About Us

Welcome to Saint Raphael Preschool's Virtual Tour

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School Details

By the state of California, Saint Raphael Preschool is licensed for children ages 3 years through Kindergarten.

Program 4.5 hours daily (two classrooms: Angels & Saints)

Offer 2 (T,Th), 3 (M,W,F), 4 or 5-day attendance

Ratio: 1 teacher for every 7-8 children with extra support from teacher aides

Child must be fully potty-trained before starting preschool

180 school days plus a Summer Program

Extended Care offered for an additional fee (8:00am - 4:30pm)

United with Saint Raphael K-8 School and Church

Click Here: Preschool 2021-2022 Calendar

Schedules

Angels (3-4 year olds) and Saints (4-5 year olds) Classroom Schedule 
8:30-1:00 - Monday to Friday (2, 3, 4, or 5 days a week)

Extended Care

Before school care is available from 8:00-8:30 A.M.
After-school care is available from 1:00-4:30 P.M.

Class Size

Angels - 16 children with 2 teachers and 1 teacher aide
Ratio 8:1

Saints - 22 children with 3 teachers and 1 teacher aide.
Ratio 7:1

Marin Quality Counts

Saint Raphael Preschool is a proud member of the Marin Quality Counts Program. Marin Quality Counts is a program apart of the Marin County Office of Education. Our teachers are high quality teachers that are receiving extra training in order to improve their skills. Your child's brain develops the most within the first five years of their life. Which is why the Marin Quality Counts program aims to provide the best quality early care and education for your child within these years. To learn more about our teaching program visit Marin Quality Counts' website: http://marinschools.org/ece

Saint Raphael Preschool

Curriculum

Developmentally appropriate activities for Religion, social-emotional development, language and literacy, English - language development, mathematics, visual and performing arts, physical development, health, history - social sciences and science. We are proud members of Marin Quality Counts. At Saint Raphael's Preschool, we provide a healthy and safe environment for your child. We also provide numerous activities for active, hands-on learning.

Our "Angels" class focuses on the transition to a group experience for our 3-year old children with special attention to their social/emotional development and adjustment. We offer the children a variety of experiences in art, media, play, dramatic play, movement, stories, large/small motor development and interaction with adults and their peers.

Our "Saints" class (Pre-Kindergarten) continues what has begun in our Angels class and focuses on offering our 4-year old children opportunities to develop their readiness for Kindergarten. We sing, play, draw, and explore letter sounds and various themes throughout our year as the children grow in many skills that will support their success in Kindergarten.

Our Teachers and Staff

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Edith Yates, Director of St. Raphael Preschool, lives in Greenbrae with her husband and has two grown sons who graduated from St. Raphael School.  Her older son graduated from Pitzer College and works in the mid-west at a technology company while her younger son is attending Santa Clara University studying computer science.  Edith has been involved in Early Childhood Education for 24 years.  She has taught in family child care and preschools in the infant-toddler and Pre-K program since 1993.  Edith joined Saint Raphael Preschool as Head Teacher in 2004 when our Preschool opened.  With Edith’s knowledge and experience, she helped start our program by developing the daily curriculum and organizing the safe, educational and nurturing environment. 

 Edith received her Child Development Associate Teacher permit in 2002, her Early Childhood Certificate in 2004, her Associate Degree in Science and Early Childhood Education in 2006 and her Child Development Site Supervisor Permit in 2006.  To enrich her own knowledge of early childhood education, Edith attends many conferences, workshops and seminars throughout the year.  She also has been a Mentor Teacher selected by the Marin CARES Program to help and advise newer ECE teachers on providing quality care for young children.  Staying active with her peers through professional meetings and workshops has allowed Edith to build a strong network and be seen as an expert in her field.  Edith’s background is Spanish and she has a strong call to serve the multi-cultural families at Saint Raphael Preschool as they enter a primarily English language educational system.  With Edith’s cheerful, vibrant, funny, loving and determined personality, every child receives the proper foundations for his or her education.  Edith’s philosophy of teaching has been to treat every child with respect, tolerance, discipline, kindness and love.

 Edith’s love for her community and children continues.  She has been a St. Raphael parishioner for 27 years and in the past has volunteered with the Parish Children’s Liturgy.

Saint Raphael Preschool

Edith Yates

Director of St. Raphael Preschool

Teena is our teacher in the Saints classroom and this is her third-year teaching at Saint Raphael’s Preschool. She has been a preschool teacher for nine years and has also worked in school-age after care in the past. She grew up in the Philippines and moved to the United States twenty years ago. Today, she lives in San Rafael with her husband and four children (ages 11 to 21). She discovered her passion for teaching after homeschooling her two older children for three years. She has several Early Childhood Education units from College of Marin and a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Communication from the University of the Philippines and continues her training and education in the field of ECE.

