Meet the Team

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You?

Check out our career page

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Front Yard Teachers

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Allyssa Adair (she/her)

Front Yard Teacher-Director ◆ Joined 2000

Cooperative schools have been an essential part of my life from my early beginnings. I began as a preschool student at Children’s Community Center in 1972 and then continued to Crestmont, a co-op elementary school. I was a teacher at another local co-op, El Cerrito Preschool Co-Op, for 11 years, and I have been the Front Yard Teacher-Director at Children's Community Center since 2000. I started my preschool teaching career 35 years ago. I have also been a parent in a co-op with my son, Will, who is now an adult. I can’t imagine a more natural and nurturing first school experience than one in which the whole family joins a community and participates in their child’s exploration and learning. Children need a connection to be at ease; they thrive when teachers and parents work together.

I began my Early Childhood Education at Contra Costa College and was immediately excited by the field. I was fascinated by child development and struck by the importance of nurturing small people. I have been fortunate to be mentored by experienced teachers who were dynamic, creative, and passionate about teaching. I have learned the most and developed my foundation of core beliefs by observing children and teachers and talking with my mentors.

Every child has an excellent opportunity to grow into their most genuine selves in a school community that supports and respects uniqueness, individual temperament, development, a child’s sense of self, and timing. I love the work of gently guiding children as they gain awareness and the ability to express their feelings and needs and navigate the world of peers and community. We all continue to learn and grow together.
Being a preschool teacher is a fulfilling and important job. It is also super fun, and I love my job! I often joke that preschool is like the best collaborative home ec /maker/engineering class ever! We sew, cook, create art, sing, pump water, build rivers and dams, build forts, garden and so much more. Children become confident, take risks, and are full of industry, which is contagious. Being a teacher can sometimes be hard and messy, with lots of emotion and misunderstandings of perspectives and different styles, but these challenges ultimately create understanding and a strong community.
When I am not at school, I have a full life with my wife Simone and our three dogs, Sparky, Stella, and PacoTaco. We enjoy gardening and home projects, going on walks and runs, hosting parties and cooking, playing games, and swimming.

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Kathy Chew (she/her)

Front Yard Teacher ◆ Joined 1989

My training as a teacher was at San Francisco State University, where I earned a degree for preschool through kindergarten. When I graduated, the only opportunities were in Alaska and as a Bay Area person, I knew that was not going to happen.

My teaching opportunities were put on hold until our family had the opportunity to enter the world of preschool when our daughter Kim was ready for preschool. We did not enroll at CCC , but at a parent co -op and I knew immediately that a parent cooperative was how young children should be introduced to preschool. Magically, when our son Richie was ready for preschool, I was introduced to CCC, put on a waitlist and finally accepted.

The magic continues.

I have worked as the front yard teacher for 30+ years. My day starts with the early morning children and continues a few days in the afternoon program. I continue to be blessed and amazed with working and playing with new and alumni families.

My motto is “I work/play at CCC Monday-Friday “ then focus on family on weekends. I view CCC days as a career where I continue to grow as each FY class offers me the opportunity to grow with three year olds and their families.

Back Yard Teachers

Lara Gabato (she/her)

Back Yard Teacher-Director ◆ Joined 2008

I've been at CCC for 16+ years and an early childhood educator for over 23 years. So much of my learning comes from working with the children in my care and the brilliant team of teachers and caregivers that I am lucky to work with.

I started my career working at a Montessori school in El Cerrito while taking evening classes at Contra Costa College and Merritt College to obtain my Early Childhood Education credits. Energized by learning about the different philosophies and programs, I soon became the Teacher-Director of a mixed age play-based school in Berkeley. In 2005, I married my wonderful partner, Randy, and three years later our daughter, August, was born (in January). I became the Back Yard Teacher-Director at CCC fall of 2008 and have been here ever since!

