Welcome to Stella Maris Academy

Fr. Joseph Illo

Principal

We are blessed to be a part of something new
and exciting happening here in San Francisco

…the revitalization of our 111 year old elementary school as a Catholic classical academy with an integrated academic program.

What distinguishes us from other private and parochial schools in the area? Integrated Catholic education cultivates the full intellectual, moral, and spiritual development of young people as whole persons to appreciate beauty, goodness, and truth and to act with integrity in life.

While some aspects of our curriculum will be found in other excellent schools across the country, including a joyful, faith-filled, academically rigorous environment, our approach to instruction and student formation follows an integrated model based upon the natural development of the human person. In school, we may have studied each subject separately from the others, including reading, literature, mathematics, science, social studies, theology, and the arts. As adults in the workplace and the world, we realize that the most important questions and challenges in life cut across different fields of study. We need to understand how the different things we know connect and fit together to form a coherent and ordered whole in order to make wise choices. The natural experience of children is the same. Moral questions arise through the study of history and literature, mathematics is the language of scientific inquiry, and questions about the goodness and beauty of creation arise in science classes, to name just a few examples.

In early childhood, students rely on the help of their teachers to experience how their world is connected. In the intermediate years, they begin to ask critical questions about how things fit together. As they reach young adulthood they begin to synthesize their understanding of the whole that will sustain them throughout life. In all things, they need a joyful encounter with God through prayer and the sacraments. Our integrated curriculum supports this natural development of each child and it is excellent preparation for future careers in every field, including the sciences, engineering, medicine, law, business, and so many more.

Come visit us in person or through a virtual information session in order to experience the joyful spirit that permeates our campus.

Our Mission

Guided by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, the mission of Stella Maris Academy at Star of the Sea is to collaborate with parents to form young minds and hearts for the journey of life. By cultivating the love of Wisdom and the capacity to seek truth, goodness, and beauty in all things, we form young people to exercise their freedom wisely in order to excel in life by seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven. Through our commitment to provide a rigorous, integrated, and authentic Catholic liberal education that embraces the richness of tradition and the promise of innovative advances in knowledge, we aim to prepare students who will be the Christian servant leaders of tomorrow in every field of human endeavor.

Our Vision

The purpose of classical education is to foster the full intellectual, moral and spiritual development of persons to appreciate truth, beauty, and goodness, and to act with integrity in life. As Catholics we understand that whole persons live well and know truth and beauty in the fullest sense through life in Christ. Tus, while classical education embraces all of the liberal arts and sciences, it understands theology as an integrating principle and the life of faith as what animates our love of learning. While the purpose of classical education differs from the contemporary “pragmatic” model, which proposes to cultivate skills students need for college and career readiness, it is no less practical.

By focusing upon the development of the memory and imagination, multiple languages, mathematical intelligence, logical and rhetorical ability, art and music, among many other things, students learn to form and ask the right questions, read thoughtfully, write eloquently, calculate effectively, and to represent their ideas to others. By paying careful attention to the development of the virtues, classically formed students learn to seek the good, tolerate frustration, be courageous, act with justice, and work cooperatively with others.

Contemporary culture understands these as skills of “emotional intelligence.” A classically trained student has the right balance of resilience, creativity, critical analytical ability, and the entrepreneurial spirit needed to excel in any field, as well as academic excellence that will compete effectively with any contemporary measure of student achievement.

Our Mission

Guided by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, the mission of Stella Maris Academy at Star of the Sea is to collaborate with parents to form young minds and hearts for the journey of life. By cultivating the love of Wisdom and the capacity to seek truth, goodness, and beauty in all things, we form young people to exercise their freedom wisely in order to excel in life by seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven. Through our commitment to provide a rigorous, integrated, and authentic Catholic liberal education that embraces the richness of tradition and the promise of innovative advances in knowledge, we aim to prepare students who will be the Christian servant leaders of tomorrow in every field of human endeavor.

