Early Childhood Education Program

Directory
	Diane Wallace, Program Manager (UVA) University Village Albany, Clark Kerr Infant Center & Clark Kerr Preschool Center \| diane_w@berkeley.edu Diane has worked in the child care field for over thirty years and with ECEP for 23 of those years. She continues to have passion and enthusiasm to inspire a new generation of teachers with richness and nobility as they enter the field of early care and education. There is nothing more rewarding than to see children becoming inquisitive, independent and embracing learning with joy. ^ top
	Christine Hansel, Program Manager Harold E Jones Child Study Center & Girton Hall, Program \| hansel@berkeley.edu Christine Hansel holds an MA in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University and has done Post Graduate Study and teaching through Pacific Oaks College. She has enjoyed a long history with Berkeley's ECEP and currently oversees the Harold Jones Child Study Center Preschool and Girton Hall Toddler Center. Her professional interests are in child care center design, play-based curriculum and child care health policies. She has served on the boards of the International Child Resource Institute and the Child Care Health Program. Christine resides in Albany with her husband and daughter, a college student at the University of Oregon.
	Randi Roberts, Program Relations Manager \| randice@berkeley.edu Randi has a BS in Education and a BA in English from Miami University in Ohio. She also has a Certificate in College Admissions and Career Planning from UC Berkeley Extension. Randi as ECEP’s Program Relations Manager has worked for UC Berkeley since 1993 – Initially she was a temporary employee with the Institute of Human Development, coordinating researchers with families interested in participating with their children as ‘test subjects’ in early learning cognitive studies. That job led to another position as an administrative assistant at the Harold E Jones Child Study Center - in 1994 a center that was operated by IHD. A partnership between IHD and ECEP was later created and Randi’s position evolved into a liaison role with responsibilities between the two departments. Eventually the position expanded to ‘Admissions Coordinator for staff and faculty families’ with the Early Childhood Education Program. She received a ‘Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award’ in 2003 as a member of a Quality Service Training Facilitator Team. In January 2006, she was hired as the Program Relations Manager for ECEP, a team member working with all ECEP centers and the Residential Student Services Program staff. Her role today involves program planning, staff recruiting & substitute teachers’ pool overseeing, communication with parents, payroll & HR liaison.
	Lissette Dominguez, Site Coordinator Clark Kerr Infant Center \| ldominguez1628@berkeley.edu Lissette has been with UC ECEP since 2007 and brings 14 years of experience supervising teachers and working with families with young children. She holds a BA in Child Development and is currently working toward a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University. Her teaching style focuses on reflective, responsive, collaborative teaching approaches. She values the importance that relationships play in children’s cognitive and social development. Lissette has spent the last five years working with infants, wobblers and toddlers at both Haste and CKIC. Lissette has participated in the (PITC) Program for Infant & Toddler Caregivers and is working on becoming a PITC trainer herself. Her professional interests include designing and developing (DAP) developmentally appropriate practice classrooms and curriculum that enhance teacher and child interactions. She resides in Oakland with her husband and two fury pet kids.
	Gabriela Rojas, Site Coordinator Haste Street Child Development Center \| gabrielarojas@berkeley.edu Gabriela holds a BA degree in Legal Studies and Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley. Gabriela has nine years of teaching experience. Seven of those years have been in Early Childhood Development. She spent four years teaching at a local bay area parent co-operative where she served as a teacher for preschool and toddler age classrooms, she also served as a part time program manager. This is Gabriela's third year serving as Site Coordinator at the Haste Street Child Development Center as both infant and toddler teacher and administrator. Gabriela is enjoying watching her first group of infants at Haste come full circle in the toddler room. She is also enjoying re-integrating herself into the larger UC community and has recently received the 2012 "UC Berkeley Spot Award" for exemplary achievement in the ECEP Program.
