Founder Krystell Guzman

Krystell holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California Santa Cruz and a masters in Public Administration from California State East Bay. She is a training expert by trade. Her training endeavors have taken her to far away lands such as Ethiopia, Dominican Republic and all over Central America. She worked as coffee and training expert for the United States Agency for International Development on improving the quality of coffee for small and medium coffee producers throughout Central America. Her program went on to create 5 National coffee schools that had a huge impact on exports in each of the countries she worked in. Krystell has also worked as a Regional Development Consultant for Mercer Human Resource Consulting where she was in charge of providing learning and development resources for all of the offices in the Western United States and Latin America. Prior to that she was a training manager at Google in charge of creating the training program for the famous book scanning project entitled Book Search.

Krystell is mother to Ziel, a charming baseball loving eleven year studying theater at the Oakland School for the Arts. In addition she has a seven year old old daughter named Zaylee whom is the inspiration for the school. She just had a baby last August that is about to turn one. Krystell is dedicated to ensuring all of her children speak Spanish fluently throughout their lives.

Christina Guzman

Christina graduated from California State Hayward with a teaching credential in Early Childhood Education. In her early years as a bilingual school teacher in the Fremont Unified School district, she created a bilingual preschool. Christina currently works as a curriculum development specialist and an English Language Program Coordinator for a International Baccalaureate School in San Jose. Christina has trained hundreds of teachers throughout her career for universities such as University of California Santa Cruz and has been a featured speaker at many California Association of Bilingual Educators conferences.

Christina is the proud mother of three adult children and the even prouder grandmother of two beautiful grandchildren. She is fully bilingual and hopes all of her family continues to speak Spanish fluently and uphold their pride in their Latino heritage.

Etelvina Guadalupe (Lupe) Lopez

Lupe is an energetic, outgoing mother of two with outstanding child care skills and teaching experience. She has eight years of experience taking care of her own children and children of friends. She has a very sweet and kind manner with children enjoys playing, singing, and making children laugh. She loves being around small children and participating in their development. She believes that educating children from a young age with love and tenderness is the basis for them to grow up as healthy, self-confident adults.

Lupe is a certified primary school teacher in Guatemala. She taught first and fifth grades for four years at a rural elementary school outside of Guatemala City. She also completed six months of student teaching in an elementary school in a village close to Antigua, Guatemala. She is a native Spanish speaker with a high level of literacy and also speaks Q'eqchi', a Mayan language from Guatemala and English. She grew up in a multicultural setting in Guatemala in an area with both Spanish speakers and Q'eqchi' speakers. Because of this, she is very respectful of the cultural and linguistic differences that make up a multicultural society. Moreover, she is raising her own children in a bilingual and bicultural manner, trying to teach them to see the world in this way. Lupe holds an anthropology degree in her native Guatemala and is currently doing her early childhood education classes at Merritt College. In 2016 she became part owner at La Plazita Preschool.

Yalin Morales Miller

Yalin was born and raised in San Salvador, El Salvador. She holds a bachelor degree in  Education in English as a Second Language from “Universidad de El Salvador”. She also holds  certificate as Site Director in  Early Childhood Development from California Department of Education. She is certified in CPR and preventative Health required by the State of California for Child Care Center. She has over ten years of experience teaching preschool, elementary and highschool at Centro Cultural Salvadoreno Americano. Prior to working at La Plazita she taught Spanish at “Viva el espanol” at various different elementary schools. At La Plazita she returned to her passion, which is teaching. Yalin believes that every moment in life is an opportunity for learning and that children learn best through playing and exploring meaningful activities. Yalin loves to read novels, listen to music and watch movies.

Cecilia Rodriguez

Cecilia Rodriguez was born and raised in Abasolo, Guanajuato, Mexico. She loves her culture and enjoys transmitting her culture to the kids. She is married and is the proud mother of 4 kids, blessing her with tons of experience with children. She has also worked as a nanny for many other children. Ceci loves to dance and can often times be seen dancing with all the children at La Plazita. In her free time she loves to go for walks and exercise with her kids. She enjoys nature and has a lot of fun exploring the world with the little ones in "La Plazita". She also has a degree in business administration which provides her another perspective in working with the children. Her organizational skills help in developing great routines with the children, which they love. . Ceci is also returning to school to study early childhood development.

Ana Lora

Ana is native from Nayarit Mexico, she holds a teaching certificate as Assistance Teacher from the Department of Education of California. She is continuing her education as teacher at Penn Foster College online. She has a great disposition with children and her sweet manner makes children transitions a lot easier for them. She has a lot of experience with children, previous to working with La Plazita,  she worked at Academia de mi Abuela for about two years. She is married and has three children. In her free time she likes reading books, going to the park with her children and cooking for the whole family.

Aracely Navarrette

Aracely is native from Colombia. She has extensive experience as an educator.She worked in Colombia as elementary and preschool teacher for fifteen years. She holds bachelor degree in Psychology from “Universidad Antonio Narino”. She also holds a certificate as an Associate Teacher in Early Childhood Development from California Department of Education.  She came to the USA seven years ago. She really loves working with children and helps them through a variety of meaningful activities. She helps children to develop their creativity and  discover the world in a fun way. She really enjoys making children smile. Aracely is very artistic and creative and works to provide a fun and stimulating environment in her teaching approach. In her free time she enjoys scrapbooking and drawing.