Our Vision

The purpose of classical education is to foster the full intellectual, moral and spiritual development of persons to appreciate truth, beauty, and goodness, and to act with integrity in life. As Catholics we understand that whole persons live well and know truth and beauty in the fullest sense through life in Christ. Tus, while classical education embraces all of the liberal arts and sciences, it understands theology as an integrating principle and the life of faith as what animates our love of learning. While the purpose of classical education differs from the contemporary “pragmatic” model, which proposes to cultivate skills students need for college and career readiness, it is no less practical.

By focusing upon the development of the memory and imagination, multiple languages, mathematical intelligence, logical and rhetorical ability, art and music, among many other things, students learn to form and ask the right questions, read thoughtfully, write eloquently, calculate effectively, and to represent their ideas to others. By paying careful attention to the development of the virtues, classically formed students learn to seek the good, tolerate frustration, be courageous, act with justice, and work cooperatively with others.

Contemporary culture understands these as skills of “emotional intelligence.” A classically trained student has the right balance of resilience, creativity, critical analytical ability, and the entrepreneurial spirit needed to excel in any field, as well as academic excellence that will compete effectively with any contemporary measure of student achievement.

A Community Of Vibrant Faith Filled Families

A school is so much more than place where children go only to learn. It is where your children will likely meet their childhood best friends. Where they will meet teachers who will be role models and shape their interests. It is where you will meet other parents who you will share countless hours of your lives with. It is a community which will shape significant aspects of your families lives.

In this regard Stella Maris Academy strives to be so much more than just a school. We are a place where vibrant and faith filled families come together and partner with each other to enable every child to reach their full potential.

Clergy and Faculty

Fr. Joseph Illo

Fr. Joseph Illo is the Pastor of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco.

Fr. Michael Konopik

Fr. Michael Konopick is a Parochial Vicar of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco.

Brinton Smith

Zachariah Huckins

Mr. Huckins is a Northern California native. He attended college at Thomas Aquinas earning a Bachelors in Liberal Arts. He has been working in classical education for 3+ years, and is excited to teach this year’s 3/4 homeroom. Fun Fact: Mr. Huckins has visited every state but Maine!

Francesca Del Curto

Francesca is a native of Oakdale, CA and a graduate of Benedictine college in Atchison, KS. Part of the inaugural faculty at Stella Maris Academy, during the third year of its founding she earned a Classical Teaching Credential from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. She is filled with gratitude to be part of its mission as the TK and K homeroom teacher. 

Jakeline Novoa Flores

Ms. Jakeline Novoa Flores is a preschool teacher at Stella Maris Academy.

Christina Mamaril

Christina was born and raised in Dubai and moved to Manila to pursue further studies. She finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities with specialization in Political Economy from University of Asia and the Pacific and her Master’s Degree in Religious Studies with a Major in Catechetics from Don Bosco Center of Studies. Christina credits who she is today to her Catholic upbringing and education that led her to 4 years of missionary work that have allowed her to nurture a deeper relationship with God. During her free time, Christina enjoys traveling to new places, cooking for friends and playing soccer with the young adults. Her desire is to meet people where they are and allow them to experience the selfless love of Christ the way she did.

Gabrielle Aranas

Gabrielle Aranas is the 5/6 homeroom teacher. She is a native Californian, born in Sacramento and grew up in and around the Bay Area. A self-proclaimed bookworm, her love for reading led her to pursue a teaching career and share that love for learning with others. After graduating from Thomas Aquinas College, she taught high school for several years at a private Catholic school in Napa, before returning to school to complete her Masters in Humanity at the University of Dallas. While in grad school, she taught at a classical charter in Texas at the middle school and high school level. She is happy to be back in California where she can keep up with her favorite activity: hiking and exploring nature. When not in the great outdoors, she is most likely sewing or embroidering and reading.