	Leslie Craig, Site Coordinator Clark Kerr Preschool \| lc14lc@berkeley.edu Leslie graduated with a BA in Business from San Jose State in 1988. Before she began her career with children, she worked as human resource specialist at World Savings for ten years, orienting new employees and implementing benefits. During that time she attended Contra Costa Community College and earned a Child Care Site Supervisor Certificate. She has been working at the Clark Kerr Preschool since 1997. Her husband is Tim and her two girls are Lyndsey and Lauryn, they all live in Hercules. Leslie’s hobbies include traveling, gardening, and reading historical fiction.
	Jane Esposito, Site Coordinator Girton Hall \| jespo@berkeley.edu Jane has an art degree as well as an Early Childhood Site Coordinator Permit. She believes in providing children with a calm, sensory-rich environment. Her style of teaching blends art, sensory development, and nature. Her activities are designed to nourish brain development which is critical in a child’s first three years of life. She incorporates Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), Project Approach, and curriculum derived from Reggio Emilia into her practice. Through Reggio, she is involved with the Innovative Teachers Foundation. At UC she has participated in several years of training with Program for Infant Toddler Trainers, and has done seminars to become a PITC trainer. She has worked with infants and toddlers since1995. Jane has also had the good fortune to work for 7 years at Presidio Child Development Center in San Francisco. Jane values “continuity of care” and enjoys rotating with infants for a three year cycle until they are ready for preschool when they turn three.
	Marie Sanchez-Corwin, Site Coordinator Harold E. Jones Child Study Center, West \| Marie has worked in ECEP since 1984 with infants and toddlers and now at the Child Study Center in the West Pre-school Classroom. She has a B.A. in Health Education from SFSU and M.A. in Linguistics from University of Texas at Arlington. Marie holds a Program Director Permit. Marie began her professional career as a pediatric and labor/delivery nurse. She taught CPR and First Aid for the American Red Cross as well as to UC parents, students and staff. She has provided workshops at the “Every Child Counts” Conference at Chabot College on “Documenting Curriculum Through Photography.” She was past national president of the Worthy Wage Campaign, a non-profit labor organization for teachers. She has been featured in Far West Lab training videos on early language development. Her philosophy of working with young children and their families is based on mutual respect. Marie is conversationally fluent in Spanish. She lives in Berkeley with husband Chris and has two adult children, Eliot and Naomi.
	Vannamaria Kalofonos, Site Coordinator Harold E. Jones Child Study Center, East \| vannamaria@berkeley.edu Vannamaria holds a BA degree in Comparative Literature form UC Berkeley. She also has a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from St. Mary’s College in Moraga. Vannamaria has thirty years experience in Early Care & Education. She operated her own private preschool for five years and was a Site Director at the Circle Preschool, Berkeley Montessori School, Beacon School and the San Francisco Head Start Program. Prior to CSC, she was the Site Coordinator at Girton Hall. Vannamaria enjoys being a mentor teacher and encouraging and supporting new-comers to the field. She has three sons who are all UC Berkeley alumni, as was her late husaband. Vannamaria immigrated from Greece when she was ten years old. She loves classical music, poetry, kick boxing, cooking, gardening and the CAL BAND. Vannamaria is very pleased to be a part of the ECEP program and looks forward to partnering with parents in their child’s development journey.
	Alexander Sasha Leveton, Site Coordinator UVA University Village Albany \| saleveton@berkeley.edu Alexander prefers that you call him Sasha. He lives in Alameda and has a 6 year old son named Mateo. He enjoys being active and in the outdoors doing activities such as camping, going to the beach, or playing baseball with his son. He has been working in the early education field for five years and finds one of the most enjoyable parts besides hearing creative ideas that children come up with is the connection that is made with the parents and families. Sasha attended a small school in San Francisco, New College of California and received a B.A. in Humanities with an emphasis in Adolescent Development in 2001. After he graduated he started out working for a non-profit infant toddler center in San Francisco as a teacher’s assistant and with the encouragement from the site supervisor then went to San Francisco Community College and took the necessary early education classes to obtain his site supervisor permit. One year later, he was hired at UCB as a substitute teacher. He was working at the Haste Child Development Center for two years as a lead teacher and after having lots of positive experiences, he felt ready again ready to make the step up to becoming a site supervisor. He looks forward to meeting and getting to know all of you at UVA.
