This broad experience contributes to our creative learning environment. They come from different countries throughout the Spanish-speaking world, which creates a diversity that adds a special cultural dimension to our program.

Viva el Español is growing!  We are currently hiring teachers and teacher's aides.  If you are interested in teaching at our school, please fill out the Employment Application and send it to 3451 Golden Gate Way, Lafayette, CA  94549 or FAX it to 925-962-9127.  If you have a current resume, please also include that.  ¡Gracias!

Margaret Grover-Roos 

Founder/Director

Margaret was born and raised in Mexico City and speaks Spanish fluently.  She moved to the United States to attend Stanford University, where she received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering.  Margaret had a successful career as a senior marketing executive at various software and Internet companies.  Now a resident of Lafayette, Margaret is raising her three children to be trilingual. With the opening of ¡Viva el Español! she is combining her passion for foreign languages with her experience in business management to provide a high-quality and fun Spanish language program for children in the East Bay.  In addition, Margaret is well known in the Lafayette community for her volunteer efforts with the Lafayette Juniors, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and local PTA organizations.

When not working at ¡Viva el Español!, Margaret can be seen swimming, biking and running in Lamorinda as she trains for her next triathlon.

Maria Fernanda Acuña

Spanish Teacher/Music Director

Born and raised in Venezuela, Maria brings a wide range of skills to ¡Viva el Español!.  Maria has a B.A. in Hispanic Studies and Literature from Mills College.  In addition, she has experience as a Bilingual Environmental Educator at the Headlands Institute in Sausalito, teaching Spanish-speaking children about environmental issues.  She has taught Spanish at the elementary school level, and has tutored groups of children in language and math skills.

Maria is a professional musician, playing the Venezuelan cuatro and Latin American percussion.  She is part of the ensemble Quijeremá.  Maria is currently using her talents as a musician to engage children in the Playsongs Spanish-language program in San Francisco. 

We are delighted that Maria will use her gifts to broaden the musical, cultural, and environmental awareness of children in our program.

Allison Fernandez

Marketing Manager

Allison Fernández is an experienced teacher who has lived in Granada, Spain and Santiago, Chile. She graduated from University of California, San Diego with a B.A. in Studio Arts and a double minor in World Music and Latin American Studies.

Allison's love and enthusiasm for working with children is immediately evident. She is fully bilingual, has taught Spanish to elementary aged children, and has nearly four years experience training and teaching music and arts classes at Gymboree Play & Music.

Jorge Liceaga

Spanish Teacher – Parent & Me “Música” Class

Jorge has nineteen years of experience as a flamenco guitarist and has accompanied flamenco dancers of all statures.  He also has over six years experience playing the Cuban tres guitar as part of the group Cascada de Flores.

In his home town of Mexico City, Jorge composed, arranged and performed in musical programs and recording for children of all ages.  Working as a teachers assistant at a kindergarten in Mexico City for eight years, he delighted students with his music and kid-loving personality, and was responsible for the creation of a yearly musical performance.

Jorge plays a wide range of instruments from all over Latin America, including conga, bongo, xylophone, teponaztles, atabales, the Peruvian cajón, guitarra de son, jarana guitar, huapanera guitar, vihuela guitar, and bajo sexto guitar.  Wow!  We are looking forward to learning about all these instruments – and some great new songs in Spanish – from Jorge!

Carla Brown

Director, Elementary School Programs / Spanish Teacher

Carla was born and raised in Lima, Peru.  She holds an Early Childhood Education teaching credential.  She has experience working with families of many different backgrounds, in after school programs in rural areas of Peru and at The Child Day Schools in Moraga. Having studied architecture in her native country Perú, Carla brings to her students tremendous visual and artistic skills.  Carla is very creative, and works to provide a fun and stimulating environment in her teaching approach.

In her free time Carla enjoys traveling, practicing yoga, reading, and exploring new culinary flavors.

Patricia Basto

Spanish Teaching Associate

Originally from Columbia, Patricia holds a BS in Communications from Universidad Dr. Jose Matías Delgado in El Salvador.  Patricia’s educational experience is in the corporate world, training sales personnel for Belcorp, both in El Salvador and in the Bay Area.  She is dynamic, and is looking forward to changing her educational focus to working with kids.  She says “Teaching kids fills me with positive energy; to feel that they are learning and enjoying class is very gratifying to me”.  In her free time, Patricia enjoys reading, movies, board games, sports and nature.

Lidia Masamori

Teacher’s Assistant

While Lidia was born and raised in Pacific Grove, Lidia’s roots are from Oaxaca, Mexico.  Lidia holds a B.S. in Advertising from the Art Institute of California.  She has over five years of experience in the non-profit sector, working for organizations that specialize in programs designed primarily for children and their families – The Monterey Bay Aquarium, The San Francisco Zoological Society, and The Tech Museum of Innovation.

