Monsignor Stephen Downes was born in Dublin, Ireland.  After high school he began his studies for the priesthood at a Jesuit philosophy school at Mungret College near Limerick, Ireland.  He did his studies in theology at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California.  Through St. John's Seminary he received a B. A. in Sacred Theology from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and also an M. A. in Religion from St. John's Seminary.   He also received a B. A. in Philosophy from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a M. A. in Social Work from Fordham University in New York.  He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1966.  He served as Associate Pastor in parishes in Los Angeles (South Central Los Angeles, Altadena, Sierra Madre, Santa Monica and Chatsworth) and also served as Associate Director of Catholic Charities in Los Angeles (from 1971 to 1976).  He served as Pastor of St. Raphael's in Goleta (from 1987 to 2002); as Pastor of St. Mary's in Palmdale (from 2002 to 2009) and as Pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (from July 1, 2009 to the present time).  He rejoices to serve the Lord and his people in parish work and feels blessed to be part of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School.

Mrs. Karen Regan is a 1991 graduate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School. Upon graduation from OLMCS, she went on to Bishop Garcia Diego High School. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from University of California, Santa Barbara, and then earned a Master of Arts degree in Education and Multiple Subject CLAD credential at the University of California, Berkeley. Mrs. Regan taught second grade at Notre Dame School in Santa Barbara before returning to Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in 2002 where she taught fifth and eighth grades. She became principal in 2005. Mrs. Regan and her husband Brian have three children of their own, two of whom are in kindergarten at OLMCS.

Mrs. Amy Zoltoski grew up in Santa Barbara, attending Notre Dame School and Bishop Garcia Diego High School.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential at San Diego State University, and completed her Masters Degree in Elementary Reading in 2010.  Mrs. Zoltoski  spent six years teaching third grade in Nevada prior to returning to Santa Barbara in 2010 when she joined the staff at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School as the Kindergarten Assistant and as part of the Extended Day Care team  Beginning in 2011, Mrs. Zoltoski became the Kindergarten teacher.  Mrs. Zoltoski and her husband Chris have two sons attending OLMCS and enjoy spending family time at the beach.

Alison Conway is excited to be entering her fourth year at OLMCS working as the first grade teacher.  She was born and raised in Northern California, but moved to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB. Alison graduated from UCSB in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics with an emphasis in Accounting.    In 2006, Alison returned to UCSB where she received her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential as well as a Masters Degree in Education. During her enrollment in the Teacher Education Program at UCSB, Alison gained student teaching experience in both kindergarten and sixth grade classrooms at a local public elementary school.   Upon receipt of her credential, she worked Laguna Blanca School as sixth grade co-instructor while also coaching girls' soccer.  The following year Alison became the first grade teacher at OLMCS where she plays an active role in the middle school athletic community as well as the lower grade student community.  She has enjoyed integrating technology into her curriculum.  Alison is especially fond of the true sense of community shared among teachers, students, and parents at OLMCS.

Ms. Erica Miller began her OLMCS teaching career in Spring, 2007, and has been teaching the 2nd Grade here since Fall, 2008. Erica lives in the Santa Ynez Valley where she was raised. She graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with a Liberal Studies degree and a minor in Music. She received a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from Chapman University. Miss Miller is a Music Minister for our school masses as well as at her home parish, Old Mission Santa Inés, in Solvang. She cantors there at two masses, plays guitar, and directs choirs for special events and holy days.

Mrs. Larissa Feramisco was the sixth grade homeroom teacher at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School from 2000 through June, 2008. In 2008, Mrs. Feramisco switched to the third grade, which is the grade she always dreamed of teaching. Mrs. Feramisco grew up in Carpinteria and graduated from Carpinteria High School in 1996.  In May 2000 she graduated from the University of Redlands in Redlands, California, with a major in Liberal Studies, a minor in Social Science, and a California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. In December of 2003 Mrs. Feramisco earned her Master of Arts Degree in Education from Azusa Pacific University.  Mrs. Feramisco and her husband were blessed with the birth of their son in the summer of 2011.

