michelle

Michelle San Agustin fuses her classic AMI Montessori training with her master's in Art Education. Her personal mantra is "To each his own in his own time." Her own journey to arrive at this space between Montessori and Art Education includes enlisting in the U.S. Air Force as an air traffic controller, venturing solo to various countries, curating an art gallery, guiding inner city youths as an art mentor, studying Fine Arts at USC where she graduated cum laude as a Discovery Scholar, establishing her own photography business, leading classrooms as a head teacher focused on gently guiding children and educating families of the Montessori philosophy, and steadily being on the President's List during her Graduate School studies in Art Education.

Constantly finding herself in positions that lend themselves to creating order out of chaos, it is within this space that she finds herself yet again. Jumping into the world of Montessori in 2010 (AMI-USA), Little Eden slowly began taking shape as she sought ways to include art into her daily life and classrooms as a lead teacher working with toddler and primary aged children.

Her vision became more clear after each passing year and finally materialized while earning her Masters in Art Education. Designing a program that seamlessly blends art education into the Montessori Method, Michelle started Little Eden in her own home. Little Eden is named after Michelle's mother because she hopes that the amount of unconditional love and endless compassion that a parent holds for their child is translated in what Michelle offers here at Little Eden.

Natty

Natty is originally from Thailand and she's currently enrolled in a Montessori teacher training program. She received her BFA in Media Arts from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi in Thailand. She was an art tutor during college when she realized how happy she was to teach children. The children filled her with energy and inspired her.

Her passion for working with children continued as she moved to the US as an au pair and a nanny. The children helped her to open her mind and learn something new. She says, "I love when kids ask me ‘why’ questions. It challenges me to find a good answer or explanation and I really enjoy that."

Her aim is to use her Montessori teacher training, her art skills, and also use her experiences to help the kids develop their imagination to enjoy and learn about life and other subjects in a creative way. In addition to all of this, she also enjoys continuing to practice her favorite creative hobbies of drawing and playing the ukulele.

Téa

Téa Elani Alexander is in her third year as a full time teacher and has 7 years of experience working with children. She started as a coach for the Jumpin Gymsters recreational program working with preschools in Oakland and San Francisco, including Little Eden. She became a full-time teacher at Little Eden in 2020. Téa graduated from San Francisco State University, where she studied communications and theater. Téa’s goal at Little Eden is to help expand the children’s creativity through art, cooking, music, and imagination. Outside of school, Ms. Téa is either creating music or designing fun outfits and events, just like at school!