When LFCSA kindergarten teacher Alyssa Gonzales was in the first grade, her teacher, Ms. Simmons, became her mentor. “She had a great rapport with the children, incredible patience, was nurturing and kind, but also challenged us to strive for more. She made me a better person.”
It would appear, when speaking with Ms. Gonzales, that she has made these principles of teaching her own. Having worked in education for ten years, Ms. Gonzales says of her career, “What continues to drive me is a passion for the rapport that comes naturally with children. You have a rare opportunity to capture whatever is authentic about them and help to develop that.”
Ms. Gonzales grew up in Dana Point, California. She majored in education at Cal State Fullerton, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career, attending graduate school at Mount St. Mary’s. After receiving her credentials, Ms. Gonzales began teaching in the private sector, but over the years, she became interested in working with a different curriculum in a public school setting. She attended local charter school conventions, trying to find an education community that was innovative and original. She once taught at Our Mother of Good Counsel on Hillhurst, and her sister lives in Los Feliz, so she was familiar with the community, and admires how “everyone knows each other.” She answered an advertisement for LFCSA, and found what she was looking for.
“I’m inspired by the diversity,” says Ms. Gonzales, although there were challenges in the beginning. With varying amounts of preschool experience, and some speaking English as a second language, she noticed right away a wide range of skills in the children. Ms. Gonzales focused on getting them all to a standard, through differentiated activities and instruction, through small groups, and through rote counting. “The Charter is written,” she says, “the nuts and bolts . . .the concepts are there. But the implementation is up to the teacher. And we have a wonderful team of teachers and faculty here. The children are amazing, and there’s a great collaboration. It feels like a good family.”
Family is important to Ms. Gonzales. Her parents still live in Dana Point, and she gets together with them once a month for ballroom salsa nights. Her first dance was ballet, and she still counts it as a hobby, but her father, a jazz enthusiast, introduced her to salsa when she was five. “The dance is structured,” says Ms. Gonzales, “But you can also let loose, and be improvisational.” Sounds a little like teaching at LFCSA. Her parents also introduced her to travel, and in the summer of 2001, Ms. Gonzales embarked on a ‘round-the-world trip, starting in Spain and carrying on to Kenya, Tanzania, Dubai, Singapore, and Bali. “Exotic,” she says, “but I’m not one to take the conventional route.” She cites Bali as a favorite place because of its tranquil settings, temples, and fresh spring waterfalls that you can actually drink from. “I like peace,” says Ms. Gonzales. She also enjoys attending concerts in her spare time “from reggae to rock to jazz to world music” and hiking with her dog, Scout.
Ms. Gonzales finds teaching kindergarten important because of the curiosity at this age. “What a teacher really does is welcome the child into their childhood education years, making the transition as smooth as possible,” she says. “It will be interesting now, after this first year, to see how they’ve grown, what they’ve learned, and to continue further.”
