-~- OUR STAFF -~-

PATRICIA HUNTER MCGRATH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / ATELIERISTA

Patricia Hunter McGrath is the Executive Director/Atelierista of Branches Atelier in Culver City, California. Founded in 2007, the preschool is an innovative early childhood program inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. Branches currently serves 170 families in its preschool, parent-infant, and parent- toddler programs.

After working as a teacher for seven years at the Growing Place in Santa Monica, Patricia became the Atelierista at Evergreen Community School where over the following years, she developed a unique approach to children's symbolic languages. Using many mediums such as clay, wire, and paint, the children enter into a relationship with the materials in order to express, clarify and modify their ideas and theories.

In 2005, Patricia left Santa Monica for Perth, Australia, to develop the Atelierista role at Bold Park Community School. While there for two years, she also taught the Reggio Emilia Class at Murdoch University as she had previously taught at Santa Monica College.

Deeply inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to education, Patricia is a founding member of the West Coast Collaborative. This coalition of preschools work closely together to share resources, training, professional development, and research on how to apply Reggio inspired practices into early childhood settings. Through this work, the West Coast Collaborative continues to be "in dialogue" with the schools of Reggio Emilia through an ongoing collaboration with pedagogista, Tiziana Filippini.

With more than thirty years of experience in Early Childhood Education and a Master’s degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California, Patricia is still a passionate artist at heart. She is a contributing author of the books In the Spirit of the Atelier and Insights and Inspiration from Reggio Emilia, both published by Davis Press. She presents workshops and seminars on a wide range of topics. She speaks at conferences and consults throughout the United States and abroad, including China, Australia, Canada, and Scotland. She has visited Reggio Emilia, Italy, eight times.

BECKY ZLOTOFF – Online parenting

Becky Zlotoff graduated cum laude from St John’s College, Annapolis Maryland, after receiving a unique liberal arts education.
She raised three sons and a daughter in Santa Monica and now enjoys spending time with her three granddaughters. After being a very involved parent in the Santa Monica Public Schools, she got her early childhood units from Santa Monica College.

Becky created and has taught a preschool program at Santa Monica Synagogue for more than twenty-five years. She has been a California Mentor for nine years, working in the classroom with college students, supporting the practical application of good early childhood practices.
For twelve years, she was a teacher at First Presbyterian Nursery School. In addition to attending many workshops about the Reggio Approach in the United States, she has been on two learning tours to Reggio Emilia, Italy. Becky has presented her work at many local workshops and at NAEYC. With Mary Hartzell and Ami Cohen, she co-authored the chapter “Parents As Partners” in Next Steps Toward Teaching The Reggio Way. 

CHRISTINA BIANCHI - pedagogista / NATURALIST

Born in Boston, MA Christina Bianchi has been involved with education since her early teens. She took her first position as a camp counselor at Holliston Elementary Camp, an environmentally themed day camp, in Holliston, MA at the age of thirteen. There she instructed and eventually created curricula in arts, ecology, and woodworking. She went on to study fine art and public works at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, and at Emerson College. Christina began her exploration into the Reggio Emilia philosophy at the Cididad Jardim School, in SP, Brazil in an infant immersion program, working to help recently immigrated children adjust to cultural and environmental changes. Upon returning to the US, she continued serving children while working with at-risk students transferring from schools that had lost their funding due to the NCLB act. Later, as a State-Accredited instructor for early education and elementary school, Christina tutored students with learning disabilities such as ADD, mild autism, ADHD, and visual and auditory processing disorders.

Most recently Christina worked as the Program Director for The Childrens Nature Institute bringing her passions for teaching, children and promoting environmental literacy to the agency. In addition to overseeing both the design and implementation of all new education programs and curricula; Christina also worked with Development staff on grants related to program development, managed a staff of Environmental Educators and coordinated and implemented volunteer training.

