Stacey Alonso is a certified elementary educator and English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor. She received her BS in Early Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and taught pre-kindergarten, first and second grade students for five years. During her time as a teacher, she developed a Spanish immersion program in her classroom where all students learned to read, write and speak in both English and Spanish. Her success developing a Spanish immersion program led her to begin an educational consulting business where she trained numerous school districts to develop or improve their Spanish immersion, bilingual or ESL programs. She is now the proud mother of two boys and is thrilled that her sons have been a part of the Aprende con Amigos family.

Through her experiences as a teacher and consultant, Stacey Alonso observed first-hand how children learn differently, have individual interests and excel in different areas. Therefore, she believes the educational approach at Aprende con Amigos should directly reflect, support, and implement a variety of philosophies, methods and strategies to meet the needs, interests and abilities of all students. Applying one philosophy or approach limits the ability to provide a well-balanced learning environment that meets the strengths and needs of all of its children.

Mariza Fonseca was born in Hermiston, Oregon and spent her early years taking road trips to Jalisco, Mexico with her parents. Mariza’s parents were born in San Luis Soyatlan, Jalisco, a small town near Lake Chapala and Guadalajara. Both parents immigrated to the United States in the mid ‘70s, but the rest of the family still resides in Jalisco, Mexico.These trips were fantastic and memorable and full of family and culture.

While Mariza was growing up in the United States, it was very important to her family to preserve the Spanish language, so Mariza’s mother emphasized the importance of speaking exclusively Spanish at home. Thanks to the encouragement of her mother and father, Mariza speaks and writes with proficiency in Spanish, and she is able to translate conversation simultaneously. Mariza enjoyed her younger years translating for her parents and for any person that seemed to need a translator.

Mariza continued using her translation skills and knowledge of the Spanish language as an adult, teaching two years as an ESL assistant to elementary school children. Mariza was also employed for three years at a childcare center working with children ranging from infant to p reschool age. Mariza moved to Portland in 2001 and lives happily with her 3 year old son Isaac, and her partner Brett. Mariza feels that to keep the language alive, practice is of utmost importance. Some of her practice includes reading Spanish literature by authors such as Pablo Neruda and Ignacio M. Altamirano. Aside from her fondness of the Spanish language, she also loves painting and is close to finishing a degree in Fine Arts.We are thrilled to have Mariza return this school year as both a Spanish Teacher and Substitute Director.

Monica Montiel was born and raised in Indiana. She graduated from Indiana University in 1999 with a bachelors degree in General Studies, focusing on Social and Behavioral Sciences. After graduation, she moved to Portland and began working with severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents in a secure setting. During her time there, she realized that over and over, classroom teachers were the first to notice signs of abuse and neglect, but often it took years for the children to receive help. This led Monica to think of becoming a teacher. Since she had experienced the far end of the spectrum, maybe she could be more helpful at the beginning of it. Trying to tie in education with her love of social work, she accepted a position partnering with Portland Public Schools teaching Social Skills and Anger Management and then became the Transition Specialist in a special middle-school behavior classroom. During summers off, she was a student at Portland State University fulfilling the pre-requisites for the Graduate Teacher Education Program.

In 2003, Monica graduated from Portland Stateís program with a 4.0 and a Masters degree in Elementary Education Curriculum and Instruction. She taught for two years in Lake Oswego and then moved to Arizona to teach in a low-income school in Phoenix. The majority of her students spoke Spanish as their first language and most of their parents did not speak any English. Monica loved her years of teaching there and the opportunity to use the Spanish she had learned from her Mexican husband to communicate with the parents. She held conferences and wrote notes home in Spanish, and translated conferences for other teachers.

After giving birth to her first son, she decided to only work part-time in order to spend more time at home with him. She taught Spanish classes in an after-school program and taught English as a second language to adults and children. Then, she took a position at a private school teaching Spanish to Early Childhood, Kindergarten, and First Grade students. She loved sharing her love of the Spanish language and culture with the children.

Upon deciding to return to Portland, Monica and her husband were elated to find Aprende con Amigos. The dual-language preschool was a perfect fit for their bi-cultural, bilingual family. They were even more excited when Monica was offered an English teaching position. Because it is a safe and caring environment where children can learn in both Spanish and in English, Monica feels Aprende is a perfect match for her both personally and professionally. Since giving birth to her second son in May, Monica has returned to the growing ACA family part-time in order to balance the needs of her family.

