Our Staff

Danielle Panuco, owner and director

About Me

My name is Danielle Panuco. I am 29 years old and reside in Visalia, CA with my husband. First and foremost, I am grateful to God for giving me this opportunity and setting the path that has brought me here; this is all for His glory.

I have worked with children for the past 11 years. I was a preschool teacher for two and a half years at a faith based preschool in Porterville, called Hoops Preschool. At that time, I obtained my Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies. I was a substitute teacher for grades K-12 for a year as I finished schooling for my teaching credentials. In 2017, I student taught at Lombardi Elementary for grades 1 and 5. During that time, I also tutored students grades K-12 in the evenings. I then received my Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential as well as my Single Subjects Teaching Credential in Physical Education at the beginning of 2018. I proceeded to complete my Master’s Degree in Physical Education at the end of 2018.

Aside from my schooling background in education, I taught for Visalia Unified School District for 5 years. I began as a 3rd grade teacher, and spent 4 years as a physical education teacher for high school. I am also an adjunct professor for Fresno Pacific University. I helped in the nursery at Pipeline Church for about a year while teaching for VUSD. Spending more time with the little ones and having the opportunity to share God again with children was what helped lead me to this new chapter in my life as a preschool owner/teacher. I hope this all goes to show that I love helping people of all ages, and am especially excited to get back to helping little ones and reinstating God into my daily teaching.

Other things I love to do include spending time with my husband as well as friends and family, going to the beach, going to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and playing with my fur babies (aka my dogs). I love playing sports, lifting weights, and challenging myself in different ways both physically and mentally. I am so excited to meet and serve new people in the valley, and I can’t wait to see where God leads me next!

Gianna Valenzuela, teacher assistant

About Me

Hello, my name is Gianna! I am 22 years old and live in Visalia, California. I’m so excited to begin my journey with Loving Littles Preschool. I’ve had a love for children ever since I can remember. As soon as I was able to begin volunteering for my church’s Sunday school nursery center, I did. That eventually evolved into me working with preschool age students, and that’s where I found my love for teaching them! I was able to help with creating crafts, making mini lessons for them, and reading them stories from the Bible. I have also been a nanny for the past 3 years. I am patient, nurturing, and love each little one that I have the privilege of watching over. 

Some other things I enjoy are reading and spending time with my family and friends. Game nights are definitely frequent occurrences. I also love going up to the Sequoias, Disneyland, and the beach!

Whitney McDonald, teacher assistant

About Me

Hi, my name is Whitney. I am so excited to be the newest teacher at Loving Littles Preschool.

I am a Visalia native, now living in Tulare with my husband. I have been working in the preschool settings for over 8 years. I have worked with children in many capacities for over 20 years as a babysitter, live-in nanny, a volunteer for Sunday school classes, as well as a CASA volunteer. My favorite thing about being a preschool teacher is getting to introduce the love of learning to children at a young age. 

When I’m not working I’m usually doing some type of DIY home projects, reading, or hanging out with family and friends.