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Our educators and administrators are the backbone of Les Petits Francophones. We couldn’t do this work without them. Most of our team is francophone and multilingual, bringing a richly diverse mosaic to our school community. Each classroom includes at least one anglophone and one francophone educator, ensuring a balanced and immersive learning environment.
Our Team
Laetitia Medrano, Executive Director
Laetitia joined Les Petits Francophones as Interim Executive Director/Director of Education Development in June 2021 and was promoted to Executive Director in September 2021. Her work focuses on program development, teacher development, and support for school operations.
Originally from France, Laetitia moved to Canada after completing her master’s degree in Social Studies. She spent 12 years living across the country, from the East Coast to the West Coast. Driven by her passion for teaching, she returned to the University of Ottawa to earn her Bachelor of Education. She was then hired by the Vancouver School Board, where she taught grades 2–5 and became a Head Teacher.
Seeking new opportunities, she later moved to California and spent three years teaching in a Francophone school in Oakland. Constantly embracing new challenges, Laetitia joined the Board of Les Petits Francophones as Secretary in October 2020 before stepping into her leadership role.
A mom of two—a 17-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter—Laetitia loves cooking and spending time outdoors. Dedicated to providing the highest quality education, she is passionate about creating inclusive projects, enrichment activities, and joyful learning experiences for children.
Sahar Aghba, Lead Infant Program - On-Site Director
​Sahar joined LPF as a lead teacher in January 2024. Born in Iran, she graduated from high school as an electrician before immigrating to Canada with her family in 1998. There, she studied art in college and later became a licensed makeup artist. During that time, she discovered her true passion for working with young children, returned to school, earned her childcare diploma, and became a fully qualified teacher.
Sahar gained experience by babysitting for families and working in daycare programs. In 2003, she married and moved to San Francisco, where she and her husband are now raising their three teenage daughters and their small Yorkie, Coco.
With over 25 years of experience, Sahar has worked with children ages 6 weeks to 5 years, and has felt especially fulfilled working with infants and toddlers since 2010. She continued her education in Early Childhood Development and, through her dedication and leadership, she progressed to becoming LPF’s Director. Supporting children’s well-being and confidence from the very start brings her great joy and pride.
Outside of work, Sahar enjoys dancing, music, shopping, art, and spending quality time with her family."
Tass Dif - Francophone Teacher Assistant in Chenilles
Bio to come soon!
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Lydia Ghouar - Francophone Teacher Assistant in Papillons
Bio to come soon!
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Yonglin Huang, English Teacher in Papillons
​Yonglin joined the LPF team in February 2024. Born and raised in China, she moved to
California with her family in 2014. Yonglin has experience working as a teacher and
teacher assistant in an afterschool program and a preschool center. She earned her BA
in Education Science from UCI in 2023.
Yonglin enjoys working with young, energetic children, finding inspiration in their
creativity and always learning from them. In her spare time, she loves spending time
with her family, traveling, cooking, and gardening.
Laurence Young, Lead Teacher Canetons/Francophone Teacher
Laurence joined LPF in July 2019. She is originally from Brittany, France. She currently lives in Dublin, CA. Laurence worked as a French teacher in Raleigh, NC, and over the last three years, she has been working diligently toward her AA in Early Childhood Education. She has been living in the US for 18 years. She previously lived in Arizona and North Carolina. She is married and has two daughters. She likes spending time with her husband and daughters, playing board games, going to the movies, and exploring local areas. She enjoys reading historical fiction and non-fictional accounts of France’s history. She spent one year leading our 3-4-year-old class; since September 2021, she has been leading the Canetons' classroom.
Mai Yu, English Teacher in Canetons
Mai joined LPF in August 2022. She was in Laos and lived in Thailand for a couple of years before moving to the US to start working with children. She was an Early Head Start infant assistant teacher and toddler teacher for more than 10 years.
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She really enjoys exercising, swimming, cooking , gardening, and spending time with her family.
Amina Bouamara - Francophone Teacher Assistant in Canetons
Bio to come soon!
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Emily Millot, Bilingual Teacher in Canards
Emily joined LPF in March of 2022. She has worked for three years as an assistant preschool teacher in Oakland, California. She initially went to school to pursue a career as a social worker but put it on hold to raise a family. She has dedicated the last twenty eight years to raising three sons, all of whom have graduated from the French American International School and are embracing adulthood. She recently returned to school to attain her Associate Teacher Certificate and is deeply committed to children's education for future generations.
Anna Skrzypczynska, Francophone Teacher in Canards
Bio to come soon!
Crystal Anaya, Lead Toddlers Program - English Teacher in Cygnes
Crystal lives in Oakland with her husband and son. She has lived in Oakland all her life and loves her community. She enjoys spending quality time with her family outdoors and traveling to different countries. Since she was very young, she had known she wanted to be a teacher. She began in the educational field immediately after high school while she attended college courses and completed her degree. She has about 20 years of experience in the academic field and counting. She has taught infants to kindergarten.
She has been a happy teacher at LPF since July 2024 as a Lead Toddlers program. She enjoys working with children because they are delightful and inspiring. She feels grateful to have a job where she can support their growth and nurture their love of learning. There isn't a day that passes, which doesn't include a hug, a silly story, or even a smile that makes her work day! She believes that as early educators, we help build a strong foundation that positively supports children's educational and human journeys.
Melissa Khalfaoui, Francophone Teacher Assistant in Cygnes
Bio to come soon!
Courtney Lee, Francophone Teacher Lions
Courtney joined the LPF team in January 2024. She currently lives in Hayward, CA. She spent time as an assistant preschool teacher in 2018-2019. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in French and Francophone Studies from UCLA in 2023. In addition to speaking French, she also speaks some Mandarin Chinese.
She enjoys spending time with her family, reading books, and exercising. She also loves to learn different languages andcultures. Her son is also attending Les Petits Francophones.
Antoinette Chaplin, English Teacher Lions
Antoinette joined LPF's team in July 2022. Born in San Francisco and brought up to Oakland, she had been working with children for the past eight years. Antoinette's emphasis is to support and develop children's social emotional need, and help them recognize their feeling, and guiding them in finding ways to express themself in a safe manner. Her goal is to be able to help children learn and grow into a wonderful person! She is thankful for working here with your children.
Antoinette has a dog named Jack and when she is not working she enjoys spending time with her family, practicing drawing and doing cosplay.
Keisha Hadley, Chef
Keisha has worked in the culinary field for many years. She attended culinary arts school in Miami, and with her experience, she has worked in the Bay Area as a pastry and baking chef and supervised and managed kitchens.
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One of her most recent positions was a supervisor for seven years in food and nutrition services in the medical field. Today, she is the chef at LPF, where she enjoys creating meals for children and staff.
Jayjay Boedilla, Assistante Chef/Teacher Assistant
Coming Soon!