Meet Our Team

Joe Liu

Executive Director

Joe earned his Masters in Art Education and an emphasis in Educational Management at the University of Melbourne. He also holds a graduate degree in Education with a teaching certificate in English as a second/foreign language/ ESL Joe is passionate about helping students succeed academically and finds the greatest joy when families reach their goals.

As Center Director, Daniel is responsible for ensuring and establishing quality vision for the center. Daniel earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Sociology from the University of Riverside. Throughout his educational journey, he has discovered his passion for teaching and finds joy in helping others understand new concepts and building skills.

Brianne Iversen

Director of Education

Brianne earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from California State University, Fullerton. She previously taught in Tustin Unified School District as an Elementary School Teacher. She has a passion for inspiring students to thrive in education with a positive attitude. She loves developing rapport with students and encourage them to try their best. In her free time she likes to take her dog on walks, try new restaurants and read. As Director of Education, she is responsible for overseeing curriculum development and establishing a positive learning environment for our students.

Melody Marlene Perez

Education Coordinator

Melody earned a Bachelors in Human Services with an emphasis in Mental Health from Cal State Fullerton. She also possesses a Dual Language Multi-Subject teaching credential from San Diego State University.

Shirlee Smith

Lead Teacher

Shirlee Smith has taught at Sylvan for many years. She graduated from UCLA with a BA in Psychology, and from CSU Northridge with an MA in Deaf Education. She also currently holds two California teaching credentials – Multiple Subjects, and Communication Handicapped Specialist. She loves working with students of all ages. When she is not teaching, Shirlee enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, and studying the violin.

Marge Packman

Teacher

Marge earned her degree in English with minors in Education and French from Northern Illinois University. She has over 20 years’ experience as a tutor and substitute teacher. In her spare time she enjoys cooking and acting in community theater.

Beth Ullman

Teacher

Beth is a passionate teacher with a M.A degree in Library Sciences. She possesses a Multi-subject teaching credential.

Susan Romito

Teacher

Ms. Susan Romito is one of our widely versed teachers with several credentials. She possesses a California Administrative Service Credential; Bachelor of Arts: Spanish, California Community College Credential: Basic Education/Ethnic Studies, Credential: Single Subject Spanish and English and  California Bilingual Cross-Cultural Specialist Credential K-12.

Conor Matthews

Teacher

Mr. Conor earned his Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a Master’s in Teaching at the University of California, Irvine. As a teacher for nine years, he’s passionate about a wide variety of subjects, including math, writing, and social science. In his free time, Mr. Conor enjoys hiking, going to the gym, reading, and spending time with his dog.

Alexander D'Agostino

Teacher

Mr. Alex is a dedicated teacher with a Bachelor’s of Science in Math from UCI and a Master’s . He graduated from both UCI and CSULB and has been teaching for four years. Mr. Alex’s favorite subject is math, and he hopes to help students flourish and find their potential. In his personal life, Mr. Alex enjoys playing video games.

Roberta Nematzadeh

Teacher

Ms. Roberta received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English with minor in Psychology and Art History from Canisius College in New York.  She has over 15 years of experience as a substitute teacher in the L.A. Unified and in private schools, as a designer and teacher of her own art and art history program, and as a tutor. She is also a professional artist. She enjoys helping students  learn and gain confidence to achieve success.

Susan Li

Teacher

Susan received her B.A degree in Elementary Education from the University of Michigan. She possesses a Multi-subject teaching credential.  Passionate about education, she had taught elementary education for a little over 10 years. In her free time,  Susan likes to read and do crossword puzzles.

Pamela Jenkins

Teacher

Pamela Jenkins possesses a Doctorate degree in Education from Pepperdine University. Aside from Sylvan she teaches ESL at Santiago Canyon College. Pam enjoys reading, hiking and going to the theater in her spare time.

Stacy Patriarca

Teacher

Ms. Stacy is a new teacher with seven years of experience as a teacher’s aid with students K-8. She received her Bachelor’s in Liberal Studies at Cal State Fullerton. Ms. Stacy’s favorite subjects are Social Studies and English, and she loves to sing, dance, rollerblade, and play the drums.

Deirdre Newman

Teacher

Deirdre earned her B.A degree in Political Science and has a Multi-subject teaching credential from San Francisco State University. She is also an experienced journalist with extensive experience in writing, revising, editing and proof reading.

Paul Ali

Teacher

Paul Ali graduated from the University of Arizona, majoring in secondary education in English. After three years of teaching middle school in Austin, Texas, he entered the University of Texas master’s program, where he studied literature and creative writing. He returned to teaching in Los Angeles, California, where he taught English and intervention reading in the Los Angeles Unified School District for thirty years until he retired. He now spends his time writing novels and plays.

Angela Ford

Teacher/Center Assistant

Angela grew up in San Francisco and Berkeley. She received her BA in Psychology and Spanish from UC San Diego and her teaching credential from San Francisco State University. Angela taught at OCSA for 15 years! She taught Kindergarten through 12th grade Spanish. She is very excited to join the Sylvan team!

Jeyanthi Supramaniam

Online Teacher

Jeyanthi earned her Bachelors of Science degree from University of Central England, as well as a Specialist Diploma in Teaching & Learning from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She previously worked as a Allied Educator in Singapore public schools where her primary role was to help enchance teaching and learning by providing specialized support and services to students in academic areas. Jeyanthi has enjoyed sharing her time and knowledge serving students and feels that it is the most fullfulling part of her life.