Mrs. Mary Ann Bognar grew up in Miami, Florida, where she attended parochial schools from Kindergarten through twelfth grade. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Master in Education degree from the University of Miami in Florida. She taught in a parochial school in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, for 13 years and in Chesterfield County Public Schools (Virginia) for 11 years. Mrs. Bognar and her husband moved to California in 2004. She has a California Multiple Subject Teacher Credential.  Mr. and Mrs. Bognar have three grown children.

Jimmy Sisco grew up in Northern California's Bay Area where he attended Christian schools from first grade through twelfth grade. He attended Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz where he studied physical education and played intercollegiate basketball. He later attended and graduated from Pacific College in Los Angeles where he played intercollegiate basketball and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies with an emphasis in Biblical Languages (Greek and Hebrew). He received his California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and his Master's Degree from Antioch University in Santa Barbara. Mr. Sisco proudly served six years in the United States Marine Corps. He has also written music soundtracks for two international documentary films. Mr. Sisco began his teaching career at OLMCS in the Fall of 2006.  He was the eighth grade teacher homeroom teacher and middle school social studies teacher for three years and has been teaching fifth grade for a total of five years now.  Mr. Sisco and his lovely wife, Sarah,  have one daughter and one son.

Miss Eun Kim was our 7th grade homeroom teacher and 8th grade math teacher from 2006 through June, 2008. She currently teaches sixth grade and also directs the Student Council. After five years of teaching middle school math, Miss Kim now teaches middle school social studies.  She grew up in Carpinteria, attended Cate School, graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in History and received and cleared her California Multiple Subject credential from Antioch University. She student taught and substituted in the Ventura, Goleta, Cold Springs, and Carpinteria Unified school districts prior to joining the staff at OLMCS. On Sundays, parishioners at St. Joseph's Church might find her behind the piano. She enjoys playing golf, hiking, and spending time with friends on the beach.

Mary Beth Lee grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley where she lives today. She graduated from Santa Ynez High School, attended St. Mary's College in Moraga, California, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree and a single subject teaching credential in English. After teaching seventh & eighth grade in Fremont, California, Miss Lee took a year off to do missions work, which included an outreach to Northern Ireland, where she worked in a youth coffee house and spoke in various schools and churches with her outreach team. Upon returning from Europe, Miss Lee taught sixth grade for four years at Our Lady of Grace School in Castro Valley, California. While teaching sixth grade religion, she found that she wanted to know more about the Bible, especially the Old Testament; so, in 2001 she went to the School of Biblical Studies (SBS) through Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in Lakeside, Montana. SBS is an intense inductive bible school that takes the students through the Bible five times during the nine-month course. After completing SBS, Mary Beth stayed on to teach in the SBS for the next three years. During that time she also took a missions trip to Ukraine to teach in the SBS there. Miss Lee has a real heart for the Bible and a passion to see kids learn about and live out their faith. Miss Lee began teaching at OLMC in the fall of 2005 as the eighth grade homeroom teacher. This year, Miss Lee is  7th grade homeroom teacher and teaches sixth, seventh, and eighth grade grammar and writing, and sixth grade religion.  Miss Lee also serves as the Religion Coordinator for Our Lady of Mount Carmel School.

After graduating from Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in 1996, Mrs. Rigthmer continued her Catholic education at Villanova Preparatory School in Ojai. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, a minor in Sociology, and a California Teaching Credential. Kyla later earned her Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Antioch University, Santa Barbara.  She began her career at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Fall of 2004 teaching fifth grade.  In the Fall of 2006, after two wonderful years in fifth grade, she became the kindergarten teacher.  During this time, Mrs. Rightmer also coached the middle school girls volleyball and soccer teams. After five fun and creative years in kindergarten, she received the opportunity to challenge herself again and became the eighth grade teacher in the Fall of 2011.  

