Mrs. Valerie Mena is looking forward to a blessed year working alongside all the wonderful families at St. John Vianney Academy.

She is passionate about her Catholic faith, family, and education and feels honored to serve as Headmistress. She will also be able to continue teaching first and second grade this academic year.

She and her husband of 10 years have four beautiful children. Three of them attend SJVA and her son will be joining the preschool class soon!

Mrs. Mena believes in collaboration between the teachers, families and community to benefit our students who are the future and hope in this world. It is our goal this year to provide our students with a beautiful, classical education in a welcoming and safe environment for them to grow. 

Mrs. Gallaher has been married for 36 years and is a mother of 7 children who were educated in ways including home schooling. She graduated to Grandmother in 2014 and currently has 6 grandchildren. She says that it is exciting to be sharing books with her grandchildren that she first read to her children.  

As an occasional substitute teacher at Saint Sebastian Elementary school and Saint Augustine Academy in Santa Paula, California, she has had the opportunity to educate young students and share her love of science, history and literature.

She believes that the literature that children read should interest them, entertain them, and educate them. 

She believes that it is essential that we teach the children about history and science in our faith. She says that there are many Catholics, even saints, who were scientists and learning about these people can make faith, history and science more interesting. 

Every year that passes teaches her the importance of faith and family. She hopes to encourage those around her to love the Lord first in all they do. 

Mrs. Desme is a Bakersfield native who is married and is blessed with three grown children and five grandchildren.

She enjoys gardening, reading, walking, and traveling to see her grandchildren in Kansas and Florida.  She helps out at St. Francis Church for Monday night dinners.

This is her third year at SJVA after teaching preschool for 9 years at St. Philips.

She is passionate about finding her students strengths and love’s watching them learn.

Mrs. Espitia is a cradle Catholic, born and raised in Bakersfield, California. She married her college sweetheart, also a cradle Catholic, in 1989. She graduated from California State University, Bakersfield, with a BA Degree in Spanish with the intention of teaching high school or college Spanish.

After passing the CBEST and discerning that she may prefer teaching at the elementary level, she became a bilingual substitute teacher for Bakersfield City School District up until having her first child. At that point, she and her husband agreed that she would stay home to raise their family.

That family consisted of two sons who were initially placed in public school. However, after much prayer and discernment, and on account of her and her husband’s desire to educate their sons in the Truths of the Catholic faith, they made the decision to transition to Catholic Classical homeschooling, from their sons’ early elementary years through their high school years.

Fast-forward to today, and now she can happily say that raising her sons in a faithfully Catholic home has been a blessing which has provided many fruits. She and her husband have facilitated a Spanish language bible study at St. Philip Church since 2012. Her husband is a past Grand Knight—and current member--of the Knights of Columbus, and her two sons, Roman and Victor, are Seminarians for the Fresno Diocese. She now joyfully looks forward to serving at St. John Vianney Academy as a 5th/6th grade teacher.

Mrs. Stevens was born and raised in Bakersfield and is one of ten children. She comes from a devout Catholic family and a homeschooling background. Mrs. Stevens was homeschooled alongside her siblings from elementary through their middle school years and is excited to be sharing her faith in the classical school setting now.

Mrs. Stevens graduated from California State University, Bakersfield in 2020 with a bachelors in Child, Adolescent & Family Studies with an emphasis on Early Childhood Education. She is ready to bring her knowledge to work with educating the 3rd and 4th grade class at SJVA.

Mrs. Stevens has happily been married since 2020 and has two beautiful daughters. Her oldest daughter will be attending SJVA starting this fall in the preschool program. 

Mrs. Pierce is teaching the Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten class at SJVA this year.

She and her husband have a beautiful daughter and are natives of Bakersfield. Mrs. Pierce graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a major in Philosophy and a minor in Theology. She received her Masters of Arts from The Augustine Institute.

She has been a teacher at Lourdes Classical School in Denver, along with having experience as a Youth Minister and Program Director at St. Anthony of Padua in Texas.

Mrs. Pierce's mission is to serve her community by imitating Christ and humbly pursuing truth, beauty and goodness.