(Formerly Deer Lake Preschool)
Deer Lake Child Care
Deer Lake East
Early Years Care & Learning Educators
Kelly
Lead Educator
My name is Kelly Zecca, and this will be my third year working at Deer Lake East Preschool. I have been married to my husband Angelo for 19 years and have three children, Olivia who is 16 years old, Angelo Jr who just turned 14 and Ava who just turned 10. I finished my schooling from Burnaby Continuing Education in June 2016 after a 3-year program and could not be more excited about the path I have chosen to be an Early Childhood Educator. I feel all children should be valued for who they are as an individual and I look forward to my adventure with you and your children.
Jessica
Educator
Jessica has always known her passion for working with children early in her life. She started in the field of education in 2010, volunteering with elementary school age children in Chilliwack and working as a tutor. Moving to Burnaby to further her education at Simon Fraser University, Jessica graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistic while working part-time as an English teacher for an after-school program. Soon after, Jessica found her love working with younger children at a preschool as an early childhood assistant and started her studies in Early Childhood Education in 2018. Jessica loves working with children and values children’s uniqueness, curiosity, and creativity.
In her spare time, she loves photography, baking, and travelling.
Judy
Founder of Deer Lake Child Care
(Formerly Deer Lake Preschool)
Judy started working as an Early Childhood Educator in 1983. Since that time she has had many wonderful opportunities in this field and has worked with children from 0 - 19yrs.
Along with many years of working on the floor with the children, she has had the opportunity to work in the role of consultant to child care settings and families, managing child care facilities and teaching Early Childhood Education at the college level. It has always been her dream to be able to support children and families in her own preschool and she was thrilled when this came to be in September 2011.
As the Manager of Deer Lake Daycare, she feels so honored to have a staff team that is committed to providing a quality preschool program. We are proud to offer an inclusive, play based setting where we work hard to instill a love and an excitement of learning. In order to reach that goal we encourage and support children to learn to investigate, create and take appropriate risks in and outside of our classroom.
Samantha
Manager
Samantha started to work with families and children in Burnaby since 2005, as she operated her own registered-licensed-not-required family day care. She has discovered her passion in the field and was inspired by a local organization that she took the step further to study and learn and become an early childhood educator. She is grateful to work along side with the amazing team at Deer Lake Child Care and feel fortunate to be part of the team. Her hope is the families and children who come to join this community would establish the sense of belonging and with that we will together see the children to thrive confidently around their worlds.
Ivy
Educator
Ivy studied and graduated in UBC and Blanche MacDonald Centre. After working in the Fashion Merchandising field for 6 years, She had decided to make a change in the working environment. Ivy always enjoys spending time with children, engaging with them, and exploring deeply with them. After her son was born, she had planned to extend her passion and knowledge further into Early Childhood training. Being with her son and daughter everyday, she understands that every child is unique, and it is a pleasurable moment to watch them growing, learning and achieving in their own paths. Ivy completed her Basic ECE Certification in 2018, and has been working in Deer Lake East for 3.5 years now. She is very excited to be part of the Deer Lake East Team whereas she could extend her passion for childcare into a great career. Ivy is looking forward to a wonderful school year with all of you!
Heather
Educator
Heather started her ECE journey a little over 3 years ago but has loved working with children her entire life. She loves seeing the world through children’s eyes and with a strong foundation in play based learning, she enjoys engaging the children’s interests with activities that expand their knowledge of the world around them. Her creative nature shines when she is outdoors with the children; she is gifted at fostering the children’s curiosity and self-expression through various natural and art based experiences. Heather is committed to continued professional development and learning opportunities including signed English.
In her free time she likes to spend as much time as possible outdoors hiking and camping with her family as well as playing boards games and making music together; guitar, ukulele and piano!
Brianna
Educator
Brianna was born and raised in the lower mainland and currently lives in New Westminster with her partner and two cats. Before she decided to join the ECE field she was a web designer for almost 7 years. She liked the job and being in a creative field, but she always felt a calling to pursue a career that she knew would help make a difference in someone else's life. She decided in 2018 to switch into the ECE field and she is so thankful that she did! She graduated from the Early Childhood Education program at Burnaby Continuing Education in the summer of 2022, and was so pleased to begin working with Deer Lake East ever since.