Meet Mr. Villanueva

Bio:

     Welcome to sixth grade!  I hope you and your family had a wonderful summer.  I am always excited about starting a new school year; hopefully, you and your child share the same feeling.  Before I explain what will be happening in my class this year, I would like to tell you a little about myself.

  First, my full name is James Villanueva.  I was born in NAS Lemoore and raised in town.  I spent my first six years in school at our rival, Neutra School.  I am proud to say that my mother was a teacher there for many years.  I received my bachelor's degree from California State University, Fresno, where I majored in business administration.

  I worked in the business world for a few years until I decided to follow in my mother's footsteps and become an educator.  I was a substitute teacher for a year before being hired in 1997 as a full-time teacher for Lemoore Union Elementary School District.  There I taught second grade for three and one-half years.  Then I moved to Neutra in 2001 and became a fourth-grade teacher.  I spent nine years there before moving to Akers in 2010 and doing another thirteen years in fourth grade here.

     Now I am teaching sixth grade social studies.  This year the students and I will explore ancient civilizations starting with prehistoric groups and working all the way to world of the Romans.  Most of our work will be done in class, but I might occasionally assign homework if we just cannot find enough time at school to get things done.  It is my hope that this will rarely happen; I want the children to be able to focus on their ELA and math assignments.

     This school has a wonderful and supportive staff.  I am honored to be a part of it and am looking forward to being your child's teacher this year.  Please feel free to contact me at school if you have any questions or concerns.  I will try my best to meet your expectations for both the school year and your child's education.

My Interests:

• Cycling

• Kayaking

• Skiing

• Hiking

• Music (I'm the school DJ!)

• Road trips