	Marina Moreida, Admissions/Contracts/Enrollment Coordinator \| moreida@berkeley.edu Marina received an Associate Science Degree in Health Sciences from Merrit College. She was selected for the Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award in 2010 as part of a team of translators. She also received a Health Care Spanish Interpreter Certificate from City College of Francisco. Her Spanish interpreter skills have allowed her to serve as an interpreter for the limited English proficient staff in our department as well as helping with translations. Marina joined UC Berkeley in 2001. She first began in Cal Dining holding several titles and in 2006 joined the ECEP team. As the Admissions-Contracts Coordinator, Marina oversees enrollment and eligibility for student families as well as enrollment for non-students families such as faculty and staff at UC Berkeley. Her expertise in state and federal funding ensures compliance with state and federal regulations. When she is not working at ECEP, she enjoys taking care of her Siamese Cat and her Chihuahua Dog.
	Erika Martinez, Reception/Administrative Assistant II \| airmartinez@berkeley.edu Erika Martinez is ECEP’s Administrative Assistant and Receptionist for The Haste Street Child Development Center, ECEP's largest site. She began working for UC in 2006, doing Administrative work for Cal Dining and then cashiering at various Campus Restaurant locations. In 2007, she joined The Early Childhood Education Program when it was still housed at RSSP and transitioned with them moving to The Haste Street location in 2010. After high school she attended a local community college for a few semesters but decided that she wanted to make money. In 2009 Erika slowly began taking courses again, focusing on Child Development, so you might see her helping out in the classroom. She has a 4 year old daughter and they recently moved from Solano County to the Oakland Hills with a beautiful view of the Bay Area. She and her child love everything outdoors from beaches to snow, hiking to theme parks, festivals to movies in the park. There are 2 things that she is really passionate about: Baseball (Go A's!) and Disneyland. In 2011 Erika spent a total of 15 days at the Disneyland Parks and went to enough baseball (A's, Angels and Giants) to pay for season tickets. She can honestly say, with pride, that she loves her job. She truly loves helping all of our customers and learning new things everyday about all aspects of the ECEP program.

Directory
	Diane Wallace, Program Manager (UVA) University Village Albany, Clark Kerr Infant Center & Clark Kerr Preschool Center \| diane_w@berkeley.edu Diane has worked in the child care field for over thirty years and with ECEP for 23 of those years. She continues to have passion and enthusiasm to inspire a new generation of teachers with richness and nobility as they enter the field of early care and education. There is nothing more rewarding than to see children becoming inquisitive, independent and embracing learning with joy. ^ top
	Christine Hansel, Program Manager Harold E Jones Child Study Center & Girton Hall, Program \| hansel@berkeley.edu Christine Hansel holds an MA in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University and has done Post Graduate Study and teaching through Pacific Oaks College. She has enjoyed a long history with Berkeley's ECEP and currently oversees the Harold Jones Child Study Center Preschool and Girton Hall Toddler Center. Her professional interests are in child care center design, play-based curriculum and child care health policies. She has served on the boards of the International Child Resource Institute and the Child Care Health Program. Christine resides in Albany with her husband and daughter, a college student at the University of Oregon.
	Randi Roberts, Program Relations Manager \| randice@berkeley.edu Randi has a BS in Education and a BA in English from Miami University in Ohio. She also has a Certificate in College Admissions and Career Planning from UC Berkeley Extension. Randi as ECEP’s Program Relations Manager has worked for UC Berkeley since 1993 – Initially she was a temporary employee with the Institute of Human Development, coordinating researchers with families interested in participating with their children as ‘test subjects’ in early learning cognitive studies. That job led to another position as an administrative assistant at the Harold E Jones Child Study Center - in 1994 a center that was operated by IHD. A partnership between IHD and ECEP was later created and Randi’s position evolved into a liaison role with responsibilities between the two departments. Eventually the position expanded to ‘Admissions Coordinator for staff and faculty families’ with the Early Childhood Education Program. She received a ‘Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award’ in 2003 as a member of a Quality Service Training Facilitator Team. In January 2006, she was hired as the Program Relations Manager for ECEP, a team member working with all ECEP centers and the Residential Student Services Program staff. Her role today involves program planning, staff recruiting & substitute teachers’ pool overseeing, communication with parents, payroll & HR liaison.