Heidy Cruz

Teacher’s Assistant

Heidy holds a B.A. in English from the Universidad Tecnologica de El Salvador.  She has experience teaching English to elementary school-aged children, as well as at the university level in El Salvador.  She has used her bilingual skills extensively in an administrative capacity in the chiropractic field in clinics in Costa Rica, Peru and currently in Walnut Creek.  Heidy is creative, calm, and patient.  She loves working with children!

Wendy de la Cruz

Teacher’s Assistant

Wendy has experience teaching children a second language, as she worked as a community English instructor in her hometown of Tecalitlan, Jalisco in Mexico.  She also has experience as a teacher’s assistant in Kindergarten.  Wendy holds a bachelor’s degree in tourism from the Universidad de Colima.  Wendy is the proud mother of a two year old girl.

Farid de la Ossa

Spanish Teacher

Originally from Colombia, Farid is now in his third year teaching Spanish with Viva el Español.  He has also worked as an after-school tutor helping Hispanic students with their homework, and at Marin Academic Center assisting in a classroom for kids with behavioral problems.   Farid holds a Certificate in Child Development with specialization in school-aged children from City College of San Francisco.  He also holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Industrial de Santander, and has several years experience working in that field.  Farid also holds a Masters of Divinity from the Catholic Theological Union.  Farid is an accomplished artist who translates his thoughts and feelings about the environment, his inner sense of spirituality, and his appreciation of theology into creative images.

Lina del Roble

Spanish Teacher

Lina del Roble was born and raised in Mexico City and has worked in Hispanic/Latino and Brazilian media communications, education and the performing arts throughout her entire professional career. She holds an M. A. in Bicultural Bilingual Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She was an Artist-in-Education for the Texas Commission on the Arts, the San Antonio Dept. of Arts & Cultural Affairs, the San Antonio Independent School District and the San Antonio Dance Umbrella. She was also a full-time Spanish teacher for grades Pre K-through 4th at the prestigious San Antonio Academy for three years. In addition to teaching dance for over 30 years, Lina has extensive training and experience as a linguist, singer and "teatrista", with associations to many multicultural arts organizations and institutions. She has worked with children of all ages, cultures and ethnicities and is passionate about arts-in-education programming. Her Spanish classes are engaging, interactive and culturally enriching!

Lucia Díaz

Spanish Teacher

Lucia holds a dual BA in Chicano/a Studies and Black Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara.  She was awarded the Carlos Ornelas Service Award for dedicated service to the community by the Department of Chicano/a Studies for her work in developing and delivering outreach programs for Latino youth, offering cultural empowerment and motivation to attain a higher education.  Lucia is fully bilingual, and has experience teaching science to 1st – 4th graders, as well as extensive experience tutoring elementary and middle school students in math and science.  Lucia brings an enthusiastic and playful style to her Spanish classes.

Jessica Durán

Spanish Teacher

Jessica has experience as an art and computer teacher in Kindergarten in her native country, El Salvador.  She is a natural teacher, with a calm style and inviting personality that children are immediately attracted to.  In addition to teaching at Viva el Español, Jessica is a pre-school teacher at My Spanish Village.  She is currently taking child development classes at Los Medanos College, working toward her associate teacher credential.  Jessica holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of El Salvador. 

Selene Durán

Spanish Teacher

Selene holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the Culiacan Institute of Technology in Culiacan, Mexico.  In addition to several years experience working in that field, Selene worked as a Spanish Teacher Assistant at Tennyson High School in Hayward last school year. She has also studied and taught Jazz dance.  Selene comes from a family of educators, both of her parents working as teachers for more than 3 decades in Mexico.  She says "I love my roots, and I want to share with kids the wealth of the Spanish language".

Marilyn Govindjee

Spanish Teacher

Marilyn has over 15 years of experience teaching bilingual kindergarten and first grade in San Jose and East Palo Alto, California.  She holds a BA in Bilingual-Bicultural Elementary Education from the University of Northern Colorado, and an MA in Second Language Acquisition from Stanford University.  Marilyn is fluent in Spanish and German, and is raising her two sons trilingually.

Martha Gutiérrez

Spanish Teacher

Martha is now in her second year teaching elementary school children with Viva el Español.  A native of Bogota, Colombia, she is currently pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education.  Martha has a degree in airline and hotel services from the Colombian School of Hotels and Tourism (ECOTET).  She worked for Avianca Airlines as a Flight Attendant and Cabin Director, supervising and coordinating the duties of in-flight crew, conducting flight operations, and maintaining high standards of customer service.  In her free time Martha enjoys cycling, running, Pilates, and the outdoors.  She is also passionate about decoupage on wood.

