Hello! My name is Tara. I am an Infant Teacher here at The Learning Experience. I have worked here for three years. My background in Early Childhood includes sixteen years as an Early Childhood Education Teacher as well as thirty three credit hours of Early Childhood Education classes, which allowed me to get my Early Childhood Education Group Leader Certificate . In the sixteen years of experience as an Early Childhood Education Teacher I have been primarily an infant or toddler teacher. I have been married for 19 years and have two wonderful sons. My eldest son will be a senior this next year and my youngest will start his first year in middle school. I love spending quality family time with my husband and boys. As a family we enjoy camping and fishing. We also enjoy family vacations to places like Yellow Stone and Mount Rushmore. Some of my other hobbies include: hiking,

Hello my name is Kelly Newman! I am originally from California and just moved to Fort Collins to continue my education. I recently graduated college with a Kinesiology degree at CSUMB and hope to become a physical therapist one day. I enjoy spending most of my time being outdoors, hiking, biking, running. I used to surf all the time in California, but now that I live in Colorado I am going to start snowboarding! I also love to read and cook! I have been working with children since I was 14 years old and have a passion for teaching! I love spending time with toddlers because they are so enthusiastic/eager to learn! I have been a nanny for many years and worked at a preschool while I was living in California. I am so excited to start working at The Learning Experience and getting to know all the kids and families here.

Hello! I am Nakani and I will be an aide here at The Learning Experiencing. A few things about myself are that I will be getting my Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in Psychology at UNC. I have worked with children for about three years. During those three years, I was the director for day camps at Burlington Activities Department for two years, a substitute teacher for Wee Blew In Preschool, assistant volleyball coach for Burlington High School. And most recently I worked for VASA Fitness Kidcare, the kids would participate in kidfit, which included activities such as yoga, dancing and obstacle courses to name a few. Creating an uplifting and creative environment to help children development and grow are values that I want to bring to the classroom.

Hello! I am Lauren Lopes and I am a teacher in the Twaddlers room with Ms. Brandy and Ms. Cindy, however, I float around and help out in the other classrooms often. I have been with the Learning Experience for about four months now and have loved my time here! I am currently a junior at CSU studying Early Education and Prevention/Intervention Science so having this experience has been great. I was born in Fort Collins but grew up in the Longmont area. My mom is an artist and my dad is a musician so I have always had a love for creative arts. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, painting, and going to the mountains to hike, camp, or take pictures. I love learning myself and strive to bring a positive and engaging experience for the children every day. It is so encouraging to watch the children develop through the years and set new goals to achieve.

Hello, my name is Cindy and I have been working with toddlers for 9 years. I’m from NM but being a nomad that I am I moved to CO 2 years ago. Initially, I wanted to be a nurse when I was attending school but quickly realized that I do not have the stomach for the intense gore that happens when someone is severely hurt. So naturally like every indecisive college student I sat in my dorm pondered, struggled, and played video games longer than I should have. Finally, I got a part time job as hostess, a customer opened up to me and said she was looking for someone to help care for her son who had a unique ability. Took a chance and told her I would help, best decision I made. From that point on I found out what my calling was and made it my career. I love all the kids that have come across my life and happy I have been fortunate enough to help them grow and learn.

Hi my name is Brandy, when I’m not at work teaching the little ones. I love to be outdoors hiking, camping etc. When I’m not doing that I love hanging out at home with my cat Cupcake, or getting together with my only sibling that lives in Colorado. I do have two older sisters and one brother one sister lives out of state and my brother is in the military out of state.

Hello! I just moved to Colorado from Missouri and I am very excited to be joining the team here at The Learning Experience in Fort Collins. Being a big sister to seven siblings gave me a love for caring for children at a young age. I have experience being a nanny for many families, babysitting for date nights, volunteering in orphanages in Ethiopia, and working in childcare facilities. In addition to working at TLE, I am also completing online classes to become a licensed teacher! I look forward to getting to know your child and having a great year!

I have been at TLE for about 4 1/2 years and I absolutely love working here! The teachers and management is great and we all work together as a team. As a floater I am usually in about five different classrooms a day; so I have the privilege of knowing almost every child in our school! I'm a native Coloradoan but have had the opportunity to live and travel all over the world while my husband was in the US air force. I enjoy reading, crafts, spending time with my family and spoiling my five year old grandson Jaiden!

Hi, my name is Karly Blumberg! I was born and raised in northern Utah, and moved to Colorado in 2018. I have been working in childcare for a little over 4 years. I have an amazing, energetic one year old son who is my world. I am currently attending Western Governors University for my bachelor's of secondary biological science education. Some of my hobbies are reading, swimming, being outdoors, and being a mom.