Debra Dharmer

Debra Dharmer teaches 7th and 8th grades. A native East Coaster, Debra Dharmer has called California home for 15 years. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English and History at SUNY Stony Brook, she completed a teacher credentialing program at Framingham State and then a Master of Fine Arts from University of San Francisco. Her teaching experience spans 25 years and includes ESL and college composition as well as English on the middle and high school levels in public, charter, private, and parochial schools. Upon converting to Catholicism and discovering classical education, her vocation of teaching reached its fullest expression. She believes the parish school to be an exemplary formation experience and is delighted to bring truth, goodness, and beauty to her students and the SMA community.

Mary Sorenson

Mary Sorenson serves as a Preschool Supervisor and Teacher. She hails from Sacramento, California and received her BA from Thomas Aquinas College and Classical Teaching Credential from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. She has a repertoire of songs and games from her time as a Camp Counselor, many of which make an appearance in the classroom.

Marilyn Bridon

Art Teacher and Assistant to the Head of School.

Nadia Janelli

Preschool Teacher

Jennifer Park

Music Instructor

Sally Martinez

Sally Ann Martinez is a native of West Texas who has lived abroad and on the East Coast and now calls San Francisco home. She is a graduate of Baylor University with a B.A. and M.A. in Spanish. Sally is a certified teacher with experience guiding adolescents to Truth, Beauty, and Goodness by God’s Grace in classical, charter, and Catholic schools while teaching Spanish and English. Sally Ann is close with family and friends, and some of her favorite things include beautiful music, photography, classic movies, picnics, and sitting in Jesus’ gaze in Adoration. She is thankful for the year ahead at Stella Maris and her TK class. Her prayer is to grow in a Proverbs 31 woman and to enjoy this new year with the beautiful souls entrusted to her.

Marciano Palha De Sousa

Marciano Palha De Sousa is ethnically Portuguese-Indian (Goan) but born and raised in Zimbabwe in Africa. He was blessed to have come to the United States on a scholarship to Lafayette College for undergraduate studies in engineering and music and is grateful to the Lord for a diverse life journey that has included working on the East Coast for SAP, the world’s largest business software company, in Silicon Valley for a small healthcare software company, completing graduate studies at Duke and Dartmouth, and tutoring low income children in Africa and affluent children in Silicon Valley. Prior to his role at Stella Maris Academy, he worked in various roles for Lindamood-Bell, a company that helps students with learning challenges. These roles included being a clinician, a mentor, and then a consultant. As a consultant, he was part of a leadership team overseeing the teaching staff. He has volunteered for the church over the years in various ministry roles, many of which have been focused on faith formation of young Catholics. His hobbies include soccer, chess, running, hiking, singing, piano, and praying.

Sophia Bridon

Sophia Bridon, Extended Care Staff

Fr. Joseph Illo

Fr. Joseph Illo is the Pastor of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco.

Fr. Michael Konopik

Fr. Michael Konopick is a Parochial Vicar of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco.

Brinton Smith

Zachariah Huckins

Mr. Huckins is a Northern California native. He attended college at Thomas Aquinas earning a Bachelors in Liberal Arts. He has been working in classical education for 3+ years, and is excited to teach this year’s 3/4 homeroom. Fun Fact: Mr. Huckins has visited every state but Maine!

Francesca Del Curto

Francesca is a native of Oakdale, CA and a graduate of Benedictine college in Atchison, KS. Part of the inaugural faculty at Stella Maris Academy, during the third year of its founding she earned a Classical Teaching Credential from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. She is filled with gratitude to be part of its mission as the TK and K homeroom teacher. 

Jakeline Novoa Flores

Ms. Jakeline Novoa Flores is a preschool teacher at Stella Maris Academy.