Susan Irish

Spanish Teacher

Susan was born and raised in a bilingual home, her mother's family being from Piura, Peru.  Susan spent many family vacations in Peru, and lived there for several years as an adult where she taught ESL at the University of Piura.  She also lived in Salamanca, Spain. Susan has a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine, where she majored in Spanish with an emphasis in literature. She is fully bilingual.

Susan has experience working with kids of all ages.  She was the Director of Children and Youth Ministries for Church of the Messiah in Santa Ana, California.

Susan is musically gifted, and looks forward to practicing karaoke in Spanish with her students.  She is particularly gifted in teaching Spanish to teens.  When not teaching, Susan enjoys traveling, playing sports, and playing with her dog Gino.

Vianca Jensen

Site Manager / Spanish Teacher

A native of Panama, Vianca studied marketing and sales at Universidad Latina de Panama.  A highly motivated young parent with unlimited personal initiative, Vianca is the proud mother of a six year old boy, and three year old girl.  She has been very active at her children’s pre-school, where she developed lesson plans for year-long activities for children to learn Spanish, and served as a teacher’s assistant.  She also volunteered as treasurer of the PTA for two years.  In Panama, Vianca had a successful career in accounting, bringing excellent administrative skills to her position as Site Manager of Viva el Español.

Alfredo Lopez

Spanish Teacher

A native of Bogota, Colombia, Alfredo has extensive experience as an educator, specializing in health and community education.  He has worked with the Colombian Red Cross, American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, and currently works as an Outreach Worker with La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland.  Alfredo holds a Doctor of Optometry from Universidad de La Salle in Colombia.  He joins Viva el Español to continue developing professionally as an educator, expand his skill set, and share his native language, culture and dramatic arts talents with children.

Cesar Martinez

Spanish Teacher

A native of Toluca, Mexico, Cesar studied Accounting at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional in Mexico City.  He has experience working as a summer programs counselor in Mexico, where he helped children with their school work, offered enrichment activities and taught them how to swim.  Cesar also has experience teaching illiterate adults how to read and write.  At Viva el Español Cesar has taught a wide range of ages and proficiencies, from 1st grade beginning students, to bilingual elementary school students, to Los Chavos (teens), with whom he has a particularly great connection.  He loves to teach and says “I feel like I’m a child again when I work with children”.

Diana Merlo

Spanish Teacher

A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Diana worked in the after-school bilingual Spanish program at Alvarado Elementary School.  She has experience tutoring students in both Argentina and California from a variety of different intellectual and economic backgrounds.  She is sensitive, creative and a deep thinker, and is able to connect with kids of all types.  Diana enjoys sharing not only her native language with her students, but the culture, foods and songs of various parts of Argentina.  She is now in her third year teaching with Viva el Español. Diana has worked as a librarian and in the scientific field, and enjoys teaching science as well.

Aracely Menendez

Spanish Teacher

Aracely is a native of Puerto Barrios, Izabal, Guatemala.  She has worked with and cared for children infants through elementary school aged for over 12 years.  She is thrilled to be back teaching at Lafayette Elementary this year, where she taught last year.  As a teacher with Viva el Español, Aracely is patient and calm, yet challenges each student to do their best work.  She enjoys teaching as part of the Viva el Español team because she shares our educational philosophies and sees great value in our well-planned and organized curriculum that is tailored to students’ interests and Spanish levels. Aracely also started a business importing and selling organic products from Guatemala, including coffee, and macadamia soaps and skin creams.

Maria Morales
Spanish Teacher

Maria was born in Guatemala, and moved to the United States at the age of four.  She was raised in Brooklyn, New York, in a Hispanic community filled with all kinds of Latin flavors.   She attended an all-Spanish elementary school, and the love and passion that was shown to Maria by her teachers at that school has driven Maria to want to “give back”.  She has experience leading educational youth groups with an organization called Youth Encounter, where she lead children in acting out short dramas, making up puppet shows, leading arts & crafts workshops, and playing games.  This is Marias second year teaching with Viva el Español.  Maria says “to help our younger generations understand Spanish is not just about a language; it is about a culture, a people, a passion.”  

Monica Monteza
Spanish Teacher

Monica holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Piura in Piura, Peru.  She has over 10 years of experience teaching children in a wide range of classroom setting and age groups, from toddlers through elementary school.  At Viva el Español she teaches Parent & Me, Pre-School and Elementary School classes.  She has developed the curriculum for several of our Summer Camps and is sought out for her excellent private lessons.  Monica is very creative and energetic both as an individual and as a teacher.  She is very committed to her work as a teacher and keeps up with the most effective teaching methods by attending workshops and researching new ideas.