	Lissette Dominguez, Site Coordinator Clark Kerr Infant Center \| ldominguez1628@berkeley.edu Lissette has been with UC ECEP since 2007 and brings 14 years of experience supervising teachers and working with families with young children. She holds a BA in Child Development and is currently working toward a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University. Her teaching style focuses on reflective, responsive, collaborative teaching approaches. She values the importance that relationships play in children’s cognitive and social development. Lissette has spent the last five years working with infants, wobblers and toddlers at both Haste and CKIC. Lissette has participated in the (PITC) Program for Infant & Toddler Caregivers and is working on becoming a PITC trainer herself. Her professional interests include designing and developing (DAP) developmentally appropriate practice classrooms and curriculum that enhance teacher and child interactions. She resides in Oakland with her husband and two fury pet kids.
	Gabriela Rojas, Site Coordinator Haste Street Child Development Center \| gabrielarojas@berkeley.edu Gabriela holds a BA degree in Legal Studies and Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley. Gabriela has nine years of teaching experience. Seven of those years have been in Early Childhood Development. She spent four years teaching at a local bay area parent co-operative where she served as a teacher for preschool and toddler age classrooms, she also served as a part time program manager. This is Gabriela's third year serving as Site Coordinator at the Haste Street Child Development Center as both infant and toddler teacher and administrator. Gabriela is enjoying watching her first group of infants at Haste come full circle in the toddler room. She is also enjoying re-integrating herself into the larger UC community and has recently received the 2012 "UC Berkeley Spot Award" for exemplary achievement in the ECEP Program.
	Leslie Craig, Site Coordinator Clark Kerr Preschool \| lc14lc@berkeley.edu Leslie graduated with a BA in Business from San Jose State in 1988. Before she began her career with children, she worked as human resource specialist at World Savings for ten years, orienting new employees and implementing benefits. During that time she attended Contra Costa Community College and earned a Child Care Site Supervisor Certificate. She has been working at the Clark Kerr Preschool since 1997. Her husband is Tim and her two girls are Lyndsey and Lauryn, they all live in Hercules. Leslie’s hobbies include traveling, gardening, and reading historical fiction.
	Jane Esposito, Site Coordinator Girton Hall \| jespo@berkeley.edu Jane has an art degree as well as an Early Childhood Site Coordinator Permit. She believes in providing children with a calm, sensory-rich environment. Her style of teaching blends art, sensory development, and nature. Her activities are designed to nourish brain development which is critical in a child’s first three years of life. She incorporates Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), Project Approach, and curriculum derived from Reggio Emilia into her practice. Through Reggio, she is involved with the Innovative Teachers Foundation. At UC she has participated in several years of training with Program for Infant Toddler Trainers, and has done seminars to become a PITC trainer. She has worked with infants and toddlers since1995. Jane has also had the good fortune to work for 7 years at Presidio Child Development Center in San Francisco. Jane values “continuity of care” and enjoys rotating with infants for a three year cycle until they are ready for preschool when they turn three.
	Marie Sanchez-Corwin, Site Coordinator Harold E. Jones Child Study Center, West \| Marie has worked in ECEP since 1984 with infants and toddlers and now at the Child Study Center in the West Pre-school Classroom. She has a B.A. in Health Education from SFSU and M.A. in Linguistics from University of Texas at Arlington. Marie holds a Program Director Permit. Marie began her professional career as a pediatric and labor/delivery nurse. She taught CPR and First Aid for the American Red Cross as well as to UC parents, students and staff. She has provided workshops at the “Every Child Counts” Conference at Chabot College on “Documenting Curriculum Through Photography.” She was past national president of the Worthy Wage Campaign, a non-profit labor organization for teachers. She has been featured in Far West Lab training videos on early language development. Her philosophy of working with young children and their families is based on mutual respect. Marie is conversationally fluent in Spanish. She lives in Berkeley with husband Chris and has two adult children, Eliot and Naomi.