Originally from Indiana Tracie Simolon received her bachelor's degree in Business Management from the University of Notre Dame. Upon graduating she moved to San Diego to serve as an Americorps volunteer teacher at Nativity Prep Academy in the Logan Heights neighborhood. While teaching fifth and sixth grades at Nativity Prep, she earned her Multiple Subject credential from the University of San Diego.  She joined the Our Lady of Mount Carmel School faculty in 2004 as the seventh grade teacher.  In 2005, she returned to Mount Carmel's middle school part-time following the birth of her daughter.  The Simolon family has since welcomed sons in 2008 and 2011. Currently Tracie serves as Vice-Principal and teaches the 8th grade algebra class 

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Mrs. Persoon is a Santa Barbara native who attended St. Raphael’s School and attended Bishop Diego High School.  She attended SJSU where she received her BA in History and earned her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential.   After finishing school, she moved back to the area and worked in several local schools before taking the second grade position at Mount Carmel.  She taught the second graders for 7 1/2 years before leaving to have her two sons.  She has been back at OLMCS for three years now, both as a teacher and a parent to sons Beau and Brett.

A native of the Los Angeles area, Wendy Harrington returns to Our Lady of Mount Carmel School. She graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in elementary education in 2009. Prior to her return at OLMCS, Mrs. Harrington worked as the Center Director for Girls Inc. in downtown Santa Barbara. Before relocating to Santa Barbara in 2008 with her husband, Wendy worked for the Torrance YMCA as a Lead Teacher in their after school program. She has also worked as the Center Director for Girls Inc.in downtown Santa Barbara and as a Kindergarten and First Grade math teacher at Advanced Education School in Lomita, CA.

Gloria Solano completed her undergraduate studies at UCSB and received her multiple subject teaching credential from California State University Northridge. For the last three years, she was the afternoon fifth grade teacher at OLMCS. Previously Mrs. Solano was a substitute teacher at Mount Carmel and the Carpinteria Unified School District.  This year she is in charge of finance, as she also has an extensive background in bookkeeping and as an accounting assistant.  She is a Mount Carmel alumna, currently has one child attending Mount Carmel, and one who graduated Mount Carmel in 2011 currently attending Bishop High School. In her free time, Gloria enjoys helping coach her daughter's soccer team and sewing. Mrs. Solano is the school bookkeeper as well as the upper grade math assistant.  

Mary Beth DeNiro was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana. She received a double credential in Special Education (Visually Impaired) and a Standard Teaching Credential (Elementary) from Cal State Los Angeles. She taught at Frances Blend School for the Blind in Hollywood and was an Itinerant Teacher for the Visually Impaired in Pasadena before coming to Santa Barbara. Mrs. DeNiro has been at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School since the fall of 1988. She taught first grade for 14 years, and has been the Resource Teacher since 2002.

Robert Aswad grew up in the Los Angeles area. He graduated from UCSB where he studied conducting, piano, and music theory/history. He also studied the excellent music pedagogy system known as the 'Kodaly method'in classes at USC. For many years Mr. Aswad has maintained a piano studio in Santa Barbara and worked as an accompanist, vocal coach and soloist. He taught for several years at the Waldorf School where his chorus sang with the West Coast Symphony. He currently directs the Ojai Camerata, an a cappella choral ensemble performing music from the Renaissance to the present, as well as the Ojai Methodist Chancel Choir, and is also active as an adjudicator for the National Guild of Piano Teachers. Mr. Aswad also teaches at St. Raphael School.  He started teaching at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in the Fall of 2006.