FRANCESCA Schifrin - Teacher / Parent Facillitator

Franceska is a lifelong painter, student of natural sciences, education and social justice. After studying at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, her international career took her to multiple places where she also worked with children and their families – refugee camps in Bosnia during the wars, orphanages in Haiti, Lakota reservations in South Dakota and Cuban villages, to name but a few. 

Franceska has always been dedicated to children, during her time in the East Village of NYC she made sure she had a shelf of early reader books for the local children who treated her apartment like an after school center. During the Balkan wars, she used her knowledge of visual arts and human compassion to share therapeutic art with the children in refugee camps. Deeply involved with Haiti since 1985, she has spent years working there with children in a multitude of ways. 

Franceska is the mother of 2 children and has a personal passion for helping multi-race families and their children navigate their paths. Her experiences with adoption have made her a constant student of the subject, studying family dynamics and child development from all angles.

Her introduction to Reggio Emilia began with her 17-year-old son's preschool in Cambridge, MA. She chose the school because it fit so well her concepts of care and respect of children. She was raised by educators, artists, and anthropologists. Franceska's formal training in ECE has been at UCLA. She has taught school for over eight years, the past six as a lead teacher and assistant director at aJewish preschool in Venice, California.

Susan McAdams - Teacher

Susan McAdams grew up on the Jersey Shore where she discovered her passion for working with children while lifeguarding, teaching swimming lessons, and coaching a variety of outdoor sports at her beachside summer camp. In her early teens, Susan found her own sport and competed at the state level in the 100-meter high hurdles. She continued hurdling in college where she experienced the honor of competing in the Penn Relays at her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.

As a Psychology major at Penn, Susan once again found herself leading groups of children in a research program that offered cognitive therapy for at risk elementary schoolers. That research study later evolved into the Penn Positive Psychology Center, which has since served thousands of people in the greater Philadelphia area. Upon graduating, she stepped fully into the field of education by working as a K-8 teacher in the inner city of Paterson, New Jersey while earning her M.A. in Education at Montclair State University. This was, perhaps, the most challenging time of Susan’s life as she struggled daily to provide social, emotional, and intellectual support to children in underserved communities. What she learned in Paterson shaped her entire outlook of the world and set the foundation for what would become her life as an educator.

Upon moving to Los Angeles to start a family, Susan first learned about the Reggio approach to early childhood education when she enrolled her eldest daughter at First Presbyterian Nursery School. All three of her daughters progressed through the school over the course of a decade, whereby Susan expanded her role as parent and joined the school’s staff as a teaching assistant. She subsequently earned her ECE credential at Santa Monica College where she honed her skills as educator in a Reggio-inspired institution.

In her free time, Susan appreciates the beauty of her Westside environment. On lovely days (which is most days), one can find her hiking the Santa Monica mountains, frequenting local art galleries, or struggling to navigate her three unruly dogs to the dog park. Susan is a world traveler who seeks new cultural experiences, but nothing competes with her trips home to the Jersey Shore to visit family and friends while feeling the east coast salt air on her skin.

KirSTIN West –  Social Media

Kirstin West was born in Orange County, CA and studied Early Childhood Education at Arizona State University. Kirstin's passion for working with children and families began in high school after enrolling in her first Child Development class and later went on to work for Brea Olinda Unified School District for 6 years while being involved with their child care and preschool programs. Kirstin has also gained experience working with children and families through 7 years of volunteering for Pop Warner, a non-profit youth sports organization. Apart from college classes, this is Kirstin's first experience working in a Reggio-inspired educational setting and she is enthusiastic and eager to gain first-hand experience in this philosophy.

Outside of Branches, Kirstin enjoys backpacking in the Eastern Sierra Nevadas or local National Parks, trying new recipes at home, and spending time with her cat and dog at home in Marina Del Rey. Kirstin welcomes the new challenges and learning experiences Branches has to offer and looks forward to sharing such experiences with her new Branches community. 

