Ella Reava
Ella Reava is a dedicated education and early childhood development professional who has spent her life working with children and supporting their growth and success. She originally pursued her education at Western Michigan University with the goal of becoming a high school English teacher. During her time at Western, she was offered an opportunity to serve as a fifth grade teacher at Forest Academy, where she worked in a self-contained classroom supporting student learning and development. When the academy later closed due to loss of its charter sponsor, Ella transitioned back into early childhood education, building on her previous experience as a daycare teacher. She then joined Forest Child Development Center, where her leadership journey truly began.
While working at Forest Child Development Center, Ella’s strong organizational skills and ability to support both children and staff were recognized by her director, Kristen Tipsward. She was asked to assist beyond the classroom by supporting administrative tasks, helping children who were struggling emotionally or behaviorally, and providing classroom support across multiple learning environments. Over time, this evolved into a management and leadership role. As she approaches her one-year anniversary as Assistant Director, Ella now wears many professional hats. Her responsibilities include conducting family tours for prospective families, supporting teachers in classrooms, assisting with behavior redirection and emotional regulation strategies for children, managing office operations such as paperwork, filing, and phone communications, and ensuring teachers have the resources and materials they need to maintain high-quality care and instruction.
Outside of her professional work, Ella is deeply family-oriented and values spending time with loved ones, many of whom live nearby in Michigan, allowing for frequent gatherings and connection. She is also an animal lover and enjoys spending time with her 8-year-old cat, Phoebe, whom she loves to snuggle with during her downtime. In her personal life, Ella enjoys hiking and being outdoors, reflecting her strong appreciation for nature and active, balanced living. Through both her professional and personal life, Ella remains committed to service, education, and building meaningful relationships within her community.
• Michigan Registry Administration Credentials
• Western Michigan University - BA, English, Art & Education
What do you attribute your success to?
I feel that my resilience, the ability to bounce back with every issue that we have, is what makes me successful. I actually grew up with bilateral cochlear implants, so my whole life I have always been in a position of advocacy. That really, I think, has built me up to have a high ability just to be like, you know what, it's okay if this happens. I'm flexible and I'm adaptable. That's what makes me the most successful. If something goes wrong, it doesn't throw me for a loop. I'm able to look around and go, okay, well, here's what we can do.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is not being afraid of other people's opinions and criticisms. Taking those in and actually building on those things versus viewing it as criticism. Especially in a management role, that's something that I find has been really helpful for me. And being told, too, that you can't make everyone happy, and that's not your job. Your job isn't to make everyone happy. Your job is to do what's best for your center, and for your staff, and for the kids.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
What you say matters. How you carry yourself and what you say matters, because people remember. And especially when you're getting into a role where you're actually managing people, it really matters even more so, because even the smallest comment can affect people in their classrooms and the day-to-day. So just being mindful and tactful. And when you're young and in a new field, I also feel like, too, because of our age and being young, it makes you feel like you're not credible, but if you're entering this field, you're entering it because you know what you want, and you know what you want to do.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge, honestly, is finding high-quality staff. That is actually the biggest challenge I find in the day-to-day, because I also will do interviews as well, and it's very challenging to find people that are highly qualified that want to work in this field, because rate of pay is not necessarily high enough to support some of those individuals. So that is something that I struggle with, is the hiring part of it, finding the candidates. However, we do utilize our universities and high schools in the area to help find workers. Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Western Michigan University have early childhood education programs, and students from those schools will actually come out to the center and work for us. We also have students that are in high school that are part of a work-based learning program that will come out and help out in the center as well. So we're basically starting that process of getting these people interested in early childhood education and giving them somewhere to start.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Respect, compassion, and empathy. Those are the core three values that I follow.