Christina Mamaril

Christina was born and raised in Dubai and moved to Manila to pursue further studies. She finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities with specialization in Political Economy from University of Asia and the Pacific and her Master’s Degree in Religious Studies with a Major in Catechetics from Don Bosco Center of Studies. Christina credits who she is today to her Catholic upbringing and education that led her to 4 years of missionary work that have allowed her to nurture a deeper relationship with God. During her free time, Christina enjoys traveling to new places, cooking for friends and playing soccer with the young adults. Her desire is to meet people where they are and allow them to experience the selfless love of Christ the way she did.

Gabrielle Aranas

Gabrielle Aranas is the 5/6 homeroom teacher. She is a native Californian, born in Sacramento and grew up in and around the Bay Area. A self-proclaimed bookworm, her love for reading led her to pursue a teaching career and share that love for learning with others. After graduating from Thomas Aquinas College, she taught high school for several years at a private Catholic school in Napa, before returning to school to complete her Masters in Humanity at the University of Dallas. While in grad school, she taught at a classical charter in Texas at the middle school and high school level. She is happy to be back in California where she can keep up with her favorite activity: hiking and exploring nature. When not in the great outdoors, she is most likely sewing or embroidering and reading.

Debra Dharmer

Debra Dharmer teaches 7th and 8th grades. A native East Coaster, Debra Dharmer has called California home for 15 years. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English and History at SUNY Stony Brook, she completed a teacher credentialing program at Framingham State and then a Master of Fine Arts from University of San Francisco. Her teaching experience spans 25 years and includes ESL and college composition as well as English on the middle and high school levels in public, charter, private, and parochial schools. Upon converting to Catholicism and discovering classical education, her vocation of teaching reached its fullest expression. She believes the parish school to be an exemplary formation experience and is delighted to bring truth, goodness, and beauty to her students and the SMA community.

Mary Sorenson

Mary Sorenson serves as a Preschool Supervisor and Teacher. She hails from Sacramento, California and received her BA from Thomas Aquinas College and Classical Teaching Credential from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. She has a repertoire of songs and games from her time as a Camp Counselor, many of which make an appearance in the classroom.

Marilyn Bridon

Art Teacher and Assistant to the Head of School.

Nadia Janelli

Preschool Teacher

Jennifer Park

Music Instructor

Sally Martinez

Sally Ann Martinez is a native of West Texas who has lived abroad and on the East Coast and now calls San Francisco home. She is a graduate of Baylor University with a B.A. and M.A. in Spanish. Sally is a certified teacher with experience guiding adolescents to Truth, Beauty, and Goodness by God’s Grace in classical, charter, and Catholic schools while teaching Spanish and English. Sally Ann is close with family and friends, and some of her favorite things include beautiful music, photography, classic movies, picnics, and sitting in Jesus’ gaze in Adoration. She is thankful for the year ahead at Stella Maris and her TK class. Her prayer is to grow in a Proverbs 31 woman and to enjoy this new year with the beautiful souls entrusted to her.

Marciano Palha De Sousa

Marciano Palha De Sousa is ethnically Portuguese-Indian (Goan) but born and raised in Zimbabwe in Africa. He was blessed to have come to the United States on a scholarship to Lafayette College for undergraduate studies in engineering and music and is grateful to the Lord for a diverse life journey that has included working on the East Coast for SAP, the world’s largest business software company, in Silicon Valley for a small healthcare software company, completing graduate studies at Duke and Dartmouth, and tutoring low income children in Africa and affluent children in Silicon Valley. Prior to his role at Stella Maris Academy, he worked in various roles for Lindamood-Bell, a company that helps students with learning challenges. These roles included being a clinician, a mentor, and then a consultant. As a consultant, he was part of a leadership team overseeing the teaching staff. He has volunteered for the church over the years in various ministry roles, many of which have been focused on faith formation of young Catholics. His hobbies include soccer, chess, running, hiking, singing, piano, and praying.

Sophia Bridon

Sophia Bridon, Extended Care Staff

Our Education Partners

Want to Learn More?

