dolores Park and getting lost in one of the many fiction novels she's reading, playing with her beloved doggies (Harper and Peanut), watching Anime, and spending time with her loved ones—whether it's in person or via FaceTime, as her friends are scattered throughout the world.

As the eldest of four children and the daughter of an early childhood educator, Charlotte comes to Sweet Peas with a wide variety of both personal and professional experience working with children. She spent several years as an educator at a natural science summer camp in Big Sur and last year served as an Extended Day teacher for kindergarteners at the San Francisco Friends School. Charlotte has worked with children and young adults with special needs at a supported living service and has a heart for making education and learning accessible and equitable. She studied International Relations at UC Davis and is currently obtaining early childhood education credits at CCSF. She’s interested in how the experiences people have early in life impact how they engage in the world and she’s honored to play a role in children’s formative early years. She loves to see the wonder and delight children get from imaginary and sensory play and facilitating a child’s growth and learning through play brings her great joy. In her free time, Charlotte enjoys hiking, reading, backpacking, exploring the city, and taking her corgi to the dog park.

​

Elaine was born and raised in San Francisco. She graduated with a BA in psychology from UC Merced. She’s had experiences working with children in various ages such as working as an intern at a summer program called Aim High, infant assistant teacher at a Montessori school, and working with children with autism as a behavioral interventionist. She is interested in learning more about child development and early education and is currently taking classes at CCSF. One thing she loves about the field is watching each child slowly grow and develop their own personalities. She is excited to work with everyone at Sweet Peas Too. In her free time, she enjoys watching Japanese animations, cooking, and exploring the city.”

Anahi’s passion of working with children started 6 years ago and she especially loves seeing the development from infants to toddlers. She believes we learn something from each and every child and building relationships is the foundation of teaching. As an educator, she believes we become their role models and its extremely important to be present and involved in their play. She is looking forward to continuing to expand her education at CCSF in child development. In her free time, she enjoys reading, gardening, crafting, knitting, as well as creating memories with family and friends.

Kaitlin was born and raised in New York and recently moved to the Bay in pursuit of her Master's degree in School Counseling at Saint Mary's College of California. Kaitlin earned her Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and has always had a passion for working with young children. Besides their parents, she believes that educators have the most influence on children's development, and she takes a lot of pride in being a part of shaping their experiences and personalities. Kaitlin has experience with children starting with volunteering at a bowling alley from a young age to working as a sleepaway camp counselor before she began working with the special needs population as a paraprofessional and teacher's aide at a charter school. She is excited for this opportunity at Sweet Peas and in California and looks forward to exploring San Francisco as her new home away from home. Her passions include music, movies, nature, and ultimately being able to connect with friends.

Sophia is a Northern California native who graduated from University of California Santa Barbara with a bachelor's degree in art history in 2023. She is relatively new to the San Francisco area and is looking forward to getting to know the city and community better. She has been working with children since her teenage years and was a full time nanny throughout college for a family with three children. She is currently seeking an Early Childhood Development major at CCSF. . She is passionate about self expression through art, painting, drawing, fitness, nature and working with children of all ages. She is very excited to be part of the Sweet Peas team and have the privilege of working with the children in their early developmental stages.

Jane graduated in 2023 from Gonzaga University with a Bachelor in Psychology and minor in Communications. She spent the last year working as a preschool teacher in Seattle but before that always found herself with kids whether that be as a camp counselor, toddler co teacher or babysitting. Alongside teaching the past year she was a social emotional play based learning coach at the local elementary schools. She is hoping to bring her experience focusing on SEL into Sweet Peas classrooms. She recently moved back for the Bay, where she grew up, to join Sweet Peas! She loves how each and every day brings a new challenge and opportunity to grow our learning from the kids. She admires the kids fearlessness and innate curiosity. Outside of work she loves to hike, play tennis, cook and rollerblade!