St. Martin of Tours Academy & Preschool
Pilon® Workshop Way® School | U.S. Dept. of Education Green Ribbon School | Fair Trade School | La Mesa, CA
Governance
St. Martin of Tours Academy fosters confidence, curiosity, and independence through a climate of cooperation and trust by preserving dignity throughout the learning process, accentuating all children’s God-given gifts in a Catholic environment.
SMA Advisory Board
The purpose of the SMA Advisory Board is to recognize and respect the role of the Pastor and Principal and exercise responsible advisory recommendations in collaboration with the school leadership team for development and oversight of the fidelity to mission, academic excellence, and operational vitality. (NSBECS Standards 5 & 6)
Joseph Horejs
Catholic Identity
Phil Giordano
Finance
Lauren Ramers
Academic Excellence
Learn about Joseph Joseph Horejs was born and raised in San Diego, California and grew up at Good Shepherd Parish in Mira Mesa. He attended the University of San Diego, and majored in Theology & Religious Studies and Spanish. Joseph obtained his Masters in Education with a focus in Character Education while heI taught middle school at Nativity Prep Academy. He began working for the Diocese of San Diego in 2005 and is currently the Associate Director of the Office for Evangelization & Catechetical Ministry. Most importantly, Joseph is the proud father of four wonderful children, three of whom attend Catholic School and he is married to a Catholic school teacher. Joseph looks forward to serving the community of St. Martin of Tours Academy.
Learn about Phil Phil is a long-time parishioner who was actually baptized at St. Martin’s of Tours and attended our Academy as a child himself. He currently also serves as Chairman on the Church Finance Council. Phil has loved seeing multiple nieces & nephews attend St. Martin’s over the years and 3 of them are still currently attending. He has owned his La-Mesa based business, SFS Life Settlements, for 15 years and prior to that worked in the commercial banking & real estate industries. Phil is also a member of the San Diego Financial Planning Association and La Mesa Village Association.Phil received his B.S. in International Finance from Brigham Young University where he also played football throughout his college education. Phil resides with his wife of 22 years, Charlene, at their home in La Mesa.
Learn about Lauren Lauren H. Ramers is adjunct faculty in the Department of Learning and Teaching at the University of San Diego where she studies national and international education reform, social justice in K-12 education, teacher education for diverse populations, and pedagogy research. She has collaborated on several articles regarding Catholic education (in-press and published) based on her work with the Academy of Catholic Teaching at USD. She is currently an adjunct program designer for New Leaders, an organization dedicated to preparing school leaders in America’s highest-need schools. A former high school English and AVID teacher, Director of Professional Development at AVID Center, K-12 instructional coach, and international AVID consultant, Lauren has dedicated her professional career to serving all students and especially those least served by our school systems. Lauren earned her B.A. in English and Education from UCLA, her M.A. in Education and Teaching from Stanford University, her principal’s certification from the University of Washington, and she is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of San Diego in leadership studies. Lauren’s oldest son attends St. Augustine Catholic High School, and she is hopeful to have an OLP Pilot next year!
Ally McGrory
Advancement & Development
Tom Ritz
Physical Plant
Learn about Tom Thomas Ritz and and his wife, Kathleen, have been a part of the St. Martin of Tours Community for over 60 years. Tom is an Alumnus of the Academy as are their five children. Tom and Kathleen recently celebrated 45 years of marriage and they are proud grandparents of 3 children. Tom has been active as an adult in youth Scouting for over 24 years. He can often be found wearing his scout master uniform leading young children in activities that strengthen their moral, academic, and social abilities. Knowledge and experience from over 45 years in the maintenance and construction field plus a humble willingness to give back to the St. Martin Community brought Tom to the SMA Advisory Board. He recently retired from the City of San Diego as the Building Maintenance Supervisor for Qualcomm Stadium. Tom is a true asset to our unique 70 year old building.
Learn about Ally Ally McGrory Reyes is the Chief Operating Officer of La Jolla MJ Management, LLC, a real estate investment company. She grew up in San Diego and attended the University of San Diego, receiving her Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. Ally serves on the Board of Trustees for the National MS Society and is the Community Engagement Chair and Immediate Past Governance Chair for the Pacific South Coast Chapter. She is a member of the Junior Achievement YES Board, Bucks 4 Buses Chair for Patrons of the Prado, Board Member of the San Diego Sports Association, Member of the San Diego Honorary Deputy Sherriff’s Association, Board Member of the University of San Diego Sports Banquet Committee, City Liason to Mission Trails Little League, and is Immediate Past President of the Benchley-Weinberger Foundation. She is also Co-Chairing the Auction/Gala for St Martin of Tours Academy this year. Ally and her husband Indo have four young boys, Cruz, Kash, Kane and Clay.
SMA PTG
The purpose of the SMA Parent Group is to work with and assist the principal and teachers, to raise funds to support the school, and to provide for parent education.
