Meet the team

Maria Montagne

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2010

Maria was born in Venezuela. As a child, she lived in Canada and France, before returning to her home country. By middle school, Maria had realized that she had a penchant for Mathematics and started to tutor her family and friends. Maria has committed herself to sharing her enthusiasm for Mathematics and looks forward bringing this passion to River Oaks Academy families.

Claudia Weintraub

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2013

Claudia grew up in Switzerland and moved to the United States in her early 20’s. She earned her B.A. in English and German at California Lutheran University (CLU), where she graduated summa cum laude. She then went on to receive her single-subject teaching credential in English and her Master’s Degree in teaching from CLU as well. After teaching middle and high school students at local public schools, CLU approached her to teach as a part-time adjunct faculty member in the German and English departments.

When her own kids started to approach college age, she decided to look for full-time work and found a position at a local charter school in Ventura as the Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator. During the time there, she learned as much as possible about independent study charter schools, measurement, and curriculum. She had the privilege to work under the director and was able to participate in such important tasks as the WASC self-study, board presentations, creating math intervention strategies, the graduation committee and more. After that, two other charter schools approached Claudia to build their homeschool programs, which she did for three years. Both programs were successful and had a long waitlist of students.

In 2013 Claudia joined ROA. During her time at ROA, the school successfully renewed its charter twice, received a 6-year WASC re-accreditation and a $600,000 career pathways grant. The school’s student population has tripled in the last two years as well. ROA also opened a second facility in Oxnard three years ago and has moved in July 2020 to a new facility, which offers twice the square footage. The enrollment in Oxnard tripled in the last three years and growth continues at that rate. Claudia considers it a privilege to work with ROA’s dedicated, brilliant and amazing staff and enjoys the daily interaction with the school’s amazing students and families.

During her free time, Claudia loves to work with animals. She used to breed and raise alpacas and worked with the Sheriff’s K9 Search and Rescue team, where she trained her dog, Toby, to be a search and rescue dog. She loves the outdoors, enjoys her sunrise hikes out in the local hills and spends time with her friends and family. Claudia has 3 children. All of them are now pursuing their own passions. Both of her daughters finished veterinary schools and are working in their fields (one with large animals and one with small ones) and her son finished his PhD in psychology and he is working partially as a clinician and partially in research at UCLA.

Jennifer Anderson

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2016

Jennifer is from southern California but has spent years living in northern California and Montana. She received her B.S. in Psychology and her B.A. in Elementary Education from Montana State University and her M.A. From California State University Northridge in Deaf Education. She currently holds a regular Multi Subject Teaching Credential as well as a Special Education Teaching Credential. Jennifer has three amazing kids, two of which she home schooled. She has been married for over 20 years and loves going to the beach with her family and scrap-booking with her girlfriends.

Leslie Maple

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2010

A native born Californian, Leslie was number four out of six children. There were three boys first then, three girls followed. Being the oldest of the girls made her a little bossy. Leslie lived in north Orange County all of her childhood in an obscure place called La Habra. It wasn’t until 1989 did she get the privilege of relocating to beautiful Ventura County. She loves teaching and especially loves reading awesome books.

Moira Fagan Simpson

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2022

Moira has lived in Westlake Village for 21 years with her husband, Greg and son, Jeffrey. After retiring from Westlake High School she has worked at Oak Park High School as a counselor and is now excited to continue counseling at River Oaks Academy. Moira holds a master’s degree in Educational Counseling and a teaching credential.

Moira enjoys playing pickleball, hiking, and spending time with her husband Greg, son Jeffrey and large extended family in the area.

Ludovica Stile

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2022

Ludo was born and raised in beautiful Southern Italy and moved to California in 2019. She earned her Bachelor degree in English and Chinese at l’Orientale in Naples, where she graduated cum laude.

She loves learning new languages, studying computers, drawing, cooking, trying new cuisines and practicing any outdoor activity. She enjoys traveling, playing videogames and spending time with her family and friends.

Samantha Lopez

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2023

Samantha was born and raised in the beautiful state of California. Her education and experience working at many different Education settings has equipped her to support the River Oaks team. As a very active local volunteer, Samantha enjoys helping others and is excited to be a part of ROA! She loves to travel and is always up to trying new things. In her free time, you can find her at the beach, swimming or hiking. She enjoys and values spending time with her husband, Trevor, and family and friends.