Where to Reach Us

Where to Reach Us

Welcome to Stella Maris Academy

Fr. Joseph Illo

Principal

We are blessed to be a part of something new
and exciting happening here in San Francisco

…the revitalization of our 111 year old elementary school as a Catholic classical academy with an integrated academic program.

What distinguishes us from other private and parochial schools in the area? Integrated Catholic education cultivates the full intellectual, moral, and spiritual development of young people as whole persons to appreciate beauty, goodness, and truth and to act with integrity in life.

While some aspects of our curriculum will be found in other excellent schools across the country, including a joyful, faith-filled, academically rigorous environment, our approach to instruction and student formation follows an integrated model based upon the natural development of the human person. In school, we may have studied each subject separately from the others, including reading, literature, mathematics, science, social studies, theology, and the arts. As adults in the workplace and the world, we realize that the most important questions and challenges in life cut across different fields of study. We need to understand how the different things we know connect and fit together to form a coherent and ordered whole in order to make wise choices. The natural experience of children is the same. Moral questions arise through the study of history and literature, mathematics is the language of scientific inquiry, and questions about the goodness and beauty of creation arise in science classes, to name just a few examples.

In early childhood, students rely on the help of their teachers to experience how their world is connected. In the intermediate years, they begin to ask critical questions about how things fit together. As they reach young adulthood they begin to synthesize their understanding of the whole that will sustain them throughout life. In all things, they need a joyful encounter with God through prayer and the sacraments. Our integrated curriculum supports this natural development of each child and it is excellent preparation for future careers in every field, including the sciences, engineering, medicine, law, business, and so many more.

Come visit us in person or through a virtual information session in order to experience the joyful spirit that permeates our campus.

Our Mission

Guided by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, the mission of Stella Maris Academy at Star of the Sea is to collaborate with parents to form young minds and hearts for the journey of life. By cultivating the love of Wisdom and the capacity to seek truth, goodness, and beauty in all things, we form young people to exercise their freedom wisely in order to excel in life by seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven. Through our commitment to provide a rigorous, integrated, and authentic Catholic liberal education that embraces the richness of tradition and the promise of innovative advances in knowledge, we aim to prepare students who will be the Christian servant leaders of tomorrow in every field of human endeavor.

Our Vision

The purpose of classical education is to foster the full intellectual, moral and spiritual development of persons to appreciate truth, beauty, and goodness, and to act with integrity in life. As Catholics we understand that whole persons live well and know truth and beauty in the fullest sense through life in Christ. Tus, while classical education embraces all of the liberal arts and sciences, it understands theology as an integrating principle and the life of faith as what animates our love of learning. While the purpose of classical education differs from the contemporary “pragmatic” model, which proposes to cultivate skills students need for college and career readiness, it is no less practical.

By focusing upon the development of the memory and imagination, multiple languages, mathematical intelligence, logical and rhetorical ability, art and music, among many other things, students learn to form and ask the right questions, read thoughtfully, write eloquently, calculate effectively, and to represent their ideas to others. By paying careful attention to the development of the virtues, classically formed students learn to seek the good, tolerate frustration, be courageous, act with justice, and work cooperatively with others.

Contemporary culture understands these as skills of “emotional intelligence.” A classically trained student has the right balance of resilience, creativity, critical analytical ability, and the entrepreneurial spirit needed to excel in any field, as well as academic excellence that will compete effectively with any contemporary measure of student achievement.

Our Mission

Guided by the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, the mission of Stella Maris Academy at Star of the Sea is to collaborate with parents to form young minds and hearts for the journey of life. By cultivating the love of Wisdom and the capacity to seek truth, goodness, and beauty in all things, we form young people to exercise their freedom wisely in order to excel in life by seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven. Through our commitment to provide a rigorous, integrated, and authentic Catholic liberal education that embraces the richness of tradition and the promise of innovative advances in knowledge, we aim to prepare students who will be the Christian servant leaders of tomorrow in every field of human endeavor.