I enjoy the magical ages of four and five and find that there is a developmental turn when children are discovering who they are and what interests them. My philosophy for learning is that each child is unique and each child learns in a different way. Children thrive when they are supported, inspired, and listened to by their grown ups and peers. I believe in hands-on experiences, learning collaboratively, and learning through play.
In the backyard program, we offer a variety of activities that will foster the love of learning while building confidence, empathy, and social-emotional skills. Art, science, music and movement, sign language, gardening, storytelling, cooking/baking, conflict resolution/community building, emphasis on anti-bias/emergent/project-based curriculum, off site field trips such and nature walks are all part of the Back Yard adventure!
In my personal life, you will find me spending time with my family where we enjoy going to live music shows and hanging out at home with our sweet animals. I love exercising my creative muscles (painting, sewing, yarn art), walks at Point Isabel with our dog Betty White, playing and relaxing in my garden, spending time with my parents, baking and trying out new recipes, soaking in hot tubs, and taking naps!
I leave you with this quote that sums up Early Childhood for me:
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood” ~Mr. Fred Rogers

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Ryan Farrell (he/him)

Back Yard Teacher ◆ Joined 2008

I primarily teach in the Backyard Morning program, but I also teach in the Afternoon program three days a week.

I grew up in the Bay Area in El Sobrante, got my B.A. in Literature and Philosophy from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, and have been working in various education programs in Berkeley since 2004 including Adventure Playground and the City of Berkeley Special Education program.

I like to say that I grew up at CCC because I was so young when I started and because CCC was so formative in my development as a grownup. CCC taught me how to be part of a community, to attune to others, and to practice love and giving. Without CCC, I am not the person I am.

Throughout my childhood, I experienced the gamut of educational philosophies and environments including home daycares, urban public schools, highly academic private schools, Waldorf schools, suburban public schools, and rigorous sports programs. None of them felt like they were quite right for me, and none of them felt like they did right by the children in their care. The dearth of nurturing and developmentally appropriate spaces is partly what led me down the path of becoming an educator. So, when I walked through the gates of CCC, I was taken aback to see immediately a space that felt rich, nurturing, and still challenging for children and their families. Even more awe-inspiring was to watch the teachers in action, how they spoke to the children, how they attuned to the children in a way that said, “I see you”.
My original plan was to make my way through the grades-to start in preschool and slowly move through elementary school, middle school, high school, and then college. However, I soon began to realize that CCC offered me an opportunity to work in a space that supported children, families, and teachers with love, community, and attunement that I would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. Thus, here I am in my seventeenth year, still learning from many of those same teachers who blew me away on my first day and meeting more who have arrived after me but with skills and perspectives that continue to enrich my teaching and my life.
When I am not at CCC, I love spending time with my family - my wife, Leila, and our two-year-old daughter, Fia. We like to go on adventures of all kinds - road trips, camping trips, and local adventures to the plethora of parks around us. When I get some alone time, you can find me plugging away in our garden, going on runs, or climbing rocks.

Afternoon Teachers

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Encian Pastel (he/him, they/them)

PM Teacher & Co-Director ◆ Joined 2013

I ground my teaching in anti-bias education principles, a vision toward collective liberation, and a deep trust in play and creativity as methods of discovery and learning. I seek to listen attentively to children in their many modes of communication and expression, and to teach from a place of both love and respect.

I hold a BA in Visual Anthropology and Cultural Studies from Boston University and completed my early childhood education units at Contra Costa Community College, Merritt College, and Cerro Coso Community College. (Yes that’s another CCC and also a CCCC!) I fell into early childhood education sideways, as many of us do, in my late 20s. I was working for a nonprofit social justice organization and volunteering with Bay Area Childcare Collective (BACC), a collective of volunteers working to grow intergenerational communities of care and resilience in the Bay Area by providing free childcare to racial and economic justice groups (we are always looking for new members!).

