Zeta O'Connell was born in Sacramento, California on 1908. She attended grades 1-5 in the Sacramento public schools. In 1918, she moved with her parents to San Diego where she finished the 5th grade at Balboa Elementary School. Grades 6th, 7th, and 8th were spent at Lincoln. She attended San Diego Unified High School from which she graduated in 1924.

In 1928, she graduated from San Diego State College with AB degree. She joined the staff of San Diego City Schools in that same year. She taught all elementary grades except kindergarten from 1928-1944:

In 1944, she was assigned to Roosevelt Junior High School where she taught remedial reading. The following year she served as a reading consultant at Chesterton and Bayview Terrace elementary schools. From 1946-1950 she was Supervisor of Curriculum Production except for 1948-1949 when she was on sabbatical leave. From 1950-1952 , she was Supervisor of Primary Education. In 1952, she was appointed to Director of Elementary Instruction, a post she held until 1958. During that period she earned a Master's Degree in Education from U.C.L.A. in 1955.