Claudia Medina may be new to LAHS, but don’t let that fool you into thinking she’s new to teaching. Medina, who now teaches American Literature and Survey, officially began her 11-year teaching career at small charter schools. However, her journey as a teacher started far before that, when she was a child.
Daughters of Mexican immigrant parents, Medina and her sister were motivated to work hard at school by the prospect of becoming first-generation college students. Her mother attended a few years of community college, while her father had never received an education past middle school. Medina and her sister, recognizing that they had opportunities their parents had never had, worked hard at school.
“English was not my first language,” Medina said. “Ironically, though, reading and writing was where I thrived as a young child.”
Medina and her sister were the first in their family to attend college. At Santa Clara University, Medina discovered her love for reading and writing. That was when she decided she’d major in English, with the goal of becoming an English teacher.
“I wanted to become the teacher that I never had when I was young,” Medina said.
Medina went on to teach at Luis Valdez Leadership Academy, a public charter high school in San Jose under The Foundation for Hispanic Education. In 2021, she transferred to Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School, which has a primarily low-income Hispanic and Latino demographic. At Cristo Rey, Medina won Teacher of the Year in 2023 and was nominated twice by her senior class as their graduation keynote speaker.
“She’s one of those teachers who has over 30 letters of recommendation to write because she wants to support her students,” said Margarita Medina, her older sister and Mountain View High School therapist.
Margarita introduced Medina to the MVLA District, and Medina made the move to LAHS in the spring of 2025. Medina was drawn to the number of resources available to students at MVLA.
“I’m a child of public education,” Medina said. “I’m trying to give back to the community.”
