I’ve been an educator for 25 years, beginning my career in my hometown with San Diego City Schools as an upper-grade teacher and literacy peer coach, working primarily with emergent bilingual and refugee students. Teaching later took me abroad to Valencia, Venezuela. It was during my time in Venezuela that I met my husband, Robert, a passionate educator whose wisdom continues to inspire my work today. When we returned to San Diego, I spent ten years teaching at High Tech High Explorer Elementary before my family and I moved to Hawaii to help open an elementary school at the Asia Pacific International School on Oahu’s North Shore. After a wonderful year there, we returned home to San Diego, where I worked with the Center for Research on Equity and Innovation at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education, and later became a founding staff member at High Tech Elementary Mesa.

My teaching is rooted in creating culturally responsive, project-based, and service-oriented learning experiences that nurture students both academically and emotionally. I believe classrooms should be joyful places where every student feels a deep sense of belonging and has the opportunity to grow into their best selves. Outside of school, I love being outdoors, practicing yoga, hiking, dance, traveling, live music, and exploring new learning opportunities. Most of all, I cherish time with my two kids—my son, now in 10th grade, and my daughter, in 7th—our two pups, and family and friends.