Elif Kalkan
Director
Elif is an early childhood educator with 20 years of teaching and administration experience . She has a B.A. in Business Administration and worked in the banking sector in Turkey for 2.5 years. In a short time, Elif decided to return to university to study Early Childhood Education. She has her M.S. and PhD in Early Childhood Education, and specialized on Socio-Constructivist Theories and the importance of play in children’s growth and development. She worked as a teacher and director in preschools in Turkey and in the USA. Elif has been a part of KLA Schools since 2013 and a director at Walnut Creek since 2016.
Elif believes in the effect of play-based learning and adult scaffolding in early years, and is very happy to be able to share her passion and ideas with her colleagues and families at KLA. She is also a board member of California for Quality Early Learning (CQEL) and has been an advocate for high quality community based child care programs in California. Elif has 3 children on her own, all of whom have the chance to spend their early years at KLA Schools Walnut Creek!