Staff Directory
Mrs. Jeanette Reyes Principal
Mrs. Reyes has proudly served the South Los Angeles community for over 19 years, pouring her heart into the education and success of its children. She was deeply inspired by the teachers who once believed in her, and now she strives to “pay it forward” by building a school environment filled with love, encouragement, and high expectations. At Ninth Street Elementary, she reminds every Rocket, as Jaime Escalante once said, “all [they] need is ganas”, the drive, heart, and determination to achieve their dreams and goals.
Mrs. Michele Frentzos Pence APEIS
Michele Frentzos-Pence has been an educator for LAUSD for more than 20 years. She says she will always be a teacher first and has taught grades K-5 which included special education and special education preschool. As an administrator, her mission is to ensure that ALL children should have the opportunity to engage in free public education. She enjoys traveling, spending time with family and loves animals, especially pugs!
Mrs. Lobo is a dedicated educator with over 20 years of experience working with K-5 students. She's inspired by her young learners and feels grateful that she gets to spend her days in the classroom teaching and watching her students grow. She loves coffee, reading and spending time outdoors with her family.
Mr. Taylor has worked for LAUSD for over 20 years. He enjoys doing many things in addition to teaching like working after school, summer school, L.A' Best, Beyond the Bell, and tutoring. His favorite and best subject has always been math. Additionally, he has always had a strong passion for sports. His favorites include basketball and baseball. He also has experience coaching teams. Away from work, he likes to go hiking, traveling, watching movies, spending time with family and friends, and going to amusement parts and Museums.
Ms. Perez has worked for LAUSD since 2010. She currently teaches our PAL (Preschool for All Learners) Program and is a lead mentor for the ICAAP (Intern, Credentialing, Added Authorization Program). In addition to being an educator she has been an officer in the United States Navy since 2013. She enjoys working in the community she grew up in and supporting our young learners.
Ms. Guerrero has been a teacher for many years. She has taught all grades from ETK - 5th grade, including Dual Language. However, Ms. Guerrero’s heart is the happiest teaching her “little ones” in Kinder, ETK, and TK at Ninth Street. Ms. Guerrero loves it when her former students visit her and remember what she taught them, and the activities they did together. Ms. Guerrero’s goal is to always provide a rigorous instructional program, while making school fun and a positive experience for all her students. At home, Ms. Guerrero enjoys spending quality time with her family and pets.
Ms. Blake has become more passionate and dedicated to teaching over the years. She has taught different grade levels but mostly TK and Kindergarten. She enjoys encouraging these young minds to be independent and creative. When she is not working, she is usually spending time with her family, going for a walk, or traveling.
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Miss Barriga majored in Liberal Studies at CSUDH. She enjoys being outdoors. She loves to go to the beach, amusement parks, and camping. Something she loves is Starbucks. Miss Barriga has been working at 9th street for 3 years. She has had the experience of teaching Kinder and currently teaching 1st grade for the last 2 years. Miss Barriga has also served as our school Arts Champion for the last 2 years. Miss Barriga loves to work with kids and loves to see the kids learning growth throughout the year.
Ms. Estrada has always enjoyed working with students. She has been an after school program volunteer, teacher assistant, and now a teacher. Her goal/dream was always to be an elementary school teacher and now, she couldn't be any happier. Ms. Estrada enjoys traveling and spending time with her friends and family.
Married for 14 years, Mr. Flores is a proud father to Adriana and Sebastian, both currently in middle school. His greatest joy is embarking on adventures with his family and creating lasting memories together. On weekends, he enjoys going on bike rides with friends and exploring the outdoors.
Miss Hernandez is a Ninth Street Elementary School teacher who graduated from Cal State Los Angeles. She has found a passion for teaching students and her biggest goal is to improve student academic performance and create a space where students feel safe and motivated to learn. She enjoys teaching 5th graders and preparing them for the future. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, and taking her pug to the park.
Ms. Anna Kia 3rd Grade
Ms. Kia has been teaching elementary school for 19 years. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cal State Fullerton in 2000, majoring in Liberal Studies. She loves teaching and believes that children learn best when they are able to use their imaginations to explore and create, using hands-on materials. She includes art and music in every subject. She lives in Glassell Park with her two children, Connor and Chloe. As a family, they like to play at local parks and occasionally join service projects with other neighborhood families and friends from church. Ms. Kia enjoys reading, listening to music, cooking, watching movies, playing board games, solving word puzzles, visiting museums, and eating delicious food, especially chocolate. This year, she is using her Duolingo app to learn Spanish, Swahili, and music.
Ms. Veronica Prado 3rd Grade
Ms. Rodriguez wanted to be a teacher since she was a kid. Her favorite part of teaching is seeing her students learn and grow throughout the school year. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Her favorite place to be is the beach and her classroom.
Mrs. Yankofsky is grateful for the ability to listen and make a difference. As a child she attended a number of schools including one in Peru. She wishes all students get to experience having a loving and caring family as well. She enjoys reading, baking, puppies and spending time at the beach.
Miss Gonzalez loves to help people, especially our parents and students. On her free time she likes reading and writing poetry. She is also a huge anime, Hello Kitty, and manga enthusiast who can’t ever have enough banana ice cream.
Ms. Maria Velasquez Parent Representative
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Miss Edith Su SSS
Ms. Su enjoys working with her Ninth Street Elementary students. She supports our most vulnerable students and is happy to see them thrive and grow. She is welcoming and always willing to help her students and their family. Her free time consists of running, hiking, and traveling to different countries to taste their coffee.
Ms. Karen Sanchez loves encouraging our students to read and is happy when they are excited about getting a new book when they visit the school library. Outside of work she is a student herself pursuing a M.A. degree in Educational Foundations at Cal State LA because she believes in educational equity, especially for our students in South Central LA. She also likes to read books focused on the experiences of POC. For fun she likes going to the movie theatre and concerts.
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Geovanni Somoza is the Cafeteria Manager and one of the STEAM coordinators at Ninth Street Elementary. For the past two decades, he has dedicated himself to the Outreach and Public Science Education as an Astronomer. He works with Bill Nye the Science Guy at the Planetary Society, is President Emeritus of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society (L.A.A.S), a NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassador, telescope operator at Griffith Observatory, telescope operator and session director at Mount Wilson Observatory, and co-founder of "Safe Place for Space," an organization that hosts science events for persons with disabilities. Follow his adventures, @telescope_man on Instagram and TikTok!
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Miss Zuloaga enjoys spending time with her family and pets. She enjoys listening to lots of music and watching movies. She is currently studying to become a Pre-K teacher. She loves working with staff and students here at Ninth Street Elementary.
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Ms. Sánchez is a Special Ed Assistant in the PALS program. She says she loves her job and teaching the kids through play. Her favorite things are laughing, dancing and being friendly.
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Mrs. Roche loves working with kids. As a Rocket mother herself, she wanted her kids to feel that Ninth Street is their second home. This is why she remains warm and welcoming to every student, so that they feel that they are apart of the Ninth Street family.
Ms. Emely enjoys working with our Ninth Street rockets. Outside of work, she enjoys going to concerts of many genres. On her downtime, she enjoys going on walks, whether it be around her city or in nature. She is also a huge enthusiast for the color orange.
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