Meet the Team
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Meg Balicki (she/her)
FOUNDER, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, TEACHER
With degrees in social work and early childhood education, Meg has worked for years with infants, toddlers & their families in classrooms, therapy settings, & birth work. When she took a job founding a RIE & Reggio inspired infant program back in 2017, she knew she had found her professional home. She realized that caring for infants and toddlers using this pedagogy plays a big part in how infants come to see and know themselves, as individuals and as members of a community, and can’t think of anything more important! Meg takes this work seriously without taking herself too seriously, the first to crack a joke, break into song, and befriend a parent. Nido is located in the little purple house that Meg shares with husband, Cheney & little cattle dog, Juno. It is a home filled with love, food, friends, & music.
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Caitie Gibbs (she/they)
CO-FOUNDER, DIRECTOR OF INFANT -TODDLER PEDAGOGY, TEACHER
Caitie has been teaching Infants & toddlers using a RIE & Reggio approach for several years, in New York City, Bangkok Thailand & Berkeley, CA before co-founding Nido with Meg in 2023. They infuse all interactions with authentic joy, respect, curiosity and in turn have a history of deep meaningful connections with children, colleagues, and families. They bring with them to Nido a quiet, calm warmth (and the slowest sweetest diaper changes you’ll ever see) as well as a love of plants, woodworking, & a seemingly unshakable positivity & generosity of spirit. In addition to being a founding partner, Caitie, their wife Natalie (our incredibte third teacher), & their baby Kiki (our unofficial Nido poster child), were Nido’s first enrolled family!
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Natalie Connor (she/they)
DIRECTOR OF PRESCHOOL PEDAGOGY, TEACHER
Natalie has been teaching for 10 years in Reggio-inspired schools in Brooklyn, NY, Oakland, CA, and internationally in Bangkok, Thailand. She discovered the power and joy that comes from building an emergent curriculum that follows the interests and needs of the children. In her previous roles Natalie functioned in a dual-role as both a classroom teacher and in part-time leadership roles where she collaborated on curriculum development, provided mentoring and facilitative support for teachers and led professional development workshops. Additionally Natalie is on a continuous learning journey to strengthen her practices as an Anti-Racist, Anti-Bias educator, striving to provide culturally responsive education that will support all children and respect diverse perspectives. Natalie joined the Nido team in our second year and is happy to spend her days with wife Caitie & child Kiki, giving our "family child care" license a whole new meaning!
It takes a village!
Keeping this little school running is a big job, and we couldn’t get by without a little help from our family and friends! Here’s a few important folks in our village:
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Jack of All TradesWhen Cheney isn’t busy helping teachers across the country integrate climate and sustainability into their curriculum, he’s helping out at Nido. Baking sourdough bread for our snacks, building fences & climbing platforms, popping downstairs with his guitar or to lend some extra hands, Cheney wears all kinds of hats here. Long time educator, musician, and foodie Cheney gets excited about bringing these passions to life with his youngest students yet here at Nido. His gentle, easy-going spirit and deep respect for young humans has made him a beloved “uncle Che-che” to all the children in he & Meg’s community. Nothing brings Cheney more joy than bringing folks together around food and music and he’s been dreaming up community building events in our leafy backyard.
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Support Teacher, Atelierista, Friend of NidoOur long time colleague and trusted friend, Sophia has recently taken a step back from full-time teaching to lean back into their work as a painter and maker. They helped bring Nido to life, literally in the garden and figuratively with research, advice and so much moral support. Now that we’re up and running, they’re officially on the team as a support/substitute teacher. With degrees in Visual Arts & Early Childhood Education and several years of teaching experience, Sophia is uniquely positioned to support Nido both when we need extra hands and when we’re seeking atelier inspiration! They bring with them an acute ability to observe and support the interests and inquiries of the children in their classrooms and curate such inviting play provocations that draw children and adults alike into their learning spaces!