Our Vision

The purpose of classical education is to foster the full intellectual, moral and spiritual development of persons to appreciate truth, beauty, and goodness, and to act with integrity in life. As Catholics we understand that whole persons live well and know truth and beauty in the fullest sense through life in Christ. Tus, while classical education embraces all of the liberal arts and sciences, it understands theology as an integrating principle and the life of faith as what animates our love of learning. While the purpose of classical education differs from the contemporary “pragmatic” model, which proposes to cultivate skills students need for college and career readiness, it is no less practical.

By focusing upon the development of the memory and imagination, multiple languages, mathematical intelligence, logical and rhetorical ability, art and music, among many other things, students learn to form and ask the right questions, read thoughtfully, write eloquently, calculate effectively, and to represent their ideas to others. By paying careful attention to the development of the virtues, classically formed students learn to seek the good, tolerate frustration, be courageous, act with justice, and work cooperatively with others.

Contemporary culture understands these as skills of “emotional intelligence.” A classically trained student has the right balance of resilience, creativity, critical analytical ability, and the entrepreneurial spirit needed to excel in any field, as well as academic excellence that will compete effectively with any contemporary measure of student achievement.

A Community Of Vibrant Faith Filled Families

A school is so much more than place where children go only to learn. It is where your children will likely meet their childhood best friends. Where they will meet teachers who will be role models and shape their interests. It is where you will meet other parents who you will share countless hours of your lives with. It is a community which will shape significant aspects of your families lives.

In this regard Stella Maris Academy strives to be so much more than just a school. We are a place where vibrant and faith filled families come together and partner with each other to enable every child to reach their full potential.

Clergy and Faculty

Fr. Joseph Illo

Fr. Joseph Illo is the Pastor of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco.

Fr. Michael Konopik

Fr. Michael Konopick is a Parochial Vicar of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco.

Brinton Smith

Zachariah Huckins

Mr. Huckins is a Northern California native. He attended college at Thomas Aquinas earning a Bachelors in Liberal Arts. He has been working in classical education for 3+ years, and is excited to teach this year’s 3/4 homeroom. Fun Fact: Mr. Huckins has visited every state but Maine!

Francesca Del Curto

Francesca is a native of Oakdale, CA and a graduate of Benedictine college in Atchison, KS. Part of the inaugural faculty at Stella Maris Academy, during the third year of its founding she earned a Classical Teaching Credential from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. She is filled with gratitude to be part of its mission as the TK and K homeroom teacher. 

Jakeline Novoa Flores

Ms. Jakeline Novoa Flores is a preschool teacher at Stella Maris Academy.

Christina Mamaril

Christina was born and raised in Dubai and moved to Manila to pursue further studies. She finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities with specialization in Political Economy from University of Asia and the Pacific and her Master’s Degree in Religious Studies with a Major in Catechetics from Don Bosco Center of Studies. Christina credits who she is today to her Catholic upbringing and education that led her to 4 years of missionary work that have allowed her to nurture a deeper relationship with God. During her free time, Christina enjoys traveling to new places, cooking for friends and playing soccer with the young adults. Her desire is to meet people where they are and allow them to experience the selfless love of Christ the way she did.

Gabrielle Aranas

Gabrielle Aranas is the 5/6 homeroom teacher. She is a native Californian, born in Sacramento and grew up in and around the Bay Area. A self-proclaimed bookworm, her love for reading led her to pursue a teaching career and share that love for learning with others. After graduating from Thomas Aquinas College, she taught high school for several years at a private Catholic school in Napa, before returning to school to complete her Masters in Humanity at the University of Dallas. While in grad school, she taught at a classical charter in Texas at the middle school and high school level. She is happy to be back in California where she can keep up with her favorite activity: hiking and exploring nature. When not in the great outdoors, she is most likely sewing or embroidering and reading.