Leina Ball

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2014

Leina grew up on the Mendocino Coast of northern California. She earned her bachelors in geography and enjoyed learning about various people and places. Next she pursued her masters in teaching in a constructivist program at Washington State University. Over the last dozen years she has taught all subjects in 4th-8th grades, taught English as a second language to first graders, and tutored foster students K-12th grade in their homes. She earned her national board certification in English and is a teaching consultant for the national writing project.

Until discovering BRIDGES and Ventura charter schools the closest she had come to educating in the spirit she was trained was through the national writing project. In the summer of 2010 she was fortunate to Co-Direct their summer institute which celebrates teachers teaching teachers and teachers who teach writing being writers themselves. She is an avid reader and writer who loves to share her enthusiasm for learning with her students. She also enjoys spending as much time as possible regenerating in nature.

Bambi Brodit

Bambi Brodit is a native Californian who has lived in both Northern and Southern California all her life.  Bambi attended CSULB for her Bachelors Degree, and both CSULA and National University for Graduate School. 

Growing up Bambi was an avid swimmer and her devotion to the sport started her love for working out, a healthy lifestyle and living as much as she can outdoors.  Bambi and her husband's favorite thing to do is spend time together watching their three amazing children play competitive club sports.  

Laura Castro

Laura Castro is a native of Mexico. She is a legal immigrant who in 1995 became a US citizen. After completing high school in Santa Paula, she went to Ventura College and transferred to UC Los Angeles to pursue a degree in Applied Mathematics. After graduating, Laura went on to Cal State Northridge to obtain a bilingual teaching credential on Secondary School Mathematics. Shortly after, Laura went on to acquire a Master's degree/Credential in School Administration at Cal State Northridge. 

Laura brings to ROA a 28-year experience teaching and tutoring middle schoolers in math, science and the Spanish language. When she is not doing that, she loves to spend time with her husband, four children, four grandchildren, Choncho (English bulldog) and Belle (tubby kitty). She has a passion for cooking, which successfully  has passed down to her adult children and not surprisingly to her grandchildren.

Lidia Finocchiaro

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2019

Lidia Finocchiaro grew up in San Luis Obispo, California prior to residing in Ventura County. She attended Cal Poly State University where she earned her Liberal Studies degree and multiple subject credential. She taught elementary school aged children for 12 years and then stayed home after having her son. Lidia enjoys hiking, kayaking, cooking, and traveling amongst many other things.

Jacqueline Gonzalez

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2018

Jackie is an Oxnard native. After high school, she attended Ventura College and transferred to UC Santa Barbara where she received her B.A in History. Jackie went on to pursue her teaching credential in Social Science from the University of La Verne and is currently working on her Masters in Educational Leadership. She hopes to continue her education and earn a Masters in American History. She spent almost ten years working in elementary and middle schools as a literacy tutor and as an after-school coordinator. She comes to ROA with experience working at the high school level and a lot of enthusiasm for working with our students. When not teaching, Jackie is spending time with her husband and her two kitties at home. She loves going to the movies and finding local vegetarian and vegan restaurants to eat at. She enjoys baking and decided to turn that into a small business.

Chris Gostanian

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2019

Chris was born and raised in Ventura County and attended CSUCI for his degree in English and his teaching credentials. He currently resides in Port Hueneme. Chris has been with River Oaks since 2019 and has had a wonderful time helping his students grow.

Chris has two basset hounds who bark at him until he gets out of bed each morning! He also barbecues frequently and does a pretty good job of it. He also enjoys sleeping, which makes him wonder why he became a teacher! Chris always looks forward to meeting new families and discussing where their education goals lie and how to achieve them.

Glenn Hening

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2019

Glenn comes to ROA with three teaching credentials and 25 years of classroom experience in public and private schools in Ventura County, Los Angeles, and Central America. His work experience outside of education includes writing computer code for spacecraft at JPL; conducting environmental impact studies; and, founding the Surfrider Foundation. His two children, Pierce and Helen, now have careers in architecture and the entertainment industry. Glenn is married to the love of his life, Heidi, a yoga teacher. They live a block from the beach in Oxnard Shores, where Glenn can be found riding waves in his free time.

