One of our seven pending TIA designees, Ms. Sol Acuña, has taught Pre-kindergarten classes for the district since for the past four years. Since last school year (2021-2022) was the first year of TIA eligibility for Cityscape Pre-kindergarten teachers, Ms. Acuña earned T-TESS scores and student growth percentages high enough to earn a pending TIA designation!

When asked about her high marks on the T-TESS and the CIRCLE assessment (student growth), she simply replied that she likes a happy classroom. Beyond the curriculum, she teaches life’s lessons and teaches her students that mistakes are good when we learn from them! She allows freedom of expression for the little ones and truly understands their needs.

Ms. Acuña was born in Caracas, Venezuela and came to the USA when she was 20 years old. She moved to Spain and taught young children there before eventually coming back to the USA and now has more than 30 years of experience in teaching. Ms. Acuna has one daughter who
works as an art director and lives in Los Angeles.

When asked what advice she would give to a beginning teacher, she replied, “Teaching can be difficult, but you will never regret laughing and having fun with your students. Let them know you love them, and that they are part of an important bigger community.”

When asked to share what he admires about Ms. Acuña, her principal, Mr. Jose Lopez, stated, “her commitment to her students and her advocacy for the rest of the teachers.”

When someone wished her good luck as we await final word on last year’s designations, she replied, “a (pending) designation with TIA is a nice honor, yes, but whether I receive it or not, TEACHING is what I love to do!”

Now, THAT’S a class act, folks!