Lauren Gallegos joined the MISM team in 2018. She originally joined the community as a Primary assistant in the summers while she taught at a traditional school. She came to Mountain Shadows to work full time in May of 2020 and then took the AMI Primary training to work as a lead guide. 

Lauren was born in Aurora Colorado. Her family moved to Longmont Colorado and then to the next town over to Mead Colorado. She attended college at UNC in Greeley Colorado and earned her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education. Lauren spent three years in Northern California living on a military base. She worked with infants and military families at a Child Development Center. Eventually, Lauren moved back home to Colorado and now she lives in Firestone near her family. 

Lauren has been in the field of education for 11 years. She worked at ABC Child Development Center in Greeley while she pursued her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education. She volunteered at the Global Refugee Center in Greeley and worked with children from many different backgrounds. She did her student teaching at Lone Tree Elementary on Beale Air Force Base in California. Then she worked with infants at the Air Force Child Development Center. She taught Kindergarten and first grade in a traditional school at Gilcrest Elementary when she moved back to Colorado. She found Mountain Shadows and worked as a Primary assistant for two summers while teaching at the traditional school during the school years. She returned to Mountain Shadows in the summer of 2020 to start working full time. She spent two years working as a Primary assistant and then took on the role of Childcare Director. Mountain Shadows sponsored Lauren in her pursuit of her AMI Primary Diploma from the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies in Arizona. She is currently attending Loyola University of Maryland to obtain her Master's Degree in Montessori Education. 

Lauren has worked with families and children from many different backgrounds. She has always had an interest in Montessori and found that it was the best fit for her while she was teaching in a traditional school. She found that Montessori made more sense to her than traditional education. She loves how the children have more freedom to move around and explore what interests them. She takes her time getting to know the children and what motivates them. She wants to make sure that every child feels seen and feels safe. She is very excited to be working at Mountain Shadows as a Lead Guide so that she can use her knowledge to help guide the children to reach their full potential.   

Lauren loves to spend time relaxing at home reading, and listening to podcasts. She likes to spend her summers paddle boarding at McIntosh lake or Aurora reservoir. She loves doing anything art related like painting and pottery classes. She spends a lot of time with her family and their three dogs Buddy, Simba and Nikita.