Meet Our Team
Teacher Qualifications
- Teachers must be native Spanish speakers.
- Teachers must have a Bachelor’s degree at a minimum.
- Teachers must be CPR certified every two years and have background checks performed.
- Teachers are required to have 20 hours of continuing education per year in addition to yearly immersion training, Zoo Phonics training and Handwriting without Tears training.
Meet Our Directors
Señora DeShea is the Program Director of The Spanish Academy. DeShea opened The Spanish Academy in September of 2001. She is a graduate of The University of Georgia with a degree in International Business. She lived in Seville, Spain in 1997. She is married and has three children. Her goal is to create a total immersion environment in which children look forward to coming to school each day while developing a lifelong love of learning and a proficiency in Spanish. She has always had a passion for children and language and loves her job!
Señora Maribel is the Director of The Spanish Academy in Buckhead. She is a native of Mexico and studied at the University of Texas in San Antonio with a major in Communications. She later pursued a Master in International Business and a Master in Business Administration in Madrid, Spain, where she lived for 6 years. She moved back to the USA in 2007 and came to Atlanta with her husband and girls in 2011. She is a strong believer of bilingual immersion and has witnessed first hand through her life experience and through her daughters the many benefits it has to offer. Her middle child is an alumni of The Spanish Academy and her youngest daughter is a current student at the TSA family.
Señora Jocy is from Peru. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education from University of the Sacred Heart in Lima, Peru. She moved to Georgia in 2017 with her husband and two children, however she left her native country more than 10 years ago, to expand her experience in teaching young children in Europe, America and the Middle East. She has a strong passion for teaching and she believes that love and hands-on experience are the best tools for little children to learn.
Señora Verónica is an Assistant Director Suwanee and a teacher of 2 and 3 year olds. She from Mexico and has been living in Atlanta since 1995. She has a degree in Business and has been working at The Spanish Academy for 11 years. She feels teaching young children is the most gratifying and fun experience. She has two children of her own and lives in Alpharetta.
Señora Ara is from Guadalajara, Mexico and has a degree in Communications. She also holds her Child Development Associate (CDA) Degree certified by the Councilor Professional Recognition from Washington D.C. She has been teaching for 17 years in International Schools. Originally, she was an Early Childhood Educator in her native country for 4 years and later moved to Georgia in 2003 and expanded her experience teaching young children in bilingual programs.
She currently lives in Sandy Springs with her husband and 2 daughters (and a teacup Chihuahua). She truly enjoys working with children and is a strong believer of bilingual immersion and the many benefits it has to offer. Sra. Ara enjoys cooking, arts and crafts, and traveling. She considers herself a happy person, organized and especially loving with children.
A school is only as great as its teachers, and we have the best!
Meet Our Teachers
Adriana was born in Mexico City. She studied communication with a major in live TV production at Universidad Anáhuac del Norte, Mexico. She got married in 2006 and moved to Atlanta where her two girls were born. One of them is an alumni of The Spanish Academy and the other one is still a student here. She has a lot of passion for the arts, especially cinema, photography and singing. Adriana strongly believes in bilingual immersion education and the extended family (grandparents, uncles, cousins and close friends) as fundamental elements for kids development. She is very excited to join the team this year. Working with children is so much fun!
Where are you from?
Yucatan Merida, Mexico
Yucatan Merida, Mexico
What career did you study and where?
I studied Business and Merchandising at Tech de Yucatan.
How many years have you been working at TSA?
I having working 8 Years at TSA
What do you like to do in your free time/hobby?
I love to cook and bake new recipes.
What do you like most about working with preschool children?
I love to learn from them. They feed me with so much love and energy.
Why do you like to teach Spanish?
I do believe learning a second language will open a lot of opportunities in life, being bilingual makes the world better.
I love to explore nature and I am very adventurous when I spend time with my family. One of my favorites things to do is skiing and hiking, camping in National parks all over the world.
Señora Dany is from Venezuela and she has been living in Atlanta since 2004. She has a degree in Human Resources from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela. She is married and love spending time with her husband and two daughters when they are home back from college. She worked as a teacher for 10 years when she lived in Venezuela and she is very excited to get back in a classroom teaching children again which is her true passion.
Señora Patty is from Mexico. She moved to Atlanta in 2004 and has two sons. Although she studied Business Administration in Puebla, she worked as an English teacher in Gymboree for 3 years. Through this experience she was able to discover her passion for teaching a foreing language to small children. She is very excited to be part of TSA family.
Señora Esthela is from Mexico. She has a Bachelor in Early Childhood Education from The University of Monterrey; since her graduation, she has been working with children. She has been living in the United States since 2007 with her family. Señora Esthela truly believes that the benefits of exposing children to a new language are beneficial for their cognitive, communicative and social development.
Señora Gaby is from Mexico, she studied Business Administration at the Universidad de las Americas in Puebla. She moved with her husband and 2 kids to Atlanta in 2011. She is a strong believer that being bilingual is a huge advantage not only to get a good job, but also give the opportunity to know other people and their cultures.
