Our Staff

Name	Title	Telephone	Email
Cori Ghaffari	Principal	423-4301	cghaffari@scusd.net
Sandy Machado	Secretary	423-4310	smachado@scusd.net
Lilia Hernandez	Clerical Assistant	423-4311	lhernandez@scusd.net

Teacher	Room	Telephone	Email
Mary Blevins	25	423-4375	mblevins@scusd.net
Rene Coleman	24	423-4374	rcoleman@scusd.net
Elena Dritsas	27	423-4377	edritsas@scusd.net

Teacher	Room	Telephone	Email
Karol Advincula/ Tracy Thorson	3	423-4353	kadvincula@scusd.net  / tthorson@scusd.net
Karin Chivers	4	423-4354	kchivers@scusd.net
Suzie Jochner	5	423-4355	sjochner@scusd.net

Teacher	Room	Telephone	Email
Heidi Murray	15	423-4365	hmurray@scusd.net
Kendall Schomberg	8	423-4362	kschomberg@scusd.net
Kiva Qualls	14	423-4369	kqualls@scusd.net

Teacher	Room	Telephone	Email
Jeff Cooper	18	423-4368	jcooper@scusd.net
Debbie Glines/ Joan DeWhitt	11	423-4361	dglines@scusd.net jdewhitt@scusd.net
Monica Grandia/ Tina Rosenthal	16	423-4323	mgrandia@scusd.net trosenthal@scusd.net

Teacher	Room	Telephone	Email
Christa Ivancovich	20	423-4370	civancovich@scusd.net
Laura Rubio	19	423-4321	lrubio@scusd.net
Jeff Cooper	18	423-4368	jcooper@scusd.net

Teacher	Room	Telephone	Email
Mark Harrington	17	423-4367	mharrington@scusd.net
Mike Jones	21	423-4371	mjones@scusd.net

Name	Room	Telephone	Email
Shea Bosworth	34	423-4344	sbosworth@scusd.net
Claudia Lopez	34	423-4345	clopez@scusd.net

Teacher	Room	Telephone	Email
Sarina Mehmi	39	423-4346	smehmi@scusd.net
Miriam Nuno	36	423-4386	mnuno@scusd.net
Ashley Palmano	37	423-4317	apalmano@scusd.net
Adrienne Syth	44	423-4314	asyth@scusd.net
Daisy Serano- Perez	41	423-4324	dserranoperez@scusd.net
Kiki Sandhu	42	423-4342	ksandhu@scusd.net

Name	Title	Telephone	Email
Rita Barone	Wellness Coordinator/Counseling		rbarone@scusd.net
Karen Zell	Librarian	423-4340	kzell@scusd.net
Cindy Hua	ABA Room 43	423-4387	chua@scusd.net
Karin Kimiecik	Nurse Office	423-4320	kkimiecik@scusd.net
Leano Lowella	SLP Room 35	423-4331	lleano@scusd.net
Namita Mauder	Program Specialist	423-2054	nmauder@scusd.net
Angela McMurray Bruen	School Psychologist	423-4327	abruen@scusd.net
Joanne Cannard	Speech Room 22	423-4329	jkirby@scusd.net
Stephanie Bestul	Extended Day Daycare Room 29 & 30	423-4315 / 423-4316	sbestul@scusd.net
Katryna Dale	Cafeteria	423-4390	cnwestwood@scusd.net
PTA	Message Only	423-4398	westwoodptasc@gmail.com

Dear Westwood families,

 

Welcome to the 2018-19 school year! As the start of school year approaches, I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself to our new families. Heading into my third year as principal, I continue to be honored and humbled to be a part of this amazing Westwood community! If we don't know each other already, I believe it is important that we get to know each other as soon as possible.

To tell you a little about myself, Santa Clara Unified has been my home for the last twenty-one years, where I have taught kindergarten through fifth grade. From 1997-2008, that home was here at Westwood! I left in 2008 to become the principal at George Mayne Elementary and served there for four years. I left in 2012 when my son was born and returned to teaching at Pomeroy Elementary. Now, I have come full-circle, returning to the home I love here at Westwood as your principal! I am a California native, a product of public schools in the bay area, and educated through our public universities both at UC Santa Cruz and San Jose State. My educational background is in Linguistics and I have always had an interest in travel, languages, and culture. I speak, read, and write Spanish (much better in person than on the phone, however). I am also a proud parent to a high school graduate (my step-son, Camren), a high school senior(my step-daughter, Jasmin), and an energetic first grader (my son, Kian). What an exciting journey!

I truly believe that the best schools are ones that have healthy communication and support at all levels. I cannot stress enough the role of the parent in your child’s education. We are a team; teachers, support staff, parents, and community. When we all work together for the good of our community, we can achieve great things. I truly feel blessed to be a part of this Westwood community and can't wait to partenr with you to make this an amazing year!

As a teacher, I always enjoyed the moment when a student would look up at me and say, “This isn’t learning. This is fun!” That’s the kind of attitude I hope to see all of our students have as we move into this new year at Westwood. It is my belief that high student achievement can be attained through fun, engaging activities that bring the learning alive and cause all students to enjoy all aspects of school. By keeping our expectations for all learners high, we can foster a love of learning that stays with every child throughout their school experience. I have always believed that “the higher the expectation, the higher the achievement.”

So, that’s me. I look forward to learning about you in the very near future. Classes begin Thursday, August 16^th. Please remember to check in on this website site regularly throughout the year and please call the school with any concerns you might have 408-423-4300. I can always be reached through email as well (cghaffari@scusd.net). I look forward to seeing you at some of the many activities that are scheduled throughout the year, and thank you, again, for your support of Westwood Elementary School.

Sincerely,

Corinne Ghaffari, principal
Westwood Elementary School