Debra Dharmer

Debra Dharmer teaches 7th and 8th grades. A native East Coaster, Debra Dharmer has called California home for 15 years. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English and History at SUNY Stony Brook, she completed a teacher credentialing program at Framingham State and then a Master of Fine Arts from University of San Francisco. Her teaching experience spans 25 years and includes ESL and college composition as well as English on the middle and high school levels in public, charter, private, and parochial schools. Upon converting to Catholicism and discovering classical education, her vocation of teaching reached its fullest expression. She believes the parish school to be an exemplary formation experience and is delighted to bring truth, goodness, and beauty to her students and the SMA community.

Mary Sorenson

Mary Sorenson serves as a Preschool Supervisor and Teacher. She hails from Sacramento, California and received her BA from Thomas Aquinas College and Classical Teaching Credential from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. She has a repertoire of songs and games from her time as a Camp Counselor, many of which make an appearance in the classroom.

Marilyn Bridon

Art Teacher and Assistant to the Head of School.

Nadia Janelli

Preschool Teacher

Jennifer Park

Music Instructor

Sally Martinez

Sally Ann Martinez is a native of West Texas who has lived abroad and on the East Coast and now calls San Francisco home. She is a graduate of Baylor University with a B.A. and M.A. in Spanish. Sally is a certified teacher with experience guiding adolescents to Truth, Beauty, and Goodness by God’s Grace in classical, charter, and Catholic schools while teaching Spanish and English. Sally Ann is close with family and friends, and some of her favorite things include beautiful music, photography, classic movies, picnics, and sitting in Jesus’ gaze in Adoration. She is thankful for the year ahead at Stella Maris and her TK class. Her prayer is to grow in a Proverbs 31 woman and to enjoy this new year with the beautiful souls entrusted to her.

Marciano Palha De Sousa

Marciano Palha De Sousa is ethnically Portuguese-Indian (Goan) but born and raised in Zimbabwe in Africa. He was blessed to have come to the United States on a scholarship to Lafayette College for undergraduate studies in engineering and music and is grateful to the Lord for a diverse life journey that has included working on the East Coast for SAP, the world’s largest business software company, in Silicon Valley for a small healthcare software company, completing graduate studies at Duke and Dartmouth, and tutoring low income children in Africa and affluent children in Silicon Valley. Prior to his role at Stella Maris Academy, he worked in various roles for Lindamood-Bell, a company that helps students with learning challenges. These roles included being a clinician, a mentor, and then a consultant. As a consultant, he was part of a leadership team overseeing the teaching staff. He has volunteered for the church over the years in various ministry roles, many of which have been focused on faith formation of young Catholics. His hobbies include soccer, chess, running, hiking, singing, piano, and praying.

Sophia Bridon

Sophia Bridon, Extended Care Staff

Fr. Joseph Illo

Fr. Joseph Illo is the Pastor of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco.

Fr. Michael Konopik

Fr. Michael Konopick is a Parochial Vicar of Star of the Sea Parish in San Francisco.

Brinton Smith

Zachariah Huckins

Mr. Huckins is a Northern California native. He attended college at Thomas Aquinas earning a Bachelors in Liberal Arts. He has been working in classical education for 3+ years, and is excited to teach this year’s 3/4 homeroom. Fun Fact: Mr. Huckins has visited every state but Maine!

Francesca Del Curto

Francesca is a native of Oakdale, CA and a graduate of Benedictine college in Atchison, KS. Part of the inaugural faculty at Stella Maris Academy, during the third year of its founding she earned a Classical Teaching Credential from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. She is filled with gratitude to be part of its mission as the TK and K homeroom teacher. 

Jakeline Novoa Flores

Ms. Jakeline Novoa Flores is a preschool teacher at Stella Maris Academy.

