About

About Melissa

Director of Small Idea

Melissa Guzman has been an educator for the past 22 years.  In that time, she has worked with children from their infancy to the fifth grade.  She is a New York State certified teacher in Childhood Education for grades 1-6.  She holds Master’s Degrees in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Lehman College.  She completed her undergraduate work at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.  She is the founder and co-director of The Small Idea Early Learning Centers in Harlem and Washington Heights.  The centers offer dual language (Spanish/English) early childhood and preschool programs that are progressive and play based.  Outside of the centers, she works privately with young English language speakers who are learning Spanish.  She also works with recently arrived children of all ages and backgrounds who are learning English. 

The Space

Our instructors are all different, with diverse lives, styles and backgrounds but what is consistent is that all of them are kind, committed and inspirational.