(NSBECS Standards 5 & 6)
Genevieve Suzuki
President
Rosario Dawson
Vice President
Colm Driscoll
Treasurer
Learn about Genevieve I have been a St. Martin of Tours Academy parent since our daughter, Quinn, now 7th grade, began kindergarten in 2014. Eight years later, we also have our son, Deacon, enrolled in 1st grade in SMA. Since joining this warm community, I have twice served as a room parent and have been a member of the Parent Group, formerly known as the Parent Board, for several years. For the last four years, I have served as secretary, which required me to take minutes at meetings. I have also produced several parent newsletters, which have been distributed to our parent community. Although my family comes first, I am also an attorney with a solo practice in La Mesa. Because I have my own business, I have the flexibility to contribute more time to my children’s school. Prior to becoming an attorney, I was a professional journalist in Honolulu and San Diego and have won several awards for my community news reporting, including one from the Society of Professional Journalists when I was editor of the Mission Times Courier. I believe my experience on the board, as an attorney, and as a journalist equips me with a skill set that will enhance my work as the president of the Parent Group, should I be elected. As a fellow parent at SMA, I have made friends for life among my children’s classmates’ parents. I have seen their passion for their children’s education and would be excited to be given the opportunity to use that passion – as well as their own gifts and skills – to help our school continue to achieve and add to an already stellar reputation. Additionally, I have served as a Eucharistic Minister since 2019 and my daughter has been an altar server since she was in third grade. We are parishioners here at St. Martin and are committed to our church as well as our school. One of my personal goals is to make the behind-the-scenes planning accessible to all parents so that working moms and dads can join committees and serve as room parents. I would also like to help SMA get its name out around San Diego to attract more students to our amazing school. Further, I would love to see our school well represented during school Mass once a month so that parishioners see a sea of green sweatshirts when Father Elmer asks our students to stand and be recognized. I believe a school is only as strong as its parent community. A strong, involved parent group that incorporates the skills and enthusiasm of all of its members is the best kind of support system we can give our teachers, staff and students. I am honored to serve as president of the SMA Parent Group.
Learn about Rosario I would like to contribute to the St. Martin Academy Parent Group because, as a parent, I truly care about the opportunity and quality education provided to our children. I am a mother of two students: Paul (7th Grade) and Alina (5th Grade). I served as Parent Teacher Association Secretary at my children's previous school and also serve as Player Agent for the Lake Murray Little League Board. Professionally, I am a managing attorney, which provides me with the experience necessary to work effectively in a team setting.
Learn about Colm Iam the proud father of three children, Victoria (Gr. 3) Ruairi (Gr. 1) and Padraig (entering Kinder in Fall ‘22). The 2021-2022 school year marks the 2nd year our children have attended SMA though we have been parishioners at St. Martin’s since 2015. Catholic-educated from Kindergarten through college, I have been fortunate to experience the gift of faith based education first-hand. Along with math, science and cursive, I learned that service of others is a cornerstone of the Catholic faith. In service of our school, our children and their educators, I am proud to serve as the SMA Parent Group’s Treasurer. I believe that my professional experience as Chief Financial Officer at Precision Diagnostics, a San Diego-based toxicology laboratory with over 450 employees as well as my experience as a Board Member of Cristo Rey San Diego High School would lend itself well to serving in the role as SMA Parent Group’s Treasurer.
Erin McCarthy
Secretary
Learn about Erin I have a first grader (Delia) and have been around SMA for a few years, starting at the preschool. I love this school so much and want to help contribute to its on-going success. I am an Associate Scientist 2 for small, start-up biotech company in Sorrento Valley, working on forensics. I would love to see SMA get even stronger in STEM. I am also the Secretary of my rather large HOA and I currently volunteer in God’s Garden at the school.
Jamie Stradling
Room Parent Coordinator
Learn about Jamie My name is Jamie Stradling and my son Henry is currently in 6th going into 7th grade next year. We have been at SMA since preschool and can't imagine being anywhere else. I have been a constant volunteer/helper since our start all the way back when SMA had weekly BINGO and I was the “Jell-O lady.” Through the years I have been a Class Room Parent, Cub Scout leader and sat on the Strategic Planning Committee. Always pitching in where ever I can: School Gala’s, Walkathon’s and my favorite Grandparents Day. In my professional life I am an IP Docket Analyst at Cooley and have been there 20 years (I started when I was 10 years old). I enjoy trademark law very much and find it very interesting.
Ann Shafer
Sports Advisory Council
Learn about Ann My husband Michael and I have 3 kids – Aden (SMAAlumni) who is a Junior and Presidential Scholar at Mater Dei, Aaron (recent 8th grade SMA graduate) who was part of Student Council, Yearbook and was selected into the Saints’All County Basketball Team, and Avalin (3rd Grade), who is the busiest of our kids. She’s in Girl Scouts and loves school, sports, and dance (Hula & more). I had the wonderful opportunity to be a Room Parent for Avalin’s Preschool and Kindergarten classes and I was the Coach of her Pee Wee Girls’ Basketball Team (2nd/4th Grade) this year. Our family’s experience over the years with all the incredible teachers and the leadership at SMA have been positive blessings that have greatly contributed to our kids’ growth academically, athletically, and spiritually.
Parent Teacher Group
2022-2023 Meeting Schedule
08/22/22 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
09/06/22 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
09/14/22 Schoolwide PTG Meeting: Guest Speaker -Jodee Blanco 6:00 – 7:00 pm (hall)
10/03/22 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
10/26/22 Schoolwide PTG Meeting: State of the School & Catholic High School Representatives 6:00 - 7:00 pm (hall)
11/07/22 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
12/05/22 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
01/09/23 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
01/23/23 Schoolwide PTG Meeting: TBA
02/06/23 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
03/06/23 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
03/22/23 Schoolwide PTG Meeting: TBA
04/03/23 Executive Officers & Committee Chairs 4:00 – 5:00 pm
04/26/23 Schoolwide PTG Meeting: TBA