I discovered that the joys and challenges of working with children made me feel more alive than I’ve felt in any other workplace, and I embarked on a journey to become the best preschool teacher I can be. I joined the CCC community in the spring of 2013 as a guest teacher, then became an afternoon teacher in the fall of 2013 and co-director of the afternoon program (with Laura McCaul) in 2020. I joined the team that would become Gender Justice in Early Childhood in 2015, co-authoring Supporting Gender Diversity in Early Childhood Classrooms: A Practical Guide (Jessica Kingsley, 2019). I continue to facilitate early childhood-centered gender liberation trainings with the Kaleidoscope network. From 2019-2022 I served a term as a facilitator for the Diversity and Equity Education for Adults interest forum of NAEYC, the National Association for the Education of Young Children. In 2018, I co-produced the children’s music EP Courage to Feel with Ri Molnár, and I’m currently working on several children’s books.
I want to acknowledge and celebrate a lineage of amazing early childhood educators and activists! I claim many mentors, including Auden Smith, former director of the afternoon program of CCC; Julie Olsen Edwards; Julie Nicholson; Barb O’Neill; the current teaching staff at CCC and of course every child. I’d like to thank these teachers and pay it forward by bringing joy and curiosity to each new interaction.
Outside of work, you can find me making pottery with my sweetie, practicing Aikido, crafting, writing, marching, coordinating childcare, playing and inventing games, storytelling and spending time with friends and family.

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Laura McCaul (she/her)

PM Teacher & Co-Director ◆ Joined 2020

I initially wanted to work with children because it seemed like an effective way to create positive change in the world. I thought about all the children who grow up with a lack of kindness and nurturing from the adults around them and I knew that being kind and nurturing would be the qualities I would value over all else as a teacher. I started taking child development classes at Merritt college in my mid 20’s after deciding against a career in journalism (thank goodness!) and quickly found gigs as a substitute teacher, even though I had no experience. Despite my cluelessness, I found the work to be fun, rewarding, and challenging in the best way. By luck, one of the first schools I found to sub at was CCC.

For the next seven years I would continue to substitute teach at various schools, partly because I liked the variety and freedom, but also because none of the other schools looking for full time staff met my expectations for where I would want to be long-term.

Due to great teacher retention, CCC was almost never hiring! I did know that I never wanted to leave CCC. The quality of care and staff and community camaraderie was incredibly inspiring and I knew this place was special. I feel very fortunate to have stepped into my current role (in 2020) as Teacher/Director alongside one of the greats (Teacher Encian.)
As a teacher, I love getting to know each child and figuring out their quirks, interests, and how to best support them. The spontaneous conversations that take place during snack or at group time are my favorite. Children often say the wisest and funniest things!
Activity wise, I often include children in my love for tending the vegetable garden. I like to incorporate children in the entire process of planting, tending, harvesting, cooking and eating! I also enjoy music and dance parties, making up stories, making art, playing with sensory materials, constructing things, and all the other fun and creative activities that preschoolers get up to.
I live in a cooperative house in Berkeley and I like gardening, swimming, horticulture, water coloring, and singing karaoke.

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Allie Martin Pollak (she/her)

PM Teacher ◆ Joined 2021

Hello!I’ve been providing childcare since I was a kid myself, first babysitting, then in summer camps and afterschool programs. I dropped out of college my first time around and spent a year in Chile working and learning Spanish on small organic farms. After coming back to the US I went back to school in 2018 & completed my preschool teaching certificate at Oakland’s Merritt College, shortly after starting my first gig as a full time teacher with Neptune Nature School, a Forest Preschool in Alameda. While facilitating there I completed a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies at the California Institute for Integral Studies, with an independent focus on Early Childhood Education.

I love the way scholar & activist bell hooks describes education ”as the practice of freedom.” Though her book of the same name isn’t focused on early childhood, I find this framing to be a succinct and inspiring vision of what our institutions of learning can foster.

