Our Story

Meagan Zareno is the founder and director behind Little Garden by the Sea.  She is the mother to 2 magical little humans and wife to Michael.  It was always a dream of Meagan's to start a nursery school.  However, life and Michael's job took Meagan and Michael from their home in Manhattan, New York to London, England, where they were fortunate to live and travel for several years.  They returned to Michael's hometown of Long Beach, New York to put down roots and start a family.  It wasn't until after the birth of her daughter that Meagan became passionate about holistic education.  When searching for a preschool for her daughter, she couldn't find exactly what she was looking for. She realized the time had come to bring her dream to life, and Little Garden by the Sea was born. 
Meagan graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood education from SUNY Empire College.  She is also a certified Waldorf teacher having  graduated from Sunbridge Institute's Early Childhood teacher education program.  She has studied and trained in the Reggio Emilia approach and has completed the immersion into Waldorf Nursery and Early Childhood at the Sunbridge Institute.    She is CPR and first aid certified. She is a CPST (certified car seat technician) as well as being a certified yoga teacher specializing in kids and prenatal yoga.