Deidre McRae
Alameda,CA
Summary
Dedicated preschool teacher with expertise in classroom management, child development, and lesson planning. Committed to fostering engaging learning environments and promoting strong parent-teacher communication.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Preschool Teacher
Small Size Big Minds
03.2023 - 02.2026
- Assisted in the care, education and development of infants to transitional kindergarten-age students.
- Developed engaging lesson plans fostering creativity and critical thinking among preschoolers and toddlers.
- Supported staff by managing breaks, ensuring appropriate children to teacher ratios, and promoting a safe environment.
- Evaluated, mentored and supervised both new and current staff.
Nanny
Ben Padget
04.2019 - 03.2023
- Developed and implemented engaging play-based and Montessori curriculum for child from infancy to 3 years of age.
- Ensured child's well being and safety through structured routines, neutering environments, and creating healthy meals/snacks.
- Organized diverse activities such as hiking and museum visits, exploring Alameda shoreline and Crab Cove, and engaging in community walks.
Lead Afterschool Elementary Teacher
Fountainhead Montessori
11.2018 - 04.2019
- Developed and implemented engaging activities, crafts, with topics focusing on math and science for elementary students, enhancing their creativity, learning, and real world reasoning.
- Trained and mentored new afterschool teachers, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment, answering questions regarding timesheets/emergency number binders, and providing support anywhere else needed.
- Introduced organizational and time management skills to the older students, helping them to take on leadership roles to move the class from one activity to the next.
- Provided cooking curriculum, with many recipes being gluten and dairy free, while at the same time delicious and nutritious. Some recipes included making latkes, banana bread, gluten free veggie pizza (from scratch), and many more.
Assistant Director
Little Flowers Montessori
05.2017 - 08.2018
- Led curriculum development initiatives to enhance educational programs and outcomes for children.
- Supervised daily operations, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and best practices.
- Mentored staff to foster professional growth and improve teaching methodologies within the team.
- Assisted front desk operations with answering phone, emails, in-person questions, using fax and scanner scanner to transmit important staffing documentation, and learned and used ProCare software to onboarding new parents and staff (such as fingerprinting, billing, and keep up-to-date teacher to student ratios).
- Provided center tours for prospective parents , answered questions regarding day-to-day operations, how staff guides students regarding conflicts, how illness were handled, and the differences between fulltime and part-time enrollment.
- Used Excel for waitlist as our ATS for potential new families, along with notes regarding what classroom they were touring for, when they had toured, how many times, how many children were being considered for enrollment and phone numbers to call when a spot became available.
- Helped with prep work regarding various events, such as Mother's Day Tea, Father's Day Donuts, Halloween, Winter Recital and Graduation. Prepped food being used as hors d'oeuvres and appetizers and prepped drinks such as water and lemonade.
Toddler Teacher
UCSF Mission Bay Bright Horizons
02.2017 - 04.2017
- Supported a classroom of 16 children by ensuring classroom schedule was followed, greeting parenting at both drop-off and pick-up, and helping with soothing children during hard separations.
- Provided parents with updates by creating and updating journal entries for the parent-board outside the classroom and on Google Group for the classroom.
Assistant Director
Dublin KinderCare
07.2015 - 04.2016
- Answered incoming phone calls, answered questions and concerns regarding center policy (pick up, late fees, illness, etc.), helped with billing inquiries, updated and organized children's files, and promoted a welcoming environment for all families.
- Learned and used Family Builder Software; this business management software was used to provided tracking on waitlisted families, used to track and organize current family data (such as emergency contacts, phone numbers, email addresses and updated tuition payments), provide data on student attendance and view classroom ratio.
- Opened and closed center, did walkthrough to ensure center was clean, doors and windows were locked and all staff and children had gone home.
- Supported center with various events and holidays by decorating, providing additional staff support in classrooms (such as helping children into Halloween costumes) and providing information regarding the event (such as where and when Winter Recital would take place).
- Trained new staff with understanding of center policies, how KInderCare curriculum was to be taught to students, how to provide and promote appropriate limit setting, and show where various station inside the center building were located (laundry room, bathrooms for staff, center computers, printers).
Teacher
Dublin KinderCare
06.2014 - 04.2016
- Used Microsoft Word to write and edit daily journals, so parents were aware of the day's events and wrote daily communications to every parent regarding how their child's day went (what they ate, what they learned that day, how to engage with the lesson at home, and how they slept at naptime).
- Lead a group of 24 students though the day's schedule, kept attendance as students transitioned throughout the day (centered offered additional activities where the students would be taken outside of the classroom).
- Stepped into other teaching roles as needed: supported infant, toddler and preschool classrooms with breaks or filling in when there would be call-outs
Education
Continuing Units: Child Development - Child Development
Merritt College
Oakland, CANo Degree -
Mills College
Oakland, CABachelor of Arts - Political Science in International Relations
Mills College
Oakland, CA05-2007
Skills
- Classroom management
- Classroom organization
- Child development
- Positive reinforcement
- Time Management
- Punctual
- Clerical Support
- Parent-teacher communication
Timeline
Preschool Teacher
Small Size Big Minds
03.2023 - 02.2026
Nanny
Ben Padget
04.2019 - 03.2023
Lead Afterschool Elementary Teacher
Fountainhead Montessori
11.2018 - 04.2019
Assistant Director
Little Flowers Montessori
05.2017 - 08.2018
Toddler Teacher
UCSF Mission Bay Bright Horizons
02.2017 - 04.2017
Assistant Director
Dublin KinderCare
07.2015 - 04.2016
Teacher
Dublin KinderCare
06.2014 - 04.2016
Continuing Units: Child Development - Child Development
Merritt College
No Degree -
Mills College
Bachelor of Arts - Political Science in International Relations
Mills College