ABS WEST CAMPUS TEAM

ABS ADMINISTRATION

I am the proud owner of Au Beau Sejour Preschool. I  grew up in France and am fluent in French, Spanish and English. I obtained a degree in « DEUG Sciences Humaines et Sociales» and a “Licence Sciences de L’éducation” at the Université Lille in France where I received my BA in Education. During this time, I also worked with preschool and school age children as a teaching assistant “Educatrice”.

I moved to Southern California where I taught at both a French immersion Preschool “La Petite École” and also French language at Anneliese's School with a California Curriculum. This gave me exposure to teaching the California Curriculum where I used the Social Emotional Learning, Positive Discipline as well as creative art to teach not only the French language, but the culture as well.

I continued on to study at Grossmont College of San Diego and Saddleback College of Irvine (Orange County) where I obtained my Supervision/Administration degree to qualify as our Director.

I married and moved to the Bay Area when I met the owner of Au P’tit Monde, and we worked closely together in opening up the second location of APM French Preschool in E Palo Alto. For 4 years, I was the full time Director at Au P’tit Monde East Palo Alto and worked very closely with the teachers to build a positive a safe environment for our students.

In 2018, I got lucky to find a preschool building for sale in Oakland where I live. In October 23rd 2018, Au Beau Sejour French preschool opened its doors for the first time to welcome our wonderful students and families!

Then in 2020, at the middle of the Covid pandemic, I decided that it was the good time to open a second ABS French Preschool while a lot of preschools were closing their doors. In July 2021, ABS Mountain Campus opened its doors to more students. We are so happy that we can welcome more families and share our French Preschool environment with our students, your children, to give them the key of success!

I am passionate about teaching and loves the nurturing, educational environment that I have worked hard in establishing in our Preschool Au Beau Sejour. And ABS name means simply “A Beautiful Stay”… no need to say more about ABS French Preschool than these words!

Wahiba is originally from Algeria. Growing up in a large family with young siblings led her to become passionate and dedicated to the field of Early Childhood Education. As a very young child, Wahiba was determined to one day become a teacher!

She first obtained her diploma as an interpreter / translator at the University of Algiers in 2006. Wahiba continued on and obtained her BA in Teaching! She was immediately employed as a French Lead teacher in Elementary schools. 

She worked mostly with children between 8 and 12 years old. In 2016 she trained and mentored teachers.

In 2019 her life situation brought her to California. Wahiba and her husband along with their two children are now settled in California. 

Her goal as a teacher is to continue fostering a positive learning environment for all students at all ages.

Her  12 years of experience in the field have broadened  her passion, her desire, and have given her a variety of skills and tools such as:

• Communication and motivation techniques, 

• The development of creative lesson plans according to the needs of her students 

• Positive, effective & age appropriate skills for behavior management in the classroom

• Developing procedures to best  optimize a students’ learning experience. 

Wahiba is delighted to be part of the “Au Beau Séjour Team”. ABS is confident  that she will contribute to our ABS community! Wahiba joined us to best provide a great learning experience as we explore through fun & age appropriate. She will help challenge our curious students in our nurturing environment!

Julie was born in the capital of gastronomy, Lyon, France. She grew up speaking French and Tamil, and she learned English during her studies. Lately, Julie was a French teacher in Karikal, India for the 3rd grade (CE2) and given tuition for the level Pre-K to 5th grade. This is when her passion for teaching started.

Julie has worked as a French assistant teacher in The Renaissance International School in Oakland, and as a substitute French teacher/ Assistant teacher for Blue moon Learning center in Alameda. She also was working in Alliance Francaise de San Francisco as a french teacher for children and adults. 

Julie also obtained a diploma in management, administration and hospitality, and she worked for 5 years in Paris.

Today Julie lives in Alameda, She is a wife and a mother of two children. Julie loves traveling, reading, baking French pastries, and listening to music.

Najlae was born and raised in Morocco. As a younger member of her family she received a lot of love and care and she feels able to share a very positive energy with children and adults. She noticed that children were returning to her the same love she gave to them while being surrounded by so many children in her neighborhood and family. 

She got her master degree in 2021 from university Hassan II in Morocco, as a nutritionist, also a Food safety and security specialist, 2 months later she moved to the United States to improve her skills and look for better opportunities. 

She worked on a covid site for the last year, while doing her job she discovered that she was easily accepted and loved by children again, so she decided to finally seek a job where she can be surrounded by children. 

As she always was brilliant in French and interested in this language during her career, she finally found the opportunity she was looking for, becoming a Teacher in a French preschool. 

She will be able to teach her students the language passionately and all the safety procedures based on her knowledge and previous experiences. 

She is very excited to be part of the ABS team and create new activities, help and support your children thriving in the French Immersion Preschool. 

Louiza was born and raised in Algeria. She moved to the USA in 2015 with her husband for a new life adventure. Louiza is also a mom of 2 beautiful children of 6 and 2 years old.

Louiza speaks 4 languages: French, English, Berber and Arabic. She graduated with a bachelor degree in civil engineering from the university of MMTO Algeria. 

When she moved to California in 2015, her first job was nanny. Louiza was caring for a little girl in San Francisco, and then her second job was Teacher in a daycare in Albany.

