Josephine Lee has been an Early Childhood Educator for 22 years. She graduated from Mills College in 1994 with an MA in Early Childhood Education with an emphasis in Child Life. Josephine was a Head Teacher at the Mills College Laboratory School for 12 years. For the following 9 years Josephine held the position of adjunct faculty at the Mills College School of Education and over saw the student teacher program at the Mills College Children’s School. Currently she is consulting for Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Contra Costa County and coaching with the P-3 Initiative in Marin County. In addition Josephine has taught classes at Community College level and consulted for and worked with the Sausalito Discovery Museum to develop curriculum and train early childhood educators in early science learning.

Recent Professional Development:

Practice Based Coaching (WestEd, Teaching Pyramid)

Coach Seminar with Julie Olsen Edwards on Anti-Bias in Early Care and Education

CA CSEFEL Teaching Pyramid Modules and Leadership Team since 2013.

Coach Seminar with Lisa Shaanan Kaplan, MS OTR/L TMHP 

Tanya Taylor is the ECE Project Coordinator at MCOE, Qualified ECE Professional Growth Advisor, and has been involved in Early Childhood Education from a very young age. One of her earliest memories was riding in the station wagon (without a seatbelt!) to neighboring farms to pick up migrant worker’s children and bus them to the local Head Start program with her mother, who also volunteered in the classroom. This was also her first exposure/immersion in a Spanish speaking community and where she attributes the beginning of her journey to fluency in Spanish. Tanya attended Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington where she earned her BA in Education with a minor in Spanish. She later attended Pacific Oaks College where she earned her MA in Human Development with Specializations in Early Childhood Education and Bicultural Development.

Tanya holds a California Child Development Program Director Permit and has worked at all levels in early care and education, as well as with infants, toddlers and preschoolers. She has been working in the Marin ECE community since 1995, and has taught preschool in a Title 22 settings, Head Start and a cooperative preschool. In addition to teaching, she worked as a Family Advocate in Head Start, Community Liaison for Olive Elementary School, and held multiple roles as Advocate/Home Visitor, Program Assistant and Interim Director at Bahia Vista Even Start. More recently, she worked for NUSD as the Program Coordinator for Early Intervention. She has written grants for Even Start, State Preschools, QRIS, CA First 5 IMPACT, Workforce Pathways and Early Education Teacher Development; and has provided support to staff in these programs.

Tanya grew up in the small community of Camarillo in Southern California. She comes from a blended and diverse family; and is the oldest of six children, most who now live in the Bay Area. She is the single mother of two children, ages 16 and 22 and resides in Marin County. In her spare time, Tanya is very involved in Marin County 4-H with her children, loves to hike, spend time at the beach, bake and hand quilts.

Recent Professional Development:

Optimistic Leaders: Anti-Bias Learning Network

Practice Based Coaching (WestEd, Teaching Pyramid)

Coach Seminar with Julie Olsen Edwards on Anti-Bias in Early Care and Education

CA CSEFEL Teaching Pyramid Modules and Leadership Team since 2013. 

Inclusion Facilitator Training (WestEd)

Leadership for Racial Equity, LEADS

Coach Seminar with Lisa Shaanan Kaplan, MS OTR/L TMHP

Isobel Shaw has been a strong supporter of quality early childhood care and education since her first experience in a preschool classroom. Isobel graduated from University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in Sociology, enamored by the diversity of the subject matter and especially drawn to aspects regarding family and education. Upon graduation, Isobel worked for the City of San Rafael Community Services Childcare Division in their school-age and preschool programs and quickly fell in love with the magical preschool world. She earnestly and immediately went back to school at College of Marin to obtain her ECE units and Program Director Permit and entered into a full-time teaching position at CSPP Pickleweed Preschool in San Rafael. It was not long before she became Director of that program. She led her teaching team in their continued professional development through their participation with the QRIS and the P-3 Initiative, and saw first-hand the impact of collaborative quality improvement opportunities on the success and growth of her program and teachers.

Along the way, Isobel realized her passion as an advocate for ECE professional development and improving quality care, and a determination to be a mentor for programs on their own professional journey. With this, she endeavored to become a certified Coach with an emphasis on the Teaching Pyramid model—a framework she had been practicing and promoting in her preschool program for five years. Her passion has led her to her current position as Assistant Project Supervisor with the MCOE Early Childhood Education Department, where she hopes to continue her growth and love of learning, and instill that same devotion in other educators.

Recent Professional Development

Practice Based Coaching (WestEd, Teaching Pyramid)

CA CSEFEL Teaching Pyramid Modules and Leadership Team since 2013. 

Coach Seminar with Lisa Shaanan Kaplan, MS OTR/L TMHP

María Magdalena Velarde

In 2013 I started working in the position of an Early Childhood Educator for the San Rafael City School District's and their State Preschool Program. During this time I was a participant in the CARES plus, AB212 and ECE QI programs at Marin County Office of Education. 

In 2015-2016, I began my path-working through the Marin Quality Counts, leading to the five-star rating matrix, the highest level of quality that continues to be maintained to this date.  

I am a certified SEAL teacher (Sobrato Early Academic Language). A research-based language-rich early education through a third-grade model designed to build the capacity of educators to powerfully develop the language and literacy skills of young English Learner children. At the same time, I have been able to grow as an individual but also as a professional, dedicating plenty of hours to professional development, which include CLASS, Project Based Approach, The Outdoor Classroom, and currently The Teaching Pyramid.  

I was born and raised in Guadalajara, México, I am bilingual Spanish-English. Understanding the importance of collaborating with all members of the school community and our families who are primary dual language learners, has been my personal goal. I have inclusive practices and pride myself in having an anti-bias approach; supporting all children where they are and celebrating each of their success. The focus of my thesis was on the proctective factors for resilience, allowing me to create practices that include the characteristics of resilience and supportive systems for the families and the child.

I enjoy my free time with my husband of 30+ years, and my three wonderful grown sons and my two amazing daughter's in-laws…. and cherish every moment and long walks with my three dogs. 

Recent Professional Development

Practice Based Coaching Preschool (WestEd, Teaching Pyramid)

Practice Based Coaching Infants/Toddler and Family Childcare Homes (WestEd, Teaching Pyramid)

The Art of Coaching, Elena Aguilar 

Coach Seminar with Lisa Shaanan Kaplan, MS OTR/L TMHP