David Anthony Calabrese, Founder & Director

David grew up in a big family in Wallingford, Connecticut, playing in the surrounding woods and farmland all four seasons.

As a young parent in New York City, David co-founded the parents group, “Preschool on the Planet.” After moving to San Francisco, his family enrolled in the Rocky Mountain Participation Nursery School, where David became parent education chair. He continued on as Lead Teacher and briefly as Director at Playmates Cooperative Nursery school, before founding Little Earthlings in 2017.

He has a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University, a Preschool Site Supervisor Certificate from San Francisco City College, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors (and a secondary in Philosophy) from Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York.

He is part of a music and film production team called Telling Visions Unlimited, and loves playing music, producing, writing, cooking, eating and most of all his children (both attending UC Davis.) He is also at work on a documentary about San Francisco’s historic Hyde Street Studios & Wally Heider Recording.

Bita has vast experience in outdoor education — as Lead Naturalist at Fairfield Osborn Preserve, equestrian instructor at an educational ranch in Sedona, and homesteader on a demonstration farm for sustainable permaculture in Arcata.

Bita holds both a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies, Conservation and Restoration, and a Bachelor of Arts, Art Studio, from Sonoma State University.

Bita has been with Little Earthlings since 2019, except for a year studying ecology and botanical medicine at the Equinox Center of Herbal Studies. In her summer off, she trekked the Himalayan Annapurna Circuit.

Cait grew up in Portland, Oregon, and earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English and a minor in Psychology from the University of San Francisco, after which she developed a strong interest in alternative education.

She has worked as a barista, managed a Haight Street vintage shop, and volunteered for three years at a crisis intervention hotline, counseling youth in emotional distress.

She enjoys creative writing, swimming in cold rivers, and hiking with her dog, Spitty.