Blanca Diaz

Blanca is orignaly from El Salvador. She came to this country in year 2001. She is a married mother of 3 male son of 13,11,9. She dedicated most of her life to the care of her 3 sons. For many years she was a volunteer at her sons schools , preschool and elementary .Thats how her interest grew for learning and knowing more about Child Development. She took clases and graduated as assistant teacher of Early Childhood Education at Merrit College. In addition to that, she is taking Child Delelopment Classes to continue her education as a preschool teacher. She loves working with kids and enjoys being a positive influence in their development. In her free time she loves spending time with her sons and doing fun activities with them.

Delia Ramirez

Delia was born in Chihuahua Mexico.  She graduated from Chabot College earning an Associates degree in Early Childhood development.  She is currently continuing her education in Childhood Development by taking classes at 4C’s in connection with the the University at Davis.   Delia is married and has two sons, one is 21 years old  currently in college majoring in business and her 15 year old son is currently in 10th grade.  Working with children brings out the best in Delia.   The activities that she develops with children allow them to achieve their full potential in different areas of knowledge and comprehension.

Jaqueline del Toro

Jacqueline Del Toro was  born and raised in Mexico City, where  she studied at International Institute of Tourism. In 1999, Jacqueline immigrated to the United States to continue her studies . Some of her experiences begin with taking several workshops related to education of children BANANAS. Jacqueline continues her studies in gaining other varies early education certificates with a great passion to excel in the field. In 2013, she discovered her true vocation, teaching children. Working closely with them at the Monte Tavor School, she developed several teacher techniques that inspired and motivated her to continue preparing for early childhood education.Jackie is an amazing energetic teacher, she knows a lot of different techniques on how to make science fun for children. She also loves spending time with her daughters and being outdoors where she can enjoy nature at its best.

Jessica Garcia

Jessica was born and raised in Michoacan, Mexico.  She holds a certificate as an Assistant Teacher in Early Childhood Education from California Department of Education. In addition to that, she is taking Child Development Classes to continue her education as a preschool teacher. She is a wonderful and energetic teacher with a lot of experience raising her two children. She is married and  the proud mother of two, a boy and a girl. She loves children and likes to get to know their personalities and help them grow. She loves being a positive influence in their lives. In her free time she loves reading books and working out.

Maria Luisa Ramos

Maria Luisa was was born in Mexico and grew up in a big family. She finished high school and I was accepted to a University in Morelia Michoacan , Mexico (UMSNH). She attended that for a short time then married and moved to California.  Seven years later, she began to go to school at City College of San Francisco. She started by taking English courses and eventually began taking child development classes.  Currently, she is enrolled at Merritt Community College so that she can obtain a general education as well as eventually receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development.  Her passion, love, dedication, patience, and care for kids are her strongest skills.  She enjoys sharing time and playing with children. She has over 12 years experience working with children.  She is a proud single mom of a U.C Davis  graduate, a high school student in her junior year, and twins in first grade.  During her free time she loves reading, camping, listening to music, watching baseball games, and sharing time with her daughters.

Maria Villa

Maria was born in Michoacan, Mexico and raised in Redwood City. She holds an Early Childhood Education Teaching permit from California Department of Education. She is continuing her education as teacher at Merritt College. She has a great disposition with children  and a lot of experience raising her family of four boys. She is married and in her free time she enjoys watching movies, going fishing and spending time with her children.

Mayra Vega

Mayra is a native from Nayarit, Mexico. She was raised in Oakland Ca, and graduated from Fremont Senior High school. Mayra holds a Teaching Certificate as a Assistant Teacher  from Las Positas Community College in Livermore. Mayra is excited to be at La Plazita preschool where she can work with students and prepare them for kindergarten. Mayra is very kind and has always enjoyed working with children. She is married and has two children who are twelve and seven years old. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her children, watching movies and reading

Xime Malagon

Ximena Garcia is originally from Colombia and prefers to be called Xime.  She is an enrichment teacher at La Plazita with a specialty in dance, theater and music.  Xime has a degree from Colombia in drama & dance for kids and teenagers.  She is currently taking early childhood development classes at Merritt College.  She has a lot of experience with children.  She loves to share her culture with everyone.  Her goal in working with children is to help them to grow confident and be unique in a big and changing world.  In her free time she loves to go home and visit her  mom, dad and little sisters. Xime is very active and loves pets, especially cats.  She loves to eat good food and try new things.

Yael Blancas

Yael was born and raised in Puebla,Mexico. She moved to the United States five years ago where she went to San Leandro High School, and now is taking early childhood development classes at Merritt College. She loves her culture and that is why she always tries to always promote it, and constantly travel her hometown. And even now that she lives in a new country with a different language, she works hard to not lose the affection to her native language and proudly enjoys having the opportunity to teach Spanish and promote interest in others to learn the language. Yael likes to play soccer, read books, and dance. She enjoys being around kids because in her large family she has always been around young children. She loves to play and help children to learn new things. Yael believes that dedication and affection are essential to the development of children.

Zuleyka Alvarado

Zuleyka Alvarado was born and raised in Peru. She worked mostly in Customer Service where she developed her communication skills. While she was working, she was going to college and earned a degree in Business Administration. After moving to California, Zuleyka has been continuously taking English classes, and enrolled in the Early Childhood Development program at Chabot-Las Positas College where she obtained a Teacher certificate. Zuleyka’s goal working with children is to be a positive influence in their lives. Zuleyka enjoys visiting National and Recreational Parks, and new places. She also enjoys going to music concerts and watching movies.