Teena believes that children learn a lot through play, exploration, and meaningful interaction with adults and peers. Preschoolers have much to learn before they move up to Kindergarten and she is thrilled to be a teacher in the Saints class to support their learning. Most of all, she is happy to have found a place where she can combine her love for teaching and her faith and love for God and to be able to share that with all families.

Saint Raphael Preschool

Christina Madison

Saints Teacher

Lily Pachas is happy to be in the Saints classroom with a team of dedicated
teachers, but most of all she is overjoyed to have found a place where she can
combine her love of teaching and faith-based preschool.

Lily started her career as an artist and as a graphic designer in the bay area. She
moved to Los Angeles, California, and taught art at a Reggio Emilia preschool in
Santa Monica and her passion for working with children grew as she taught art to
three-year-olds. As she continued on her journey working with children she
worked as an assistant teacher at two preschools and was also a summer camp
counselor. To attain her professional goals she moved back to the bay area and
began taking early childhood, education classes. She has not turned back and
has continued gaining more experience and attending workshops, specifically in
art with children and Reggio Emilia

In the classroom, Lily brings a variety of interests and talents to her teaching
which includes art, music, and Spanish. She believes by observing and
documenting the children and their interests she creates a classroom
environment that gets children engaged, excited, curious, and happy.

Lily has now been teaching in various preschools in Los Angeles and Marin
County for over ten years. She is happy to be working again with some previous
teachers she has worked with in the past. She mentored Schnabie Beard and loved
having her as a co-teacher and became friends. During that time she also met
Melissa Pakka and became friends as well. Lily is grateful for the opportunity to
be working with amazing teachers again. The timing could not have been better!

She was born in Peru but grew up in Marin County. While already having a BA in
art she will be continuing her education to pursue a Master’s Teacher’s permit in
early childhood education. She is also a member of San Rafael’s Art Works
Downtown since 2017 and participates in their art shows. She is a mother of a
sweet, one-year-old son and has several pets. In her spare time, Lily enjoys
spending time in nature, creating art, and loving her son and family

Lily Pachas

Saints Teacher

This is Kathy Damato's sixth year at St. Raphael Preschool. Prior to teaching at St. Raphael’s, she taught for 12 years at Good Shepherd in Novato and 13 years at various other preschools, one in San Rafael and the others down in the Peninsula. She grew up in Pacifica, and received her BA in Child Development from San Francisco State University. She has her site-supervisor permit issued by the State of California and will be assisting Mrs. Yates in being the Assistant Director while also being the head teacher in the Saints class.

She loves working with children. They are so much fun to work with and keep her feeling young and energized. They all are so unique and add their own special quality to the classroom environment. Saint Raphael was the one preschool in San Rafael that had the exact qualities and philosophy that she was looking for, for herself as a teacher, as well as a parent to her two sons. Everyone at Saint Raphael is kind and nurturing to all children, parents, and other staff members.

She and her husband have been married for 27 years, although they have known each other for 35 years. He is her high school sweetheart. They live here in Novato and have two children, Ryan 22 and Jack 20.

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity you and your children are giving her by allowing her to be their teacher.

Saint Raphael Preschool

Kathy Damato

Substitute Teacher

Schnabie Beard is excited to teach for the second year here at Saint Raphael’s Preschool.

She is a mother of two boys, Jeremiah, 19, a sophomore at College of Marin, and O'marion, 15, a sophomore at San Rafael. She is from a small town in Alabama, but has lived in San Rafael since 2009. She loves to run, walk and stay fit in her free time. Her favorite thing to do is spend time with her beautiful family!

Schnabie’s passion is working with young children. She has helped instill positive morals and educate growing minds since she began working with children in 2009. She finds so much joy in finding the positive qualities in every child she works with and helping those qualities blossom and grow.

She has worked at a number of San Rafael schools including San Pedro, Glenwood and Bahia Vista Elementary Schools. She has also supported the Summer Bridge Program as an Instructional Assistant for the for the past four summers. This program successfully supports rising Pre-K students to ensure they are Kindergarten ready. Most recently, she worked at Redeemer Preschool 4 years as lead teacher for the 2 year old classroom. Additionally, Schnabie has run the Sunday School Program for children (ages 2-7 years) at her church for the last six years.

