Honoring 40 Years of Dedication to the Community

Written by Elizabeth Foster

Claudia Montepeque joined IHSD Inc. (now Izzi Early Education) in 1984 as an assistant teacher at the El Rancho Head Start center in South San Francisco. Her first experience with the Head Start program was when she was in high school, volunteering at the Pacifica Head Start site. Her niece and nephew were Head Start students, and her sister was a Head Start teacher. Claudia has been a dedicated, invaluable staff member, taking on various roles to support the children, families, and staff that came through IHSD/Izzi: assistant teacher, teacher, site supervisor, early interventionist, family services worker over the summers, interim regional manager, and now mentor teacher at the Serramonte center.

“This year has been very special for me. One of the parents in my center told me that I was his teacher when we were at the El Rancho site. I was impressed that he remembered me. And now I am teaching his kids!”

“When I first started, IHSD had the El Rancho and Ponderosa sites in South San Francisco, a Pacifica site, the Chilco site in Menlo Park, and a Home-based program in Pescadero. I taught in a classroom with double sessions, AM and PM, with 22 kids in the class, three and a half hours per session. Most of the IHSD classrooms back then were part-day and ran for 5 hours. I remember the first in-service that I attended was in September 1984 at the Baden High School gym in South San Francisco. There were about 55-60 staff back then. The agency used to own a bus, and the staff would go on field trips to visit other Head Start programs, in Hayward and San Francisco. We also did many field trips with the children. I have fond memories of taking them to visit Kindergarten classrooms, beaches, museums, lots of places!”

Over the years, Claudia has influenced many young lives. Meeting former students is always a treat. “This year has been very special for me. One of the parents in my center told me that I was his teacher when we were at the El Rancho site. I was impressed that he remembered me. And now I am teaching his kids! I’ve also had some of my coworkers’ kids in my classrooms. They started out in the program as parents, and then became teachers and staff themselves.” Looking ahead, Claudia said, “I know IHSD/Izzi will keep growing and serving more families and make more impact. The agency has innovated so much through the years.”

Thank you Claudia for letting us share your story. Here’s to many more memories with Izzi Early Education!