Meredith Branch is a lifelong educator and the founder of Maravilla House Preschool, a home-based preschool in the Denver metro. In the early childhood setting, she blends play-based learning, Spanish-rich instruction, and science-based early literacy methods to create a joyful, transformative learning environment. Like Fred Rogers, she believes that “play is the real work of childhood” and that play is the most effective, engaging way to teach early literacy. Prior to entering the preschool space, Meredith spent over a decade as an elementary teacher and assistant principal, teaching in New York, the Dominican Republic, St. Louis, China, and Southern California, where she developed the district’s strategic plan for implementing curriculum based on the Science of Reading. She was also a recipient of 4.0 Schools’ Tiny Fellowship, where she piloted a new framework of intervention based on social emotional learning. Meredith holds a Masters in Elementary Education and TESOL from the University of Missouri - St. Louis, and another in Educational Leadership from UCLA, where she completed her thesis on the Science of Reading. In her spare time, Meredith enjoys seeking out the best local coffee and hiking around the Front Range.