She is continuing her education as an early childhood educator, majoring in child development. She is looking forward to working and getting to know the Saint Raphael community!

Saint Raphael Preschool

Schnabie Beard

Angels Teacher

This is Wendy Santiago’s first year at Saint Raphael Preschool. Prior to working at Saint Raphael’s, she worked at Venetia Valley K-8th grade School for two years. There, she taught second language learners the English language and provided assistance to many other teachers from different grades. She grew up in Marin County and is currently attending Santa Rosa Junior College. She is in the process of receiving her Associates degree in Child Development and is on her way to transfer to the school of her dreams, Sonoma State University. There, she plans to get her teaching credential.

She loves working with children. They bring her happiness because children are a reminder of all the good that is in this world. Their hearts are pure and their friendship is sincere. She believes that teachers play an important role in educating the future of this world. She knows that whenever she has had a difficult morning, there will be sweet little angels waiting to brighten up her day. She adores being around children because they are loving and sweet.

She believes Saint Raphael’s was a calling from God. She felt that there was a reason why that calling (Mrs. Yates) reached out specifically to a random girl who happened to be there at the right time. Because of this opportunity, she feels closer to God and is reminded of the blessing we tend to ignore. She gained much more than she expected, she is reaffirming and making her faith stronger. She is thankful and blessed to be working at Saint Raphael’s.

Saint Raphael Preschool

Wendy Santiago

Saints Teacher

Melissa Pakka is a graduate of California State University, Chico where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with her Area of Concentration in Child Development.

After graduating from the Chico State Credential Program with her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, Melissa jumped right into elementary teaching and started her career teaching 5th grade in Santa Rosa, California. After completing her first year of teaching grade school, Melissa taught that following summer in a preschool and absolutely fell in love with the age group! After working just one summer with preschoolers Melissa had found her true passion...Early Childhood Education!

Melissa has now been teaching in various preschools in Marin County for over 15 years and holds an Early Childhood Education Directors Permit from the state of California. In fact, Melissa even worked here at Saint Raphael Preschool from 2007-2015 and is so thrilled to be back teaching at such a loving, fun, faith-based preschool! For Melissa, being a part of a child's first school experience is beyond special to her and she cherishes every minute of it.

Melissa lives in Novato and in her spare time enjoys spending time outdoors in nature, exercising, and loving her 4 nephews!!

Saint Raphael Preschool

Melissa Pakka

Saints Teacher

Hazel Llamas is excited to start her first full year here at Saint Raphael Preschool. This year, she is float between the Saints and Angels classes as needed, so she will get the opportunity to know all the children.

She was born in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico and came to the United States when she was 14 years old. It was not easy for her to adapt to a new country, culture, and language, but with effort and love she did it. She became a teacher so she could help children under the same circumstances. She wants other children to never give up and to never stop following their dreams. Hazel believes that children learn through playing. Playing helps to nurture imagination and give a child a sense of adventure.

Hazel is married, has a seven-year-old daughter, Danitza, and lives in Mill Valley. Hazel loves shopping, exercising, and learning things about fashion and make up. She also loves to travel and explore new places.

Hazel has nine years of experience working with children. She started working as a teacher assistant but her passion working with children inspired her to continue with her education. She has several Early Childhood Education Units from Chabot College in Hayward (Alameda County) and continues working on her Associated Degree in Human Development. Hazel thinks it is important to continue learning and developing her skills, so she has taken extra classes to achieve multiple certificates, such as: Guidance and Behavior Management, Professional Development, Curriculum, Child Development, and Challenging Behavior. Hazel has worked in different schools, most being Christian schools. She believes that is important to teach children about religion. She worked for 2 years with infants and toddlers, and it was an amazing experience for her. Right after that, she was the after school teacher where she spent time with kids age 6 through 12 years old. She helped students with assignments, and lead a variety of activities and games. Also, Hazel worked at Elhmurst Learning Center for 3 years as the lead teacher for the 2-year-old and 3-year-old classrooms. Later, she was the head teacher for the TK group for one year. Most recently, she worked at Corte Madera Montessori. In addition, for a couple years, she taught adult English classes in Mexico.

She cannot wait to spend the next year learning and growing with the children of Saint Raphael Preschool!

Saint Raphael Preschool


Hazel Llamas

Angels Teacher
Saint Raphael Preschool is also happy to have Teacher Aides providing extra support in the classrooms.

Sydney Thompson, Charissa Lewis, and Tammy Nguyen

Dominican Students
Teaching Aides