Meet the Staff

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Mrs. Melanie Chavez, Principal, went to UNM where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology with a minor in Political Science. She received her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from The University of Phoenix. Mrs. Chavez has been at St. Mary’s for several years. She has taught fourth grade, a fourth/fifth grade combo class, second grade and was the middle school language arts teacher. She was named St. Mary’s Teacher of the Year in 2012 and 2018, and has received the Catholic Foundation Teacher of the Year in 2016. She and her husband have three children, who are all alumni of St. Mary’s and went on to continue their Catholic education at St. Pius X. 

Ms. Bernadette Baca has been a teacher at St. Mary’s School for eight years. She currently is the art teacher, but also has experience in teaching reading skills, and research skills as a librarian. She is married and has a family of five daughters who are all grown up and doing fine. She has lived all her life in Belen and is member of Our Lady of Belen Church Parish. She enjoys working with children, and enhancing their insight into the world through art, and having fun doing it. Learning art offers many benefits for children, including fostering creativity, enhancing fine motor skills, promoting self-expression, and boosting confidence. It also provides a valuable outlet for processing emotions and developing problem-solving abilities.  She looks forward to the year ahead, working with your children and having a year filled with fun and educational art projects.

Mrs. Charlene Baca has been the first grade teacher at St. Mary's Catholic school since 2003. She loves teaching at a Catholic school so that she can integrate faith into all the subjects, and she enjoys the challenge of teaching inquisitive young minds so that they can achieve academic growth that exceeds expectations.  Mrs. Baca is a parishioner at Our Lady of Belen Catholic Parish, where she serves as a lector at the 4pm Saturday Vigil Mass. She has been married to Gilbert Baca since 1989, and has two children, Brenton and Austin. Mrs. Baca received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of New Mexico in 1989 and she is a Level 2 teacher licensed by the state of New Mexico.  

Ms. Susan Barela, educational assistant, is native to New Mexico with family roots in the Manzano Mountains. She attended The University of New Mexico Valencia Campus where she obtained her Educational Assistant Level 3 Licenses Certification. With twenty-two years of experience working in the Belen Public Schools system, she has recently retired in 2020 as an Elementary/Special Education Instructional Assistant at Gil Sanchez Elementary. Ms. Barela has 3 sons and numerous grandchildren, and has a passion for educating and caring for children. With this deep passion, she is excited to influence and educate students at St. Mary’s Catholic School. Beside working with children, Ms. Barela also likes to spend her time gardening, baking, and attending Mass at Our Lady of Belen. 

Ms. Monica Griego is our PE coach.  

She previously worked in banking as a fraud investigator.  She holds a Bachelor's Degree in University Studies from the University of New Mexico and a Master's Degree in Mental Health and Wellness from Grand Canyon University.  She is married and has three children.  Her oldest son, Joseph is in the U.S. Navy.  Her daughter Charlotte is a senior at Sandia Prep and her youngest son,  Andrew, attends St. Mary's.  Her nieces and nephews also attended or are attending St. Mary's.   

Fun fact about Ms. Griego: she lived in Maine, the lobster capital, and does not like seafood.

  Ms. Alex Jaquez is the Middle School Science teacher. She also does the science lab for grades Pre-K through 5 th grades. Ms. Carrillo graduated from the University of New Mexico with a double Bachelor’s Degree in General Education as well as Special Education. In the summer, you may have seen her at the Belen High School pool where she teaches swimming lessons and supervises the life guards. She has certifications in First-Aid and CPR.  

Mrs. Sohaila Lucero, Technology Specialist, System Administrator and the STREAM/Technology teacher. While completing her B.Sc in Computer Science from Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), she worked as an assistant System Administrator at the School of Pharmacy, MUN. In 2003, she began working as a Software Engineer for the ALMA project at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). She started working at Saint Mary's at the end of 2014. She was awarded teacher of the year in 2019 in Albuquerque and in the state of New Mexico by the the Air Force Association for STEM focused curriculum. She has worked at St. Mary's  for more than 10 years and during that time has expanded their STEM curriculum.

Mrs. Sylvia Sanchez is our Kindergarten teacher. She is a lifelong Valencia County  resident. She is married and has three children and two grandchildren. She is a graduate from New Mexico State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Early Childhood and Library science. She has taught various grade levels throughout her career, spending the majority of those years in Kindergarten. Awards that she has received are Employee of the year at La Merced Elementary, Certified employee of the year at Los Lunas Elementary, Certified employee of the year at Raymond Gabladon Elementary, most influential teacher from Los Lunas High School and Los Lunas Schools teacher of the year. She is excited to continue working with the kindergartners at St. Mary's.

Ms. Jamecinda Waldrop is the ELA teacher for middle school.  She holds a BS degree in Secondary English Education from the University of South Carolina-Upstate.  She was born in WV but spent most of her life in the Upstate of South Carolina.  She taught for several years and then spent 20+ years in the business world as a Human Resources Manager and business owner.  She now lives in New Mexico with her husband, son, sister, 3 dogs, and a cat.  She enjoys spending time with family and is an avid traveler and crafter.