There, she discovered that she really enjoys being around young children and spending time with them, observing and supporting their development. It is very rewarding for her and makes her happy to see her students progressing and learning everyday. 

Louiza joined the ABS Team in January 2021 and she considers ABS Preschool as her second home. She will be very happy to carry for your children and be part of their journey at ABS!

Assita was born and raise in Burkina Faso part of West AFRICA.

She taught French, History and Geography to students from 12 to 15 years in her country from 2016 to 2019.

She studied literature and communication at the university of Ouagadougou before starting to teach in college.

At the end of 2019, she moved to California and got the opprtunity to continue her passion which is teaching.

Assita is so happy to be able to participate with all our team in the well being of all these little ones.

Nassima was born and raised in Algeria, and speaks French, English, Arabic and Berber.

Nassima attended a banking school in Algeria and obtained a master degree 2 in Finance and Banking. She was so well connected to her father that she worked with him in the police department.

She moved to California in 2016. She worked as a babysitter and noticed how much she loves being surrounded by children.  She could feel how much the children loved her and were attached to her. This motivated her to take early childhood education classes. She has already completed the courses and is currently attending more classes to obtain her Teacher Certificate. Nassima joined ABS in 2022. She took some time off to take care of her newborn in 2023.

From February 26th 2024, Nassima came back among us, and she is excited to be part of the team at Au beau séjour. And she will always give her best to each of her students!

Merielle was born in California and was raised in many different states throughout the United States, therefore founding a curiosity for travel. She found her passion of working with children after being a part-time nanny and working in a daycare in Oakland for 7 years. She soon found her passion for traveling and teaching, especially after teaching English abroad in France to elementary school students. After graduating from UC Berkeley with degrees in Linguistics, French, and Education, she decided to transition her career towards preschool teaching. She enjoys learning something new every day, whether it's finding a new, fun way to explain a lesson with collaboration from her colleagues to learning a new, random fact, she is always willing to expand her knowledge. 

Merielle is passionate about cultivating a fun, comfortable and welcoming environment where children can flourish and continue to learn and socialize with their peers as well as their educators. 

Maha was born in Algeria, where she spent part of her childhood. She is married and has an 8-year-old daughter.

Then, she lived in several European countries due to her father's job, which allowed her to learn several languages, adapt easily, and appreciate each country and its customs. 

After finishing high school, she returned to Algeria where she completed her communication and human relations training programs. This led her to open her own school in Algiers. Working with children has brought her immense satisfaction and great experience. 

She arrived in California in 2021 and immediately started working in an infants and toddlers program as an assistant teacher until March 2024. 

Working at ABS is an exciting challenge for her, and she always gives her best to meet your expectations. She is very much excited to meet her new students and take of their well-being and happiness at school!

Pauline was born and  raised near Paris, France. She is living in Lafayette - East Bay - for 8 years with her family. She has two boys, Nael and Theo, now teenagers. 

Pauline graduated in finance, economics and politics from a French university. For twenty years, she was a financial analyst and helped entrepreneurs find the appropriate financial resources to develop their business in Paris. She was passionate about her work to help her develop and acquire the resources and knowledge adapted to running a business. Pauline loves helping companies and children grow and move on, and she decided to develop her skills and her passion with young children.

Pauline discovered American school with enthusiasm and she loved being a regular volunteer in children's classes. She often helped with math and plastic arts workshops. She loves cooking and she had a cooking class for kids before the pandemic with homeschoolers in Berkeley. She also loves to be outside gardening and growing a variety of plants. 

Pauline is in the process of acquiring an Early Childhood Education certificate. She is excited and enthusiastic to be a part of the ABS team and looks forward to meeting the students and their families.

I grew up in Pondicherry, a French colonized beach town in India. My introduction to French was at the age of 3 through “Sri Aurobindo International Center of Education”. This school is based on an integral system of education with a French medium of instruction from where I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in French and English.

After college, I worked as a French and German language expert in multiple enterprises including Oracle and IRI. My language skills helped with my roles in market research and project accounting for European clients.

I took a career break for my children and for the past few years. And I have been a French tutor to students from all over the Bay Area. I also have a Certificate with Honors in “Instructional Design and Delivery” from UCSC which helps me design learning objectives based on student requirements.

Being a teacher gives me “la joie de vivre'' and is always a rewarding and fulfilling experience. I’m thrilled to embark on the journey with ABS and make happy memories.

Without Mark and Arturo, our preschool will not be so beautiful! Mark and Arturo are remarkable creators. They built our children’s picnic tables, our chicken coop, storages, cubbies, shelves, planters and more! Mark and Arturo also are our Gardener Teacher!

We feel very lucky to have Mark and Arturo part of the ABS Team!

Tania and Dina are our exceptional chef cuisinières who prepare for our students and staff amazing and fresh food every single week day! They love to use fresh herbs from our garden as well as the veggies that our students plant and collect for them to make delicious lunches! After making breakfast and lunch each morning, Tania and Dina are the ones who are cleaning and disinfecting our beautiful preschool every afternoon. Our school is fresh and clean every day! Big merci to Tania & Dina!