Teachers

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Lisa Black, Director, Mentor Teacher and Teacher

As Director, Mentor Teacher and Teacher, I keep myself close to the classroom.  I am pleased to serve on the Gavilan Advisory Council as the representative for private preschools.   I will be mentoring teachers this year and teaching in the two/three’s classroom.

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Tiffany Carlson

Mrs. Tiffany Carlson
My name is Tiffany Carlson. This is my fifth year teaching at St. John’s. I have had the privilege of teaching the Two/Three/Fours combination class, the Three/Fours, and Pre-K/Jr.K classes.  I received my Bachelor’s Degree from Santa Clara University and later studied Child Development at Gavilan College.  In addition, I have attended workshops for Positive Discipline, Zoo-phonics, and Learning Without Tears.
My husband and I have two wonderful boys, who both graduated from St. John’s.  We keep busy with sports practice and games. We love to go to the park to run off energy. I’m excited to share the upcoming school year with each of you and our wonderful St. John’s community.

 

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Katrina Lomas

Katrina Lomas

I’m excited to get to know each of you. My family and I have lived here for seven years. My husband is a Morgan Hill native. I am from Santa Rosa, CA.  When I’m not at St. John’s, I look forward to spending family time at our cabin. I enjoy dirt biking, going on walks at the beach, and having adventures with my kids.

I have been teaching Pre-K/Jr. K at St. John’s for a little over three years. As a teacher, I am committed to ongoing learning and improvement. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. I worked as a School Readiness Family Advocate helping families prepare their children for kindergarten by connecting them to local resources, providing parent workshops, and offering home visits through the Parent as Teachers program. While I stayed home with my four children, I participated in a preschool co-op group where we rotated teaching our children using Joy School, Mother Goose Time, & Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. When my youngest child was in preschool I began teaching part time at his school while taking child development classes. I’m currently enrolled at Cerro Coso Community College and working towards my Master Teacher Permit. I am a member of Pre-K Pages, The Teaching Tribe, which offers ongoing training, online support with other Pre-K teachers, and curriculum. I LOVE what I do.

My core teaching philosophy is that children learn best through play and in the context of loving, nurturing relationships.  I lean more towards process activities rather than product. Learning is more meaningful when children are interested in what’s being taught and engage in the process of planning, preparing, inventing, and creating. I believe that children need to learn vertically rather than horizontally; meaning I would rather spend more time on one subject and dive deep, than stay on the surface of many topics. In the classroom, we learn to be respectful, kind, and safe. We also learn to work hard, play hard. I enjoy being silly and I am okay with the happy noise of productive play.

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Ms. Claudia Carmody

Hi! I am Ms. Claudia and I am happy to be returning to St. John’s for a third year. Both my sons are now former St. John’s students. My family and I love the St. John’s community.

I was born and raised in the Bay Area and was a nanny for many years. During that time, I was also taking child development classes and in 2007 I started working at St. Timothy’s and worked there for about seven years. I am passionate about teaching and looking forward to another year with the 3/4s. Such a wonderful age! I had the pleasure of attending the Learning Without Tears workshops this summer and I am very excited to implement what I learned and introduce the children to the awesome materials.

When I am not teaching, I am with my husband, two sons, Braden, 4th grade, Benjamin, 1st grade and our German Shepherd dog Xiggo. We enjoy spending lots of time outdoors. Some of my favorite things are cooking, photography, summer, shopping, anything patriotic, and staying active. You can also find me volunteering at St. Catherine’s.

Looking forward to a year of leaning, fun, and adventure. I can’t wait to get to know all of you.