Kaylen Solano / Teacher

Kaylen Solano earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Child Development and Family Studies from California State University, Long Beach. She has always been passionate about working with children. While in high school, she became a student volunteer at Mar Vista Family Center tutoring elementary school children. Upon graduating high school, she attended Santa Monica College and received her Associate Degree in Liberal Studies: Behavioral and Social Science. Through her experience at SMC, she decided to pursue a career in early childhood education. 

Upon transferring to CSULB, she was given the opportunity to be a student volunteer at Edgewater Preschool in Long Beach. After this volunteer work, she entered a teaching position at Children’s Village Preschool of Orange where she worked as one of the infant teachers in the Infant and Toddler program.  

Kaylen is excited to bring her interest in progressive education to Branches. She looks forward to new challenges and to further integrating the Reggio Emilia philosophy into her teaching practice with children in a Reggio inspired center. 

 In her free time, Kaylen surrounds herself with family and friends. Growing up in a large family has instilled a strong sense and value of community. She is dedicated to loving and learning all about the newest member of her family, her English bulldog “Bruce.” Kaylen is delighted and looking forward to becoming a part of the Branches community. 

Nicole Young / Teacher

Nicole Young has spent almost her entire life in Los Angeles, California. She first began working with children as a volunteer at her local elementary school, working both in the office and in the classroom as a tutor. She knew she wanted to continue working with children, so she studied Psychology in UC Santa Barbara, and minored in Education to better develop her skills as a teacher. There she worked in the university children's center as an aide in both infant and toddler settings, and officially began her career as an early childhood educator. After graduation, she furthered her education by taking Early Childhood Education courses at Santa Monica College while working at a local preschool. There she was exposed to older preschool classes, and had the chance to work with children starting at 2 years old, all the way up until they went off to kindergarten at age 5. She took a variety of ECE courses during her time there, and was introduced to the Reggio approach through her studies. Nicole genuinely appreciated the emphasis on relationships between children and the project approach of the Reggio style, and wanted to work more with the philosophy. 

Besides working with children, Nicole is also an animal lover, and enjoys spending time outdoors. She has a cat and a bearded dragon at home that she dotes on, and spends weekends camping or hiking when she has the chance. She also loves working with her hands, and getting messy, so crafts, including knitting and simply clay work, are fond hobbies of hers.

 Nicole is incredibly excited to be at Branches, and looks forward to approaching all challenges with her fellow staff members, the students and the parents. The community has been incredibly welcoming and she hopes to grow with them. With the support of the Branches community she plans to completely dedicate herself to the school and establish herself as a Reggio inspired educator.

Christine Peckinpaugh - Alfaro / Teacher

Christine Peckinpaugh-Alfaro was born and raised in San Pedro, California, growing up with her parents, Luis and Rhodesia and two younger siblings, Adam and Victoria. Naturally, living so close to the ocean she has a love for nature and all that it offers. When she was twenty-one years old she ventured off on her own, moving to Torrance, California and began her career in early childhood education. Christine has spent approximately ten years in early childhood education and has loved every second of it. She graduated from Los Angeles Harbor College in 2016 with an Associates Degree in Behavioral Health. Her passion for early education has driven her to go back to school and she is currently working on obtaining a Bachelors Degree in Behavioral Health, with an emphasis in childhood and adolescence disorders. She has always wanted to give back and help growing minds thrive. She feels like she can finally obtain this goal by being a part of Branches. 

 In her free time, Christine enjoys spending time with her two cats Jade and Nole in their current home located in Lawndale, California. She loves to view the world and others through the art form of photography. Christine is looking forward to her new adventures with the Branches community and learning more about the 100 Languages of the Reggio approach.

KAREN Cahoon – Parent / TODDLER PROGRAM PARENT EDUCATOR

Karen attended Brigham Young University where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology, with minors in Psychology and Child Development Family Relations.  She then went on to receive her Masters in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University (2003-2005).  For the past ten years she has been working as a Psychotherapist intern at Miracle Mile Community Practice and in Private Practice counseling children, families, teens, couples, and adults.  For the past eight years she has been leading Parent/Toddler groups at Branches Atelier and the Early Years School.