Julie Taylor was born in Spokane, WA and raised in Hood River, OR. She began babysitting in middle school and had lots of exposure to the teaching world since both her parents were teachers. Following high school, Julie attended Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR and studied Psychology and English Literature. While there, she interned at Head Start for an Early Childhood Education class, and got her first glimpse into how exciting working with children could be.

Following college, Julie joined Americorps and worked as a Volunteer Coordinator for the SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) program in NE Portland elementary school. Working in a school environment was exciting and challenging, and after her service to Americorps was over, she pursued several jobs that allowed her to work further with preschool and elementary-aged children, including one at the Portland Children's Museum. Finally, she realized that teaching really was something that she was passionate about, and she went back to school at the University of Portland to get her Masters Degree in Elementary Education.

Since then, Julie has been a full-time nanny for almost five years, working with children ranging from infant to six years old. When she discovered that there was an opportunity to work again in a school setting with preschool-aged children, she jumped at the chance. She recognizes that preschool is a time of immense curiosity and discovery, and she loves the energy and honesty that comes with that age. She is excited to be a part of the Aprende con Amigos family!

Nahir Perez-Asfall was born in Panama City, Panama and moved to Portland, OR at age 8. Upon her arrival to the US, she attended Beach Elementary and was enrolled in ESL classes because she did not speak any English. Having gone through an ESL program herself to learn English, she personally understands the amount of work it takes to acquire a second language. Throughout her schooling she worked very hard to perfect her English and keep up with her schoolwork. At home her mother wanted to make sure she would never forget her Spanish and her culture. During the weekends and on other school breaks, she had to practice her reading and writing and was only allowed to speak in Spanish to her mother, which she still does until this day.

Throughout middle school and high school she did a lot of babysitting for her neighbors and was a volunteer at her younger sisterís school for many years. Following high school, Nahir earned her associateís degree in science and went on to work as a medical assistant for two years. After getting laid off, she realized that she really missed working with children. She volunteered at a local preschool and also at a private school where she was offered a position as a preschool teacher assistant. Meanwhile, she went back to school and received her Bachelorís in Human Development from Warner Pacific in 2011. She has truly fallen in love with teaching and is working towards applying to graduate school for her masterís in Education. Nahir is very excited to have the opportunity to share her love and passion for teaching little ones and is thrilled to be a part of Aprende Con Amigos.

Jenny Almendarez was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. As a child, she remembers being fascinated by kids from other cultures who spoke other languages at home. When she finally reached high school, she enrolled in Spanish and quickly found that not only was it her favorite subject, but also was the subject that came most naturally to her as well. She finished high school taking honors Spanish, and moved on to college choosing Spanish as her major.

In 2004, she graduated from Portland State University with a B.A. in Spanish and a Certificate in Chicano/Latino Studies. While attending the university, she had the opportunity to volunteer at a local elementary school, helping students in a Spanish native literacy class. This experience helped her to realize she wanted to work with kids.

In the fall of 2004, Jenny started working for the Gresham-Barlow District and spent 6 years as an Educational Assistant. During this time, she made the decision to further her career in education and returned to Portland State as a graduate student in the Bilingual Teacher Pathway program.

In 2010, Jenny received her Masters of Elementary Education (M.Ed), and began working as a substitute teacher to gain more classroom experience. She soon found though, that she missed being part of a staff and was longing for the relationships she forms with students. Jenny was delighted to have stumbled upon Aprende con Amigos. She immediately found the warm, family-like atmosphere, as well as the emphasis on the Spanish language to be a perfect fit for her. As the wife of a native Spanish speaker, she also felt that Aprende con Amigos would be the perfect learning environment for their future children one day!

Amy is a certified Early Childhood and Elementary Educator. Her desire to make a difference in the world, lead her into the field of education. She began her college experience learning how to speak, read and write Spanish earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish Language and Literature. After a short break from school, she went back and earned her Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Pacific University in 2011.

Amy has worked in various school settings including teaching preschool to migrant students and teaching English as a Second language while studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain. Personally, she is happy to have found a school at which to work that shares her own philosophy of education. If you would like to learn more about Amy, please visit her website.