Kathy Jackson

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2012

Kathy is a native Californian. She has lived in Thousand Oaks most of her life. She joined a lively family of four older siblings and then delighted in the addition of a little sister, rounding out the family with six children, 3 boys and 3 girls. She attended local Conejo Valley schools and graduated from Newbury Park High School. She attended Moorpark College and then transferred to Westmont College in Santa Barbara where she majored in Liberal Studies. She did her student teaching in 6th grade at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Barbara and loved every minute of it. She moved back to Ventura County and began teaching in the Conejo Valley, working alongside many teachers who had previously taught her. While subbing, she got her first position at Redwood Intermediate School as an English teacher. After this assignment she was assigned to Colina Intermediate School where she taught social studies, English, and math. After these assignments she went to University Elementary where she taught 6th grade. Between her first two assignments, she returned to California Lutheran University and completed her Master’s Degree in Elementary Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in English. Upon the arrival of their first child, Kathy was grateful to able to “leave” her career in order to stay at home with their children. However, when the Jackson’s first son approached kindergarten, the decision was made to home educate this child, at least until he read fluently. Thus began an unplanned adventure into the world of home education. 20 years later, she has graduated all four sons and gained a daughter in law and a beautiful grandson. Her eldest son is a Mandarin Chinese Linguist with our US NAVY and her second son is a Mechanical Engineer. The youngest are twins who have just begun college at Moorpark and she is excited to see where their gifts and talents will take them. She is returning to her professional role as teacher, hoping the years of parenting have resulted in greater wisdom, compassion and understanding for all students and their parents. She is very active in her community of faith and is involved in several mentoring relationships with other women, young and old!. She enjoys daily hikes into the nearby hills, swimming or boogie boarding at the beach, cooking and baking for her hungry and still growing sons, enjoying her friendships, investing in her own extended family and spending time with her grandson. She is very grateful for the privilege of being a parent and teacher and appreciates the relationships she is developing with her new families at ROA.

Elyse Jaronczyk

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2021

Elyse comes to ROA with over 5 years of experience working in a personalized learning model. She also served in the classroom as a middle school English and history teacher for many years. She met her husband at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and has three active boys who love being outdoors. Her weekends are filled with trips to the beach, hiking, and swimming. She is so blessed to work with all of the fantastic ROA teachers and staff and enjoys collaborating with her amazing families and students.

Ryan Lau

Ryan was born and raised in Camarillo and earned his bachelor's degree and minor in Education from University of California Irvine. He continued on to pursue a general education credential and an education specialist credential from California State University Channel Islands. Ryan has been working in the education field since 2012 working as an Intervention Specialist, Independent study teacher, Distance HomeSchool Teacher, Special Day Class Teacher, and most recently as an Instructional Strategies Support Coach - TOSA. Ryan looks forward to bringing his diverse teaching background to ROA and working with all of the wonderful families.

Ryan currently resides in Oxnard with his wife, baby and dog. When not teaching, Ryan enjoys spending time with his family, camping, hiking, concerts, traveling, bowling, and working on his house or car.

Charles Le Leim

Charles grew up and still resides in Simi Valley.  He attended UCLA for his bachelor's in Biology. While pursuing his doctorate in Optometry, he realized his passion resided in education. Charles joined River Oaks in 2019 and has enjoyed every moment that he gets to spend teaching students the wonders of mathematics. Charles has prior experiences in tutoring mathematics and sciences at the high school and undergraduate levels as well as test prep for entrance exams for doctoral medical programs. 

Charles enjoys cooking and baking. He often uses food and food history as a way to explore new cultures.  He is also an avid collector and builder of plastic model kits. Since discovering the hobby in 2010, he has amassed a substantial collection that still continues to grow steadily.  

Ian McLaren

Ian, a Huntington Beach, CA native, spent his entire childhood in the vibrant coastal city. He pursued higher education at CSU Fullerton, where he successfully earned his B.S. in Child and Adolescent Studies along with a Teaching Credential.

Relocating to Moorpark with his wife, Ian embarked on a fulfilling career in education, dedicating over 12 years to teaching 5th grade in Camarillo. Outside the classroom, Ian and his wife are proud parents to four children who share a passion for baseball, volleyball, and beach camping.  