Prior to attending Antioch, Karen worked as a preschool teacher at Evergreen Community School (1997-2003), Stephen S. Wise Temple (1990-1997), and Backyard Preschool (1987-1990).  From 1990-1995 Karen was also a Parent Educator at Stephen S. Wise Temple.  She has attended Reggio Emilia twice. 

Elysia Ouyang / Teacher

Born and raised in Irvine, CA, Elysia Ouyang grew up with music throughout her childhood. Elysia comes from a musical family; her father is a violin and viola teacher, her brother plays guitar, her mother plays pipa (琵琶), and her uncle played cello. Elysia held a violin for the first time (1/16th of adult size) at age 3! At age 5, she began formally learning piano and violin, as well as swimming competitively. Aside from these activities, she fondly remembers spending her days reading, scootering through her neighborhood discovering hidden “fairy worlds”, and gleefully concocting mixtures from weeds in her family’s garden. Her parents immigrated to California from Sichuan, China, and Elysia grew up eating spicy food, speaking Mandarin, and traveling to China annually.

Elysia studied psychology at UCLA, where she practiced CBT-based peer counseling, mindfulness techniques, and growth mindset-based teaching strategies. She also discovered a deep love for children and development through the Applied Developmental Psychology (ADP) minor, where she completed a 3 quarter research internship at the UCLA Infant Development Program (IDP) while simultaneously studying contemporary research and theory. At IDP, she was introduced to the RIE and Reggio Emilia philosophies. Learning to apply these approaches not only to her work with children, but also more broadly to herself and other community members, was transformative for Elysia’s personal growth and perspective. While completing her degree, she worked as an Infant Specialist, supporting families of children 0-3 with delays and disabilities through play-based learning and research-informed parent coaching. After graduating with her BA in 2020, she received her CA Master Teacher level certification for ECE. Elysia is passionate about disability and neurodivergence. From 2021-2022, she provided 1-on-1 support for young children as a Therapeutic Companion in several preschool and early elementary classrooms, one of which happened to be at Branches! After spending a year with the Wisteria class and being exposed to the possibilities of Reggio-inspired learning, not to mention the beautiful environment, Elysia felt she had found a wonderful place to put down roots and grow as a teacher, educator, and human being.

Elysia currently lives in Playa del Rey with her husband Joey and their beloved dog Cocoa. In her free time she prioritizes rest but also enjoys photography, crafting (cross-stitching/embroidery and wire art), and going to the beach or pool.

Ashley Elizondo - Teacher

As a California native, growing up on the Central Coast, Ashley Johnson Elizondo has always loved being outside and exploring nature. And as as child of an Elementary School teacher, the classroom was second nature to her. While her mother would have staff meetings, Ashley would conduct her own meetings with the other teacher’s children, making sure that she was the one being the teacher. This relationship and community with the staff of teachers gave Ashley the insight of the wonderful world of teaching.

Throughout her education of employment, caring for children remained a constant. As she studied at California State University at Monterey Bay, focusing on Visual and Public Art, she worked as a camp counselor and was a nanny for her ballet teacher. Still undecided on what career move was next, Ashley began her first Early Childhood Education classes and found the missing link to what sparked her passion to working with children. After moving to Culver City, she worked at a play based Preschool before starting her family. Once her daughter Ruby was beginning Kindergarten, Ashley went back to a new Preschool, that inspired her even more. This is also where her love for gardening really started to grow. Due to the closure of her daughter’s school, Early Childhood Education was put on pause. Ashley and her daughter Ruby navigated on-line learning, gardening, walks to the park and lots of sand castles at the beach.

Ashley is very excited to be back at a preschool and more importantly, at Branches. She had studied Reggio but had never had the opportunity to be a part of the beautiful community that values ongoing education and continual growth.

When Ashley is not at Branches, she enjoys gardening, dancing, riding her bike to the beach and spending time with her family.

