SJ has worked in education for 22 years, serving students on four continents. She grew up in Miami, Atlanta, Japan, and New Zealand. She realized she wanted to be a lifelong educator when she had the privilege of teaching health classes throughout Peru, where she also became fluent in Spanish. 

SJ moved to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where she worked in public schools. While working as a school leader there, she got the chance to work with TFA (Teach for America) and TNTP (The New Teacher Project), and did a two-year leadership training with Leading Educators. She was a part of the charter-school revolution that transformed New Orleans’ schools after the storm.

In 2012, she moved to Asheville, where she worked as an elementary, high school, and middle school Spanish teacher. She helped open the Franklin School of Innovation (FSI), and eventually became that public charter school’s high school principal. Before her current role, SJ served on Evergreen’s Board of Directors.

In her free time, SJ loves hiking and traveling with her family and dogs.