BIO: Teacher Kira

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My name is Kira Solomatova. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, and was an only child living with my mother, father, grandmother, turtle, three parakeets, fish, and three frogs. (One of the frogs is still alive at the age of 25!). Even though I always wanted a sister, I had many friends and pets, but most importantly I had a journal, in which I wrote everyday (the journal was meant for my future daughter). Even without a little sister, I was never bored; In fact I could have been called a busy child. I always had something to make (or break!).

In no time, I hit my teen years. Just before a friend’s wedding, I told everyone that I would meet my future husband at this celebration. It was merely a silly joke, until I fell in love with a tall handsome man, Slava, at the festival. Soon I was married and shortly after, we had a baby girl, named Natalie (this name was also planned at age seven).

A year later, when I was 21, my husband was hired at Caltech and we moved to the United States. Presently, Slava lectures at Washington University in St. Louis, but we are not together anymore. Today, I am in a relationship with Alex with whom I've been for nine years. Alex graduated from Caltech and works at JPL.

As for current events, my daughter, Natalie, now attends UC Irvine, so like some of the children and parents at our school, I am also dealing with separation issues!

Having dreamed of becoming a preschool teacher since I was seven, I am currently living my dream. Starting my career at 19, I have worked with children for a total of twenty one years. After moving to America, I worked at San Marino Montessori School for 7 years. Then I worked at Epworth Preschool for 5 years. Today I work at Cottage Co-op, a school that is like no other school, providing children with an exceptionally opportunistic environment and allowing me to trust and support children in way that I wasn’t able to do before. Having a career as a teacher is the most wonderful and rewarding job that I could imagine for myself!