Rachel Bagnani
ConnectEd Specialist
Growing up I was always the person asked to work with children, babysit children, lead play groups, and teach summer school. Working with children and families has always been my passion, which is why it was an easy decision to make it my career.
Guided by that passion, I immediately declared my major in college and worked many jobs focusing on children. I was a Program Specialist at the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose, a teacher’s assistant at SJSU Child Development Center, a Pre-K/K teacher, and a toddler teacher at SFSU Children’s Center. I studied Child and Adolescent Development in college and after having my daughter in 2004, I was only one year away from graduating with my BA degree. As I persevered through my final year, I became more determined to continue my education and decided to work towards a MA degree in Early Childhood Education. I found myself pregnant with my second child as I was writing my thesis. Although the journey was long and challenging, I was proud to receive my MA degree one month before giving birth to my son.
In 2007, I was fortunate to be a part of the educator team that designed the learning environments and curriculum for Google Children’s Center at The Woods. It was there that creating environments for children became a passion of mine. Working with a small group of children in the primary care environment allowed me to recognize and truly understand and appreciate that each child has his/her own unique strengths. After working at Google for seven years, I moved on to teach kindergarten at a gifted school in the Bay Area. At that school, my new passion became designing project-based curriculum that focused on differentiating for the specific needs of each of the gifted learners in my classroom.
I am now teaching kindergarten at another gifted school in the Bay Area. As a lifelong learner, I seek out opportunities to grow and better support my own children and classroom students. I took classes to become a Slingerland educator after my son was diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia. Participating in the Responsive Classroom training has reinforced my conviction that it is our job to give children the tools to successfully navigate the challenges they may encounter in any environment.
Making Ikebana arrangements brings me a sense of calm and creating stained glass art pieces for my friends and family brings me joy.