Our Staff
Kelsie Castro
Owner/Director & Lead Educator
Kelsie Castro (she/her) is a Long Beach local and grew up and worked in the Long Beach & Los Alamitos area for many years. Kelsie has her Master’s in Education with a focus on early childhood and a Bachelors in Linguistics and Anthropology.
Kelsie started her work in education about 10 years ago as an assistant at her local after-school program. There she quickly found a love for the field that propelled her even further along the path. Since then she has worked in many different roles learning alongside infant, preschool and school-age children. Through exploring the different avenues of education Kelsie was fortunate enough to find the philosophy closest to her heart while working at a Reggio-inspired school in Long Beach. There she began to develop and grow her identity as an educator and discover what she valued and believed about children, learning and education.
It has been a dream of Kelsie’s for a long time to create a space where both she and the wonderful educators she has met along her journey can share their passion, love, and joy for this work with children and families. She is incredibly grateful to all the people she has met that have helped make that dream a reality and is always amazed by the many beautiful ways that community has helped both her and that vision of Redwood grow.
Outside of working, you can usually find Kelsie at home snuggling with her sweet pup Ollie, treasure hunting at the local thrift stores, or hanging out at the beach reading a book. Kelsie also finds joy in being outdoors and playing with many different creative outlets. One of the things that brings her happiness, is deepening the relationships she has with the people around her and being able to share all her loves and passions through her work.
Eric Eyman
Educator
Eric (he/him) was born in Long Beach, California and studied Early Childhood Education at Cal State University, Long Beach. He developed a passion for teaching alongside young children when he first started working as a student-assistant at CSULB’s Isabel Patterson’s Child Development Center. After completing his undergraduate degree, Eric went on to work as a preschool and kindergarten teacher at Little Owl School, where he became greatly influenced by the Reggio Emilia teaching philosophy and developed a deep interest in progressive education. Eric is currently a teacher at Redwood Homeschool and feels lucky to work with some amazing families and his co-teacher and close friend, Kelsie Castro. Eric recently went back to school and is working on his Master’s in Education at National University.
During his free time, Eric enjoys tapping into his creative side by doing drawing and dancing. He also enjoys being outdoors and likes to run and hike. Eric is excited to continue his teaching journey with Redwood Homeschool and help bring the vision for the program’s future to life!
Kalesa Ferrucci
Educator
Kalesa (she/her/hers). Originally from the Bay Area, Kalesa moved to Long Beach with her partner in 2019. Considering herself a forever student, she has studied American Sign Language, obtained an AS in fashion design, obtained an interdisciplinary BA in psychology-literature-linguistics from UC Berkeley, and, most recently, completed a certificate program at LBCC in Early Development and Early Childhood Education.
While she is new to being a professional educator, Kalesa’s background with children and families started young. Her mother was an elementary school science teacher for 40 years and instilled a sense of wonder from childhood. Her first job at sixteen was at a daycare facility, then she spent five years nannying and as a sleep-away, summer camp counselor. Adulthood led to college and working in customer service until 2020 when the pandemic hit. Kalesa found that family and friends were in desperate need of safe, trusted childcare; it just made sense to help out. This reignited a love of working with children and she went back to school so she could teach. She joined the Redwood team in late 2022.
Passionate, social and silly, Kalesa is fascinated and inspired by children. She loves bearing witness to their joy, curiosity, and honesty. She is honored to play a part in children’s growing into themselves as they enrich the world around them. As an educator, she prides herself in being a clear communicator, an empathetic observer, and a flexible learner. Kalesa spends her free time seeking vintage treasures, fawning over her cats and pup, crafting from driftwood, baking bread, composting, geeking out over wine, collecting seashells, propagating succulents, cheering on her friends and formulating run on sentences. She fiercely upholds ethics of kindness, equity, and sustainability.
Rebecca Sadler
Educator
Rebecca (she/her/hers) grew up in Lakewood, CA and attended Long Beach City College after high school. There she received her AA for Early Childhood Education. While she was at LBCC she embraced her passion for working with children through her classes and guidance from her wonderful professors. One of her classes brought her to Little Owl Preschool in Long Beach. Once Rebecca worked in a Reggio-inspired environment, she found true connection to the philosophy and to the educators who shared those values. Collaboration with other educators deepened her passion, and helped her understand the importance of collaboration in the classroom.
After 6 years and a World-wide pandemic, Rebecca continued her love of working with children outside of the classroom and into a home setting. She began offering private childcare and tutoring for school-age children. This new chapter allowed Rebecca the opportunity to see the joys and struggles that school-age children often face, and motivated her to return to school and work towards a Bachelors Degree in Child Development with a concentration on Counseling and Family Services. Rebecca is currently attending school at Cal State University Dominguez Hills to achieve this goal. When Redwood Homeschool was founded by Kelsie and Eric, Rebecca was eager to join forces with their team. The social and emotional needs of children are a main focus for Rebecca, as well as supporting families through learning together.
Even though personal time is limited when working and going to school, Rebecca loves furthering her learning of ceramics and other art forms. She involves her appreciation for art into her work with children to share that joy with them. Rebecca is most content in nature and she enjoys traveling near and far to experience and learn from the inspiring places that she treasures. Rebecca believes that sustainable choices and active conservation are necessary for all people to protect our biggest commonality, planet Earth. Rebecca is excited to be able to achieve her goals within a supportive community, and can’t wait to see how this new journey will unfold.
Eric Foremski
Redwood Craftsman & Maintenance
Eric (he/him) was born in Los Alamitos, CA and studied Sociology at California State University, Long Beach where he received his Bachelors in 2016. During his time at CSULB he started working as an assistant at Los Alamitos Unified’s after school program, Kids Korner. He initially worked there for a part-time job while he went to school, but not long after starting he found his love for working with children. Eric has worked for there the past 8 years with children K-8th.
While Eric is at Kids Korner for most of his day, he does still find time to support the Redwood team by helping with some of the day to day set-up, prepping our snacks, and taking care of general maintenance on the weekends. Eric has also become the “master craftsman” of Redwood imagining and building new things for the classroom and refurbishing all of Kelsie’s many thrifted finds.
Outside of work, Eric likes to spend his free time walking and playing with his dog Ollie, watching sports and re-finishing old furniture. He also loves being outdoors and one of his goals in life is to visit all of the national parks.
Friendly Faces
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Ollie
Redwood Mascot
While Ollie is never in the classroom when school is in session, his presence is definitely still felt through the stories we tell about his adventures and silly antics. On weekends Ollie loves wandering around the school (especially the backyard) and is always very excited to sniff out all the toys/treasures our children leave behind.