Nate Monley comes from a big family of teachers. At a recent family Thanksgiving reunion there were twelve teachers out of a total of thirty five relatives. Nate states, “Fractions and percentages aren't my strong point, but I think that's pretty high!”

He came into teaching through a program called "Teach for America" that places teachers in urban schools. He taught for three years at Ford Boulevard Elementary School in East LA. It was there that he first became interested in issues of bilingual education.

In 2002 Nate and his wife Katie were married, and they moved to Santa Barbara. “It was my privilege to get a job with César Chávez Charter School, and begin teaching in a dual-immersion bilingual setting." Since coming to CCCS he has taught every grade but second grade.

From March through December 2004 Nate took a sabbatical year to study bilingual education in Valparaiso, Chile. The comparison of bilingual programs across international lines was fascinating, and has informed his teaching since returning.

If you want to learn more about him, or see a few clips of his first year of teaching, visit: http://www.pbs.org/firstyear/teachers/nate.html