Sara McGuire

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2018

Sara lives in Camarillo with her two sons, Averian and Lucas, and with her husband, Ian, who is a high school math teacher. She was born in Torrance, California in 1979 and moved to Camarillo when she was 2. She earned her Elementary Teaching Credential from California State University, Chico, and has enjoyed teaching her sons since 2010. She enjoys family activities like hiking, going to the beach, watching The CW’s DC Comic TV shows and/or Marvel superhero movies, swimming, camping, and enjoying time with her extended family who lives here in Ventura County. Her hobbies are practicing the art of mehndi (or henna), gardening, walking, doing anything that has to do with glitter, reading novels and comics, grocery shopping (just kidding) and decoupaging most plain items in her house. Sara loves exploring interests and working with the incredible teachers and families at River Oaks Academy.

Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller grew up in Conejo Valley. She earned her bachelor's degree from UCSD and both her Teaching Credential and Masters degree from California Lutheran University. She taught elementary school before she came to River Oaks Academy. Her enthusiasm for reading inspires students to discover the magic that can be felt from reading a truly amazing piece of literature. Nicole and her fireman husband live happily in their Thousand Oaks home with their two wonderful kids. She spends her free time surrounded by her loving family and walking her spunky golden retriever.

Brooke Quandt

Brooke is a Southern California native with a love of fishing, hiking, and ice hockey. She’s a California Lutheran University graduate with a Bachelors in Chemistry and a Masters in Education. She spends most of her free time playing with her young daughters.

Andrea Reider

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2022

Andrea grew up in Temecula, CA and is the oldest of three sisters. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and teaching credential from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and earned her Masters in Education from Whittier College. Andrea has been teaching middle school science for the last six years and is excited to bring her passion for lifelong learning to River Oaks!

Lisa Ring

Lisa Ring is originally from Northern California and made her way to Cal State Northridge on a gymnastic scholarship. Working with children of all ages through gymnastics and dance, is where she found her love for teaching and working with families.

She has over 35 years of educational experience which include three credentials and a master’s in educational leadership.

River Oaks Academy has developed the true meaning of community and Lisa is very excited to be here!

Melissa Schimmel

Melissa is a southern California native, having lived as far south as Redlands and as far north as San Luis Obispo, as well as a year in Utah. She got her start at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. Her love for creative education led her to pursue a Master’s in Education with a focus on STEM. Along with eight years in the classroom teaching grades 3 and 4, Melissa is especially proud of starting a hands-on makerspace at a K-6 school in Santa Barbara, where she brought new, engaging ways for students to learn. Now, Melissa and her husband homeschool their two young daughters, ages 5 and 7. When she’s not with her family, she loves teaching group fitness, playing the piano, and curling up with a good book.

Crystal Serrano

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2021

Crystal grew up in Mississippi, along the Gulf Coast, where her family were fishermen for generations. After meeting her husband and visiting his family in California, she knew she wanted to live in the abundant sunshine (and without so much humidity)! Crystal earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Southern Mississippi. Before joining River Oaks, she had over 7 years experience teaching in Mississippi and California. She is currently an adjunct Chemistry faculty at Ventura College.

Emily Tagliere

Emily is a SoCal native. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, she knew early on that she wanted to be a teacher. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Cal State University, Northridge and then went on to earn her Teaching Credential and Master’s Degree in Education from Pepperdine University. Emily taught elementary school for ten years and has more recently been homeschooling her own two daughters. She is excited to join the dynamic team at River Oaks and continue to learn new things! Emily enjoys hiking and camping with her family, and reading with her book club. She also loves visiting museums and according to her family, has the annoying habit of wanting to read ALL the signs.

Angeline Ong

Angeline has a bundle of passion for math and she shares it with our students with much enthusiasm. She is a great listener and will work diligently with students to solve problems. She is an amazing part of what makes ROA great.

Deborah Weilbacher

Deborah was born and raised in Northeast Ohio and loves to visit her family there in the Fall. She received her BA and teaching credential from UCSB. She taught for the Oxnard School District for 25 years. Deborah is married, has 2 sons and 2 grandsons. She enjoys traveling, kayaking, exercising, making art and spending time with family and friends.

Jennifer Oden

Jennifer Oden was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minored in Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2011 she received a master’s degree in School Psychology from Loyola Marymount University and began working at the California School for the Blind. Jennifer has worked with children, not only as a School Psychologist, but as a teacher and a summer camp director as well. Besides serving youth professionally, Jennifer is a dedicated mother to her three sons. Jennifer is also passionate about performing arts and adores all animals! 