A Carpinteria native, Mrs. Van Eyck attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Child Development with a Minor in Psychology.  There she took a year long course on integrating technology in the classroom. After graduating from Cal Poly, Mrs. Van Eyck went on to UCSB to earn a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and Masters in Education.  Upon graduation from UCSB, Mrs, Van Eyck worked as a Reading Support Teacher at Mckinley Elementary School and later worked as a long term substitute teacher for 5th grade and a 7th grade math tutorial teacher at Carpinteria Middle School.  This is Mrs. Van Eyck's third year at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School as our computer teacher and her first year as the physical education teacher.  Mrs. Van Eyck cannot wait to start a new year full of exciting new ideas, both in PE and with the newly adopted iPad program.

Jennifer Buur is a native of Santa Barbara who joined the faculty at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 2005.  She graduated from Santa Barbara High School with honors in Graphic Design, Studio Art and Fashion Design. Jennifer earned her Associate of Arts degree with an emphasis in Studio Art from Santa Barbara City College. In addition to working with the children of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Jennifer teaches private art workshops for children, after school art courses at Montecito Union School, creates custom art work for clients and paints faces at birthday parties and events. During the summer Jennifer runs the Art Academy at Mount Carmel.  Jennifer lives in Santa Barbara with her family.

Jennifer Webb-Shabestari grew up in Marin County, CA where she attended Catholic grade and high school.  She received her AA degree from Santa Barbara City College and her BA in Recreation with an emphasis in Community and Therapeutic Recreation.  Jennifer served as the PE Teacher/Athletic Director at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School since the Fall of 2000.  Prior to that she was the Kindergarten instructional assistant for three years.  Beginning in the 2012-13 school year, Jennifer will utilize her talents with the youngest learners on our campus in our preschool program.  Jennifer and her husband live in Santa Barbara with their daughter.  

Mrs. Sara Valerio feels she has reached a major step in her career goal. Prior to her promotion as the Pre-K Director, she worked as the Kindergarten Aide and Extended Day Care Coordinator for two years at OLMCS. As an OLMCS graduate (1994), she is very happy to serve in this capacity. After graduating from Bishop Garcia Diego High School, Miss Sara obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Child Development with emphasis on working with preschool age children from San Diego State University. She has ten years experience working with families in the San Diego and Santa Barbara area as a professional nanny and personal assistant. In 2007, Miss Sara received the Child Development Site Supervisor Permit from the State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. She says working with young children has always been her passion. "There is no other place I'd rather be at this time in my life. I feel right at home." The start of the new Pre-K program was exciting for all of us and especially Sara Valerio. Miss Sara became a mother to a son in May 2007 and a daughter in January 2012.

Elizabeth Hanson is originally from Los Angeles. She moved to Santa Barbara in 1990 to attend Santa Barbara City College, enrolling in the Early Childhood Education Program. In addition to her studies, Elizabeth worked with children ages 2 1/2 - 6 years of age for two years at the SBCC Children's Center. She has worked with children and their families in Santa Barbara county for over 15 years. Miss Lizzy is married with two sons, the youngest of whom attends OLMCS.

Colter Frazier was born and raised in Sonora, California. He attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he received a BA in Music, with a focus in saxophone performance. Colter moved to Santa Barbara in 2004 and has since been an active member in the local music scene as a professional musician, radio DJ, promoter, and music educator.

Jocelyn Tipple is a versatile professional musician who plays, records, conducts, arranges, and also teaches band programs at Mountain View School and Cold Spring School.  She coordinates the MERIT chamber music program at the Music Academy of the West and maintains a busy private studio of clarinet and saxophone students in the Santa Barbara/Ventura/Oxnard area.  Jocelyn has been performing on multiple woodwinds in Southern California for some time now.  She can be found playing in orchestral, theatrical and recording settings.  Jocelyn has performed with the Santa Maria Philharmonic, San Luis Wind Orchestra, Lompoc Pops, Current Sounds New Music Consortium, Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera, Music Theater of Santa Barbara, PCPA, and Swing Shift, among others.  She plays and records Irish whistles with the Irish band, "Dannsair."