At CCC I see our community practicing a broad and deep kind of freedom, one which is also a practice of care, of inquiry, and of collaboration. In CCC’s emphasis on play-based, child-directed, anti-bias learning, as well as the institutional work being done to address our legacies of bias, I see a kinder, more vibrant world being lovingly grown here every day.
I have learned so much from my incredible co-teachers as well as all the amazing children and participating adults who make this school what it is. I love playing music and dancing, co-creating stories and games, talking about everything under the sun (& beyond it), & tuning in to all the life present & passed on this land which has held CCC for almost 100 years.
When I'm not at CCC you can find me with my loved ones, cooking vegetables, playing basketball and the bass (though not at the same time), reading poetry and speculative fiction, spending time with the land and our plant and animal neighbors, and taking collective action towards a healed and liberated world.

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Lilian Manahl-Imaizumi (she/her, they/them)

PM Teacher ◆ Joined 2021

Hi! I grew up in Berkeley (though born in Los Angeles) and spent my childhood split between the two. Most of my social life, and all of my schooling was here in Berkeley, attending K-12 through BUSD (Thousand Oaks, King, Berkeley High). Into my 20’s I studied technical theatre and design, music with a specialization in voice, japanese language, and most lately Early Childhood Education! I started officially pursuing ECE after years of simultaneously working in theaters around the bay area and caring for many kids and their families through babysitting and nannying—many of whom I've now seen grow up themselves!

I started at CCC as a Guest Teacher in 2021 after transferring from a Japanese Bilingual Preschool where I first started teaching. I wanted a place a little closer to home that also highlighted my passions and values in a community I already knew, and had my eyes on from the CCC alumni kids I cared for from years prior.

I credit a few CCC parents and staff for guiding me in the right direction on how and where to find classes and start in my ECE journey so truly this community has guided me from the beginning!
Teaching is so captivating to me because I find a place of home in it—I love sharing the possibilities of compassion and inclusivity through the magic that childhood is, and thrive in a community where children and adults alike work together to explore themselves. I also love sharing the wonders of having multiple backgrounds as my identity is layers of different mixes, a prominent layer being first-gen (nisei) bicultural/biracial. I am excited to work at a school where I can be the person I wish I’d had in my life as a young child—and bring my whole self to the classroom, even when my whole self feels like a messy process of discovery!
When I’m at home I take pride in my GIANT bin dedicated to my love for crafting! You’ll find paper of many textures and sizes, stationary, fabric, yarn, resin, dried flowers, paint, tools, extra instax film, half done projects—anything you'd want in a craft bin! I find warmth in sharing my connection to sentimentality with my friends, family, and CCC through creation and am often saving little treasures to put in my paper planner or scrapbooks. Every day brings something new, and I’m eager to see what surprise is next! Cheers to all the memories and experiences yet to come ❤︎

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Niki Kondo

PM Teacher ◆ Joined 2025

I was born in Mexico and moved to Berkeley when I was 10 years old. I have always found great joy in creating art, especially drawing. My love for art has always guided my work with children, and I find deep fulfillment in sharing that passion in ways that inspire curiosity, self-expression, and confidence. In my years as an early childhood educator, I’ve witnessed how art can spark meaningful conversations, support social-emotional growth, and strengthen children’s sense of belonging.

Beyond my experience in the classroom, I have had the opportunity to work with the Centre for Girls’ Education, an organization located in Nigeria whose mission is to encourage and enable girls and young women to pursue education. I worked with a writer to illustrate educational short graphic novels that focused on reproductive health and financial independence for women.

I was especially honored to travel to Nigeria and work in person with the Centre, and collaborated with teen girls and young women to write and illustrate short graphic novels that addressed local issues that impacted girls, young women, and their families and communities. This experience deepened my understanding of how storytelling and art can empower disadvantaged and marginalized communities, and even create bridges across cultures. I had a great time working with and getting to know the girls and young women, and was really moved by seeing them express themselves, and get excited about an idea. This experience had a big positive impact on my teaching experience, and continues to inspire my teaching practice.

Guest Teachers