Carey Begbie Westerfield

Director/Teacher

Carey is a mom to 4 kids who all attended Rancho where she learned first-hand the value of parent education and having a village for herself as well as her kids. She served as Vice-President on the board for 4+ years and volunteered weekly and often twice per week while she had multiple children enrolled at the same time. Once all her children were settled in elementary school, she returned to Rancho as a teacher for several years and helped to develop a new program for the oldest students with the former director. She left briefly to lead the TK program at another preschool.

Carey believes in creating one-on-one connections with her students and enjoys teaching kids about their superpowers: character traits like kindness, creativity, resilience, empathy, and gratitude.

She has a B.A. in English and has taken numerous courses in early childhood education. Carey is qualified for both a Master Teacher and Site Supervisor Child Development permit. She has also taken specialized classes in trauma-informed parenting and teaching. And every year, Carey continues to educate herself about best practices and new research in the early childhood education field through books, articles, workshops, and conferences.

Carey is as glad to be back at Rancho as we are to have her. She considers herself very lucky that she gets to spend her days playing and helping to shape young children and supporting their parents.