Señora Ana Gabriela is from Mexico City and moved to Orlando, FL in 2001, where she worked in a preschool with a very hands on education program for seven years. In 2013, she and her family moved to Atlanta. She is a graduate of EBC University in México City with a degree in Accounting. She is a proud mom of three girls and now lives in Roswell with her husband, two youngest daughters, two dogs and one turtle. She is also the proud grandma of two! In addition to teaching, she also loves photography.
She absolutely believes that a bilingual education opens a new world for kids and parents. She is excited about being a part of the Spanish Academy family.
She absolutely believes that a bilingual education opens a new world for kids and parents. She is excited about being a part of the Spanish Academy family.
Señora Janet is from Colima, Mexico. She is been living in the United States since 2009.
She lives in West Midtown with her husband and her 4 year old daughter. She has a Bachelor Degree in Social Communication.
She is been a photographer since she was 16 years old. Her true passion is children and family photography.
Innocence in children has always inspired her. Sharing her native language is something
that fills her soul with happiness.
She lives in West Midtown with her husband and her 4 year old daughter. She has a Bachelor Degree in Social Communication.
She is been a photographer since she was 16 years old. Her true passion is children and family photography.
Innocence in children has always inspired her. Sharing her native language is something
that fills her soul with happiness.
Karin is originally from Guatemala and has been living in the Atlanta area since 2000. She graduated from Universidad Francisco Marroquin with a degree in information systems and received her MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School. After working as a senior consultant, she took a break to take care of her two daughters. She loves having the chance to teach children in Spanish and believes that the key to education is to keep activities and materials interesting and engaging.
Señora Karina is from Caracas-Venezuela and has been living in United States since 2003. She moved to Atlanta in 2006 with a Degree in Human Resources from I.U.T “Antonio Jose de Sucre” in Venezuela. She has been working at The Spanish Academy since 2011 in Buckhead as Assistant Teacher. She Lives in Midtown, with her husband and her 8 years old son and enjoys spending time with family and friends.
Señora Lucia is from Logroño, a small city in the North of Spain. She has been living in US since 2015. She has a Bachelor degree in Education from La Universidad de Valladolid.
Her decision to become a teacher was influence by her father, who was an amazing educator. This admiration for him made her follow his steps.
After finishing her college degree in Spain, She moved to the United States to teach Spanish to an American family. That was a big opportunity for her since She could improve her teaching skills and English at the same time.
Working with children of different ages helped her develop different teaching methods and strategies. Her creativity is really useful to design fun and entertaining activities for young children. It is very pleasing to see them enjoying and learning simultaneously.
“It is my goal to combine my experience and knowledge with my ability to learn new things to improve as a professional educator. Teaching is not only a career, it is my passion.”
Her decision to become a teacher was influence by her father, who was an amazing educator. This admiration for him made her follow his steps.
After finishing her college degree in Spain, She moved to the United States to teach Spanish to an American family. That was a big opportunity for her since She could improve her teaching skills and English at the same time.
Working with children of different ages helped her develop different teaching methods and strategies. Her creativity is really useful to design fun and entertaining activities for young children. It is very pleasing to see them enjoying and learning simultaneously.
“It is my goal to combine my experience and knowledge with my ability to learn new things to improve as a professional educator. Teaching is not only a career, it is my passion.”
Señora Ludy is from Venezuela. She has been married for 13 years and live in Marietta with her husband and two daughters.
In 2002 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education. The reasons why she decided to study the Bachelor’s Degree in pre-school education is because she wanted to be part of the training of children. She enjoyed to be able to teach children and at the same time learned from them as well.
In 2002 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education. The reasons why she decided to study the Bachelor’s Degree in pre-school education is because she wanted to be part of the training of children. She enjoyed to be able to teach children and at the same time learned from them as well.
Señora Maria was born and raised in Venezuela; she got married and moved to the USA in 1992. She has four daughters. Even though, she got her degree in Human Resources she has always been involved in education. In 2002, she got her CDA certification and founded an Early Stimulation Center in FL. In 2010, she moved to GA with her family and has been working in different projects. Señora Maria came back to education because she believes children are precious stones waiting to be discovered.
Señora Pia is from Venezuela and moved to Atlanta in 2004. She earned a degree in Preschool Education in Venezuela and upon graduating worked as a Teacher’s Assistant for two years. She has enjoyed the pleasure of working with an American family as a Nanny and Spanish tutor for eight years after coming to the US. Pia is going into her forth year at the Spanish Academy and loves being a preschool teacher! She strongly believes that the preschool age is the perfect age to impact a child’s life in a very positive way!
Señora Violet is from Venezuela, and Arab descent. Lawyer by profession for more than 14 years in her country of origin.
Always with a special interest in language education. Being a mother of 2 has allowed her to understand and enjoy teaching Spanish to preschoolers. Simple perfect match!
Always with a special interest in language education. Being a mother of 2 has allowed her to understand and enjoy teaching Spanish to preschoolers. Simple perfect match!
