Michelle Ramirez

“Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace” – Confucius

Michelle has a passion for serving children and their families. She has been working in the field of early childhood education since 2005 and has experience with a variety of curricula and demographic groups. She began volunteer work with the children in her church during her teen years and has not left her passion since. Little Owl has been her “work home” since 2010 when she was hired on as a classroom teacher. She joined the administrative team in 2018 when she accepted the program coordinator role. Michelle holds two A.A. degrees from Cerritos College; one in General Studies and the other in Child Development. She also received a B. S. degree in Child Development from the University of La Verne in 2010. In 2014, Michelle earned her M.A. in Early Childhood Education from California State University, Long Beach.

Aside from her role at Little Owl, Michelle is part of the adjunct faculty team in the child development department at Cerritos College. She also participates in the Long Beach Early Childhood Education Committee which is a non-profit organization made up of local educators, advocates, and caregivers of children in their early childhood years. Additionally, Michelle wears her Little Owl administrator “hat” as part of the Cerritos College Child Development Advisory Board.

Upon being hired as a Little Owl educator, Michelle stated this disposition in her teaching philosophy; ” I believe that children are capable, confident, and unique individuals. The job of the child is to play, discover, and research the world around them. Because of the differing learning styles of children, I must take the challenge of finding multiple ways and multiple mediums that will help capture the many languages that speak to each individual. My role in facilitating the work of children is to observe children’s interest and develop ways to challenge and construct new ways of learning and exploring with the children. I am a source of knowledge, but also a co-researcher alongside the children.” In her role as program coordinator this statement still rings true, but now it is in the work that she does with the Little Owl teaching staff and community-at-large.

Outside of school, Michelle enjoys spending time with her friends and family. Her hobbies includes attempts at gardening, watching reruns of her favorite shows such as Golden Girls and I Love Lucy, and attending her favorite sporting events with her husband.