Our Team

Sarah Peterson (she/her/hers) is the Regional Director of the California Reading & Literature Project (CRLP) at UC San Diego (UCSD) CREATE, a position she has held since July 2016. Prior to becoming the Director, Sarah served over a decade as a classroom teacher in the National School District, located 10 miles from the US-Mexico border in South San Diego as well as a long-time Support Provider for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA).  After earning her M.Ed. and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with a Bilingual CLAD Emphasis (Spanish) from UC San Diego, Sarah developed her capacity for teaching early literacy and working with English Learners in diverse instructional contexts (late-exit bilingual education, early-exit bilingual education, structured English immersion) and grade levels.

Sarah first became involved with CRLP UC San Diego after attending a Teacher Leadership Invitational in 2011.  Soon after her first Invitational, Sarah completed CRLP Results: Academic Language and Literacy Instruction (RALLI) training and observed growth in her students’ oral, written, and reading achievement.  Now the Regional Director, Sarah is an example of how the California Reading and Literature Project cultivates sustained teacher leadership development. Her professional passions include side-by-side lesson planning and co-teaching and promoting educational equity through student-voice-led programs, such as #USvsHate (usvshate.org).

Sarah resides in the Kensington area of San Diego in a 105-year-old Craftsman bungalow with her husband.  Sarah is a proud mama of three feisty young children, enjoys training for and running half marathons, reading novellas/short stories, adores watching historical dramas (Victoria, The Crown, Downtown Abbey) and looks forward to embarking on long family road trips in the near future.