Ana Murphy
Spanish Teacher

A native of Medellín, Colombia, Ana holds a B.S. in Systems Engineering.  As her youngest son graduates from college, Ana leaves her career as a software developer and joins Viva el Español to pursue her lifelong passion for teaching Spanish.  Ana has worked as a Professor of Computer Science at the University of San Buenaventura in Medellín, and has over 8 years experience teaching computer skills to children.  In her free time, Ana enjoys spending time with her family, dancing salsa with her husband, and practicing yoga.

Martha Navarro

Spanish Teacher

A native of Jalisco, Mexico, Martha holds degrees as both a pre-school and elementary school teacher.  She has over 8 years of experience teaching, including pre-school, kindergarten and third grade.  Martha brings much knowledge and enthusiasm to her classes and likes to sing and dance.  She decided to become a teacher because she enjoys giving children basic tools to help them throughout their lives.  Martha is thrilled to be working at Viva el Español as a great opportunity to share and learn new teaching methods and strategies.

Claudia Ots

Spanish Teacher

Born and raised in Argentina, Claudia has over 20 years teaching experience.  She has taught P.E., gymnastics, swimming and Spanish to kids of all ages.  She is very dynamic and a passionate educator:  she sees any moment in everyday life as a teaching opportunity.  Claudia is the proud mother of two girls ages 4 and 8, whom she is raising bilingually.

Karina Paz

Spanish Teacher 

A native of La Paz, Bolivia, Karina is fluent in English, Spanish and French.  She holds a BS in Telecommunications from the University of Florida.  After a successful career in the business world, Karina followed her talents and passion as a dancer, and has been a dance and music instructor for children and adults for 10+ years, ranging from ballet, to flamenco to Latin jazz and more.  She also has experience teaching Spanish to elementary school-aged children, and has taught parent/child musical gymnastics programs at Gymboree.

Fernando Pérez

Spanish Teacher

Fernando holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education from Arcis University in his native Santiago, Chile.  As a history major, Fernando brings to Viva el Español a wealth of knowledge about Latin-American history and culture.  He has experience teaching at the high school level, both in Chile and locally in Berkeley.  Fernando also has experience working with children, as a volunteer for the Boys & Girls Club of Seattle, where he lead after-school programs for children from low-income families, helping them with their homework and leading athletic programs.  Fernando’s educational philosophy is to teach while learning from his students.  He believes in teaching to their interests in order to maximize the personal connection they have of the topic at hand, and therefore their learning.

Ricardo Rodriguez

Spanish Teacher

Ricardo holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Education as a Spanish teacher, and an MBA, both from Garcilaso de la Vega University in Lima, Peru.  He has experience teaching at the pre-school level at KISS, a Spanish immersion pre-school, as well as at the university level, teaching Spanish at Diablo Valley College.  For the past three years he has also coached kids soccer programs all over the East Bay, in a fun and relaxed environment encouraging teamwork, effort and sportsmanship.  Ricardo is an avid athlete and enjoys participating in many sports in his free time.

Viviana Suárez-Curoso

Spanish Teacher

Viviana holds a B.S. in Education from Millersville University of Pennsylvania.  She has experience as a multiple-subject teacher in an elementary school bilingual program in her native country of Chile, as well as an elementary school English, math, science and art teacher.  Viviana also has experience teaching Spanish to elementary and middle school aged children.  She has special talents in the areas of art and theater that she looks forward to using to enrich her Spanish classes.

Maykel Vargas

Spanish Teacher

A native of Havana, Cuba, Maykel has a music degree from the Escuela Vocacional de Arte Juan Pablo Duarte.  He is a talented saxophone player, dancer and artist.  Maykel joined Viva el Español as a way of contributing to young people in his community, and he brings a very creative, musical and inventive approach to his teaching style.

Araceli Vasquez

Spanish Teacher

Araceli’s entire career has revolved around working with children – whether as a day care center coordinator, nanny, or Spanish teacher.  She has over 8 years experience working with children infant to elementary school aged.  She is passionate about teaching, and has demonstrated special skills in getting children to sing, speak and present their work all in Spanish with amazing ease.  Araceli’s heritage is from Mexico, and she enjoys walking and being in nature.  In her free time she is dedicated to taking care of herself physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Ester Vines

Spanish Teacher

A native of Chile, Ester has been teaching Spanish for over 7 years.  She has taught children of all ages, from toddlers through middle school.  She is now in her third year with Viva el Español.  Ester is patient, caring and committed to helping her students learn.  She is also a certified hypnotherapist, holds a certificate in medical biomagnetism. In her free time Ester enjoys watercolor and oil painting, and riding her bike.