Christina Mamaril

Christina was born and raised in Dubai and moved to Manila to pursue further studies. She finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities with specialization in Political Economy from University of Asia and the Pacific and her Master’s Degree in Religious Studies with a Major in Catechetics from Don Bosco Center of Studies. Christina credits who she is today to her Catholic upbringing and education that led her to 4 years of missionary work that have allowed her to nurture a deeper relationship with God. During her free time, Christina enjoys traveling to new places, cooking for friends and playing soccer with the young adults. Her desire is to meet people where they are and allow them to experience the selfless love of Christ the way she did.

Gabrielle Aranas

Gabrielle Aranas is the 5/6 homeroom teacher. She is a native Californian, born in Sacramento and grew up in and around the Bay Area. A self-proclaimed bookworm, her love for reading led her to pursue a teaching career and share that love for learning with others. After graduating from Thomas Aquinas College, she taught high school for several years at a private Catholic school in Napa, before returning to school to complete her Masters in Humanity at the University of Dallas. While in grad school, she taught at a classical charter in Texas at the middle school and high school level. She is happy to be back in California where she can keep up with her favorite activity: hiking and exploring nature. When not in the great outdoors, she is most likely sewing or embroidering and reading.

Debra Dharmer

Debra Dharmer teaches 7th and 8th grades. A native East Coaster, Debra Dharmer has called California home for 15 years. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English and History at SUNY Stony Brook, she completed a teacher credentialing program at Framingham State and then a Master of Fine Arts from University of San Francisco. Her teaching experience spans 25 years and includes ESL and college composition as well as English on the middle and high school levels in public, charter, private, and parochial schools. Upon converting to Catholicism and discovering classical education, her vocation of teaching reached its fullest expression. She believes the parish school to be an exemplary formation experience and is delighted to bring truth, goodness, and beauty to her students and the SMA community.

Mary Sorenson

Mary Sorenson serves as a Preschool Supervisor and Teacher. She hails from Sacramento, California and received her BA from Thomas Aquinas College and Classical Teaching Credential from the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. She has a repertoire of songs and games from her time as a Camp Counselor, many of which make an appearance in the classroom.

Marilyn Bridon

Art Teacher and Assistant to the Head of School.

Nadia Janelli

Preschool Teacher

Jennifer Park

Music Instructor

Sally Martinez

Sally Ann Martinez is a native of West Texas who has lived abroad and on the East Coast and now calls San Francisco home. She is a graduate of Baylor University with a B.A. and M.A. in Spanish. Sally is a certified teacher with experience guiding adolescents to Truth, Beauty, and Goodness by God’s Grace in classical, charter, and Catholic schools while teaching Spanish and English. Sally Ann is close with family and friends, and some of her favorite things include beautiful music, photography, classic movies, picnics, and sitting in Jesus’ gaze in Adoration. She is thankful for the year ahead at Stella Maris and her TK class. Her prayer is to grow in a Proverbs 31 woman and to enjoy this new year with the beautiful souls entrusted to her.

Marciano Palha De Sousa

Marciano Palha De Sousa is ethnically Portuguese-Indian (Goan) but born and raised in Zimbabwe in Africa. He was blessed to have come to the United States on a scholarship to Lafayette College for undergraduate studies in engineering and music and is grateful to the Lord for a diverse life journey that has included working on the East Coast for SAP, the world’s largest business software company, in Silicon Valley for a small healthcare software company, completing graduate studies at Duke and Dartmouth, and tutoring low income children in Africa and affluent children in Silicon Valley. Prior to his role at Stella Maris Academy, he worked in various roles for Lindamood-Bell, a company that helps students with learning challenges. These roles included being a clinician, a mentor, and then a consultant. As a consultant, he was part of a leadership team overseeing the teaching staff. He has volunteered for the church over the years in various ministry roles, many of which have been focused on faith formation of young Catholics. His hobbies include soccer, chess, running, hiking, singing, piano, and praying.

Sophia Bridon

Sophia Bridon, Extended Care Staff

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