Patty has spent over 20 years working with young children and families in the San Pedro community and helping little learners grow has always been the heart of her work. She loves watching children explore, imagine, and discover the world around them — it’s truly magical. Her classroom will follow a Reggio Emilia–inspired, play-based approach, were children learn through hands-on exploration, creativity, and meaningful experiences. She is passionate about making every child feel safe, loved, and excited to learn each day. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys listening to music, watching movies, baking sweet treats, and reading stories. Her favorite princess is Belle from Beauty and the Beast, because she loves books, kindness, and adventure — just like we do in our classroom! The moment I stepped into a Reggio inspired school, everything changed. I was captivated by the image of the child as capable, curious, and full of potential, and I knew I wanted to bring those same opportunities to children and families from communities like the one where I grew up. For more than 17 years, I have dedicated my career to Reggio inspired education, teaching and leading at SGM Atelier, First Presbyterian Nursery School in Santa Monica, and ALC Preschool. Along the way, I have been fortunate to learn from remarkable mentors and collaborate with passionate educators who have continually challenged and inspired my thinking. In 2020, I helped create an outdoor kindergarten program, further strengthening my belief that meaningful learning can happen anywhere when children are trusted as capable researchers. In 2022, I was promoted to Director of ALC Preschool. In this role, I led the school's daily operations while providing pedagogical leadership rooted in the Reggio Emilia philosophy. During my tenure, I strengthened family and community partnerships, increased enrollment through strategic outreach, modernized the school's website and social media presence, and helped establish ALC Preschool as one of the leading early childhood programs in the Palos Verdes area. My own learning continues to be just as important as my teaching. I have attended numerous NAREA conferences, regional Reggio conferences, and study tours where I visited Reggio inspired schools, reflected alongside colleagues, and explored how different communities interpret the philosophy in authentic ways. Most recently, I participated in a study group in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where I spent time in the municipal infant toddler centers and preschools, learning directly alongside educators whose work continues to inspire schools around the world. These experiences have deepened my understanding that the Reggio Emilia approach is not a model to replicate, but a way of thinking that grows through relationships, reflection, and collaboration. Today, I continue supporting schools and educators as they build Reggio inspired practices that are authentic to their own communities. My passion is helping the world see children differently, not simply as students to be taught, but as capable citizens whose ideas, questions, and relationships have the power to transform learning for everyone. Outside of education, I enjoy the hobbies that have been part of my life since childhood. I'm an avid soccer fan, anime and comic enthusiast, and collector of comics and Pokémon cards. As an adult, I also developed a passion for travel. My wife and I love exploring new places with our dogs, especially visiting national parks and spending time in nature. When I'm home, you'll often find me working on DIY projects or woodworking, creative outlets that allow me to continue building, designing, and learning in new ways.

Monica is an atelierista and early childhood educator, deeply inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach and its image of the child as capable, curious, creative, and full of potential. She believes children have powerful ideas, theories about the world, and that they deserve time, space, relationships, and materials that allow those ideas to emerge and evolve. Raised in Culver City in a community with a strong appreciation for the arts, she grew up exploring many creative mediums, she discovered early on the joy of creating both independently and collaboratively. Her educational journey began in archaeology, but courses in child psychology and early childhood education led her to discover the profound connection between children, learning, and the arts. As she continued her studies, she encountered the Reggio Emilia approach and discovered a philosophy whose beliefs correlated with her own; that children are protagonists of their own learning and that the “hundred languages” are meaningful ways of thinking, communicating, and making sense of the world. She earned her Associate of Arts in Early Childhood Education and began her work in a preschool in West Los Angeles in 2011. After several years as a classroom teacher, she transitioned into the role of ateliarista, bringing together her knowledge of early childhood education with her lifelong relationship with the arts. As an ateliarista, the atelier [art studio/workshop] as a place of research, possibility, and discovery. She invites children to develop relationships with materials such as clay, wire, paint, natural elements, and found objects. Materials become partners in the learning process offering resistance, possibility, transformation, and new ways of thinking. Through these encounters, children can make their ideas visible, revisit their theories, communicate with one another and discover possibilities they may not have imagined. My role is not to teach children what to create, but to listen, observe, wonder, and learn alongside them. She sees herself as a collaborator and researcher, thoughtfully preparing environments and provocations that invite children to investigate their questions and pursue their interests. Documentation is an important part of this process, helping her slow down and look closely at children’s words, gestures, creations, relationships, and evolving theories. Her own artistic practice, particularly working with ceramics and paint, continues to shape the way she understand this work. Creating with her hands reminds her of the importance of process, experimentation, and allowing ideas to unfold. It has also taught her that materials can hold stories. She sees the same in children’s work: their creations are not simply art products, but traces of their thinking, experiences, relationships, and ways of seeing the world. She believes the atelier is a place where children can experience the joy of being taken seriously as thinkers, artists, researchers, and storytellers. She hopes to create spaces where children feel seen and heard, where their theories are valued, and where they are encouraged to explore the endless possibilities of their hundred languages. For her, being an ateliarista is an ongoing practice of wondering alongside children, remaining open to their ideas, trusting their capabilities, and allowing their questions to lead us somewhere new.