Jade Jamieson - Teacher

Jade grew up in Huntington Harbour with a family full of sailors sailing in between Catalina and the Long Beach Harbor. The family’s sailboat is called Flower of Scotland and she took to the wheel at a young age and became one of the Skippers. The ocean is one of her true loves and she is so grateful to have traveled by sailboat for weeks at a time. On all of her travels she would find other young children to connect with, babysit, and care for. This would give the other parents an opportunity to go on land and stock up for the next trip. She became the babysitter on the high seas. Her love of sailing led her to small boat competitive racing all over Southern California.

Her interest in being in nature continued on land in the back country of California while backpacking with others. Hiking trails, camping and cooking under the stars in all kinds of weather makes her more curious about the natural world around her. These experiences inspire her to want to travel to the National Parks throughout the US.

While studying at UC Irvine she started working as a nanny and she continued to foster this interest in caregiving. She began to work with infants and toddlers and discovered a world of respectful caregiving. As she became more experienced working with many families she became more curious about preschool teaching. She found Santa Monica College and fell in love with the instructors and the early childhood curriculum. She was introduced to the Reggio Emilia Approach, Resources for Infant educators, and the Pikler approach during her course work. This overwhelming feeling that she found her home in these philosophies gave her a strong direction.

She has used her love of nature on the ocean to teach young children sailing and also has taken groups of children into the forest to hike and learn about the natural environment. She loves to witness children fall in love with nature just as much as she has.

In her free time she practices yoga in her living room, dances under the moon, enjoys the quiet of meditation, and is busy dreaming about her next camping trip.

Jade admires the history of Reggio-Emilia and how this pedagogy is available throughout the world. She respects the educators that bring RIE, Pikler, and Reggio-Emilia approaches to other educators so she can be a part of it, continue to teach with others, and be a part of the dialogue.

Lisa Davidowitz - Yoga Instructor

Nancy Jane “NJ” Burgos - Office Manager

Born and raised on the East Coast, studying Marketing at Montclair State University, NJ moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2020 to pursue her career in fitness. In the fitness world, NJ used her knowledge and skill to educate other fitness professionals across the field on how to create connections, work with diverse clientele/staff, and grow their communities. As the oldest of 4 and youngest of 7 siblings, creating, organizing, and establishing harmony through connection is ingrained in her being. NJ has spent most of her career in what she calls the field of “growth”- no matter the industry NJ believes that her purpose (both personally and professionally) is to assist in helping people grow into the best versions of themselves. A cultivator of community, NJ has spent the last six years building communities throughout the fitness industry on both coasts and is thrilled to bring that same passion to the Branches Family.

NJ lives in North Hollywood and is a certified Reiki Practitioner. She enjoys spending her weekends working with her personal clients, spending time with her dog Miko, writing on her blog, and exploring her new home here in Los Angeles.

JIM MCGRATH – FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR / PERCUSSIONIST

Jim has been drumming since he was seven years old. He has been a professional musician for thirty five years. Prior to starting the preschool with Patricia, he recorded and performed with a wide variety of bands as well as recording for TV and film soundtracks. He also started a record label Talking Drum Records and he currently has 6 releases available.

Jim utilizes drums and percussion instruments from all over the world as well as the many drums and instruments that he creates and makes himself. His compositions draw from the diverse cultures of Africa, Cuba, Asia, Pakistan, India, Australia,Brazil, Ireland, Tibet, South America and North America, creating unique tribal-ambient grooves that truly defines World Beat.

His understanding of the breadth and power of drumming as more than a tool for entertainment has also led him to become an integral part of meditation and healing workshops as well as dance and movement workshops.

He is very passionate about sharing his love and knowledge of percussion by teaching children and adults, and especially he loves working with toddlers and preschoolers at Branches because their excitement is contagious and they enjoy themselves from head to toe. Currently Jim teaches percussion at New Roads Middle school and also is the Musical Director for the Branches parent band The MutherFathers.