Hi! My name is Cindy Mellem, welcome to my Kindergarten website. This is my Sixteenth year teaching in the grades Kindergarten through the Fourth grade. I graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Studies in 1983. From there I went to Point Loma University to work on my Teaching Credential and Masters Degree. During that time I also taught the First and Second Grade. I really enjoyed teaching, but decided to put my teaching career on hold to raise my two children, Christopher and Jenny.

While I was raising my children, I was a parent volunteer for four years at Chaparral. I really enjoyed being back in the classroom and working with the students. Volunteering made me see how much I really missed being a classroom teacher. It was then that I realized that I wanted to go back into teaching, and I wanted to teach at Chaparral.

Of course, after eight years college requirements had changed. So in order for me to complete my Masters Degree I had to start all over again. This time I enrolled at the University of La Verne. I graduated with a Masters Degree in Education and I received my Cross-Cultural Language Academic Development (C.L.A.D) Certificate.

While working on my education and teaching in the Claremont Unified School District, my own two children graduated from Chaparral, El Roble, and Claremont High School. It is hard to believe they are now full time students in College.

In addition to my husband Rick and my two children, I have my "baby" Golden Retriever named Bailey and Smokey our Short Haired Pointer. Our family loves animals! So much in fact, that each one of us has their own cat, there is Fred, Cuddles, Zoie, and Hobie. My family and I also enjoy camping, hiking, and desert riding. We love the outdoors and going to the beach, desert, and mountains to spend our time.