Mary Beth Adams

Mary Beth was born in Los Angeles shortly after her Irish immigrant parents arrived in California. She has a BA from Northern Arizona University in Biological Sciences. Mary Beth discovered her passion for education as a parent volunteer in her son’s kindergarten classroom. She followed her heart and went on to become a credentialed elementary school teacher and eventually an education specialist in the Santa Barbara School District. 

 Years later, after relocating to Ventura, Mary Beth joined the staff of River Oaks Academy. She loves working with students in ROA’s energetic, interactive, fun and inclusive learning environment! Mary Beth spends her free time with family and friends, attempting art projects, going on easy hikes, taking road trips and exploring - especially in the southwest.

Jackie Derasmo

Jackie (JD) was born and raised in New York, but recently made the cross-country move so that she would have access to hiking trails and beaches, year-round! No more fighting about who will shovel the snow! 

For the last two years, she have been a stay at home mom, and is convinced it’s the hardest job in the world! 

JD has a masters degree in Education, and has been a classroom teacher for 16 years, having taught Environmental Science, Biology, Chemistry, English, Work-skills, and Life-skills.

JD hated school when I was a child, so it's a bit ironic that she's dedicated her career to it, but if she can help one student NOT feel the way she did, then she'll be happy! 

When she's not reading/writing IEPs, you can find JD getting lost in the mountains with her family, daydreaming about travel plans, lifting heavy weights, eating chocolate, or talking about bad reality TV shows.

Sandra Lulow

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2019

Sandra Lulow is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She moved to the San Fernando Valley when she was a child. She completed her Bachelor’s degree and Multiple Subjects teaching credential at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Her first Master’s degree in Speech/Communicative Disorders was earned at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Sandy attended California State University to earn a second Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. She had a once-in-a-lifetime experience of living and working as a speech and language pathologist in Victoria, Australia. In Sandy’s free time, she spends as much time as possible with her children and grandchildren, and works in her new nonprofit which she founded last year. She loves to cook, quilt, and take long walks with her two labs . Sandy has a variety of roles at River Oaks Academy, including speech therapy and special education supervision and mentoring. She loves working in such a warm and welcoming school.

Sherry Mason-Franzino

Sherry has been teaching for 42 years, including at a psychiatric hospital in LA and a federal youth Prison in Colorado. She was a Resource Specialist teaching at a school in Simi Valley as well as at a private Special Education school in Brentwood. She lives in Westlake Village, has a wonderful hubby and 2 sons, and just became a first time granny!! Sherry loves teaching Special Education kiddos and loves her kiddos at River Oaks!

Marygrace Mensinger

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2022

Marygrace earned a BA, multiple subject credential, special education credential and Master’s degree from California State University Northridge.

She retired from SVUSD after teaching 34 years of high school, only to find herself missing teaching and working with students. So, she happily jumped back into teaching at River Oaks Academy.

She is an identical twin, and her sister is very often mistaken for her out in the community.

Mari Notrica

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2019

Mari got her bachelor’s and master’s degree in special education at University of South California. She started her teaching career working for the Los Angeles Unified School District and then worked in a psychiatric hospital, a private school, and a non-public school. Finally, she worked for the Simi Unified School District until her retirement.

She was married for 36 years until the loss of her husband. She has a wonderful daughter and an adorable, handsome and smart grandson. She enjoys spending time with them because they bring so much joy in her life.

Nayri Shmavonian

@ River Oaks Academy Since: 2017

Nayri has over 15 years of experience as a school psychologist. She earned a BA in Child Development from California State University, Northridge and also earned two Master’s Degrees, one in School Counseling and another one in Educational Psychology, from Loyola Marymount University. She enjoys collaborating with teachers, parents, and administrators to find effective solutions to learning and behavior problems.

Randi Zabriskie

Randi was born in California but spent her childhood in Utah. She returned to California to attend UC Berkeley. After traveling the world with her husband, they chose to bring their family to Southern California for its unlimited opportunities to hike and bike and enjoy the great outdoors. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to share her passion for working with children on speech and language development with the wonderful families and faculty at River Oaks Academy.