	Vannamaria Kalofonos, Site Coordinator Harold E. Jones Child Study Center, East \| vannamaria@berkeley.edu Vannamaria holds a BA degree in Comparative Literature form UC Berkeley. She also has a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from St. Mary’s College in Moraga. Vannamaria has thirty years experience in Early Care & Education. She operated her own private preschool for five years and was a Site Director at the Circle Preschool, Berkeley Montessori School, Beacon School and the San Francisco Head Start Program. Prior to CSC, she was the Site Coordinator at Girton Hall. Vannamaria enjoys being a mentor teacher and encouraging and supporting new-comers to the field. She has three sons who are all UC Berkeley alumni, as was her late husaband. Vannamaria immigrated from Greece when she was ten years old. She loves classical music, poetry, kick boxing, cooking, gardening and the CAL BAND. Vannamaria is very pleased to be a part of the ECEP program and looks forward to partnering with parents in their child’s development journey.
	Alexander Sasha Leveton, Site Coordinator UVA University Village Albany \| saleveton@berkeley.edu Alexander prefers that you call him Sasha. He lives in Alameda and has a 6 year old son named Mateo. He enjoys being active and in the outdoors doing activities such as camping, going to the beach, or playing baseball with his son. He has been working in the early education field for five years and finds one of the most enjoyable parts besides hearing creative ideas that children come up with is the connection that is made with the parents and families. Sasha attended a small school in San Francisco, New College of California and received a B.A. in Humanities with an emphasis in Adolescent Development in 2001. After he graduated he started out working for a non-profit infant toddler center in San Francisco as a teacher’s assistant and with the encouragement from the site supervisor then went to San Francisco Community College and took the necessary early education classes to obtain his site supervisor permit. One year later, he was hired at UCB as a substitute teacher. He was working at the Haste Child Development Center for two years as a lead teacher and after having lots of positive experiences, he felt ready again ready to make the step up to becoming a site supervisor. He looks forward to meeting and getting to know all of you at UVA.
	Marina Moreida, Admissions/Contracts/Enrollment Coordinator \| moreida@berkeley.edu Marina received an Associate Science Degree in Health Sciences from Merrit College. She was selected for the Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award in 2010 as part of a team of translators. She also received a Health Care Spanish Interpreter Certificate from City College of Francisco. Her Spanish interpreter skills have allowed her to serve as an interpreter for the limited English proficient staff in our department as well as helping with translations. Marina joined UC Berkeley in 2001. She first began in Cal Dining holding several titles and in 2006 joined the ECEP team. As the Admissions-Contracts Coordinator, Marina oversees enrollment and eligibility for student families as well as enrollment for non-students families such as faculty and staff at UC Berkeley. Her expertise in state and federal funding ensures compliance with state and federal regulations. When she is not working at ECEP, she enjoys taking care of her Siamese Cat and her Chihuahua Dog.
	Erika Martinez, Reception/Administrative Assistant II \| airmartinez@berkeley.edu Erika Martinez is ECEP’s Administrative Assistant and Receptionist for The Haste Street Child Development Center, ECEP's largest site. She began working for UC in 2006, doing Administrative work for Cal Dining and then cashiering at various Campus Restaurant locations. In 2007, she joined The Early Childhood Education Program when it was still housed at RSSP and transitioned with them moving to The Haste Street location in 2010. After high school she attended a local community college for a few semesters but decided that she wanted to make money. In 2009 Erika slowly began taking courses again, focusing on Child Development, so you might see her helping out in the classroom. She has a 4 year old daughter and they recently moved from Solano County to the Oakland Hills with a beautiful view of the Bay Area. She and her child love everything outdoors from beaches to snow, hiking to theme parks, festivals to movies in the park. There are 2 things that she is really passionate about: Baseball (Go A's!) and Disneyland. In 2011 Erika spent a total of 15 days at the Disneyland Parks and went to enough baseball (A's, Angels and Giants) to pay for season tickets. She can honestly say, with pride, that she loves her job. She truly loves helping all of our customers and learning new things everyday about all aspects of the ECEP program.