Love,

Ms. Claudia

 

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Ms. Claire Kupfer

Hi, my name is Claire Kupfer. I was one of the teachers that taught Pre-k last year, and I am looking forward to the ¾’s class this fall! I have been a nanny for over six years, and worked at a preschool in San Jose a couple years ago. I love being creative and learning new things alongside kids as they explore this wonderful world. This past year of working at St. John’s has been such a privilege. We have a great team of teachers who are loving and supportive, so it’s a great environment to work in. I’m currently in the process of receiving my associates degree at a community college and then transferring to a university to get my bachelors and teaching credentials. When I’m not at St. John’s or studying, you might find me sipping a hot tea at Coffee Guys or hiking up El Toro. I can’t wait to meet all of you!

Ms. Claire

 

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Kolleen Vance

Kolleen Vance:

I am a graduate of SJSU, holding a BS in Child Development, with a minor in Special Education.  In 2006, after spending years at home with my children, I returned to work as an Early Interventionist, serving children with developmental disabilities in a classroom setting as part of California’s Early Start program.  This meant working closely with service agencies, parents and children using a whole child/family approach.   In 2013 I transitioned to became a Developmental Specialist, delivering those same services in each child’s home.  I am excited to be serving children in an inclusive classroom setting once again.  My husband and I have resided in Morgan Hill since 1999.  We have two grown children.
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Reyna Ceja

My name is Reyna Ceja, I been married for 8 years, I have two boys, Paul (1st grade), Angel (kindergarten), and we are also raising my little cousin Elizabeth (10th grade). When I’m not teaching I like to spend time with family camping, bike riding, take trail walks, go to parks and play sports.
For 10 years I was in the medical field as an optician.  I went back to school and got my Certificate for Medical Administrative Assistant from the National Health career Association and  I received my CMAA license.  I went back to school and took child development classes.   I am currently working towards my child development degree. I did my student teaching hours at St John’s and I was very honored to  join the staff as one of the teachers in the 2/3’s classroom.  I love working with children and support families in any way possible.
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Daisy Brick

Daisy Brick

Hi,  I’m Miss Daisy and I’m excited to be just beginning my journey as a teacher here at St John’s. For the last three years I’ve had the great privilege of being a stay a home mom to my two beautiful children. I’m looking forward to utilizing all I’ve learned in my child development education.
When I’m not working I enjoy quality time spent with my husband, children and our black lab.

 

 

 

Ebelia Franco
My name is Ebelia Franco, I was born in Jerez, Zacatecas Mexico. I have three children, one boy, Alejandro and two girls, Rosario and Noemi. I have two grandchildren, Destiny (9) and Jhovanny (2) with whom I enjoy spending my free time. I attended Gavilan College in 2003, where I got my ESL and courses in child development. I have years of  experience working with children since 2004 when I began working for CDC and in 2011, I began to work at Learning and Loving Center. I also have 25 years of experience teaching third grade catechism in my parish. I am very passionate about working with children and happy to join the St. John’s team.

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Amanda Serrano

Amanda Serrano
I am Amanda Serrano, and the teacher for the 2’s/3’s classroom. I am so excited to be on the St.John’s teaching team. I am a mother to Elena, 3 year old & a student at St. Johns, and Sophia, a 5 years old. I believe I was born to work with people and build relationships. I have always been filled with love for others, and am a true extrovert. I have such a passion for child development and business. I started babysitting at the age of 13 years old, and worked with children throughout high school and college in nannying jobs, camp counselor and child care facilities. But I also had a love for business, and decided that is what I would get my major in. I graduated from California State University, Chico with a BS in Marketing and option in Sales back in 2010. I worked for corporate sales at a Fortune 500 for 4 years and then ran my division of a promotional marketing company for the last 5 years. I felt the pull back into child development after I had my two daughters, and went back to school to get child development units. I am so in love with this path in life, that I plan to get my Master’s in Child Development and Counseling. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such a welcoming community as I start my first year of teaching at St. John’s. My teaching philosophy is learning through play and following the child’s lead. I find it so important to observe and listen to each individual child’s need, and think that teaching should adapt to the child. I am very open and encourage all parent’s to reach out to me if you have any questions or needs. I want your child’s first experiences with school to build confidence and be tons of fun!!
I look forward to meeting you all!