meet our staff

Ms. Lisa began her SJES journey as a substitute in 1995 – the same year her daughter Jordan started as a 3 year old.  Then in the Fall of 1996, Ms. Lisa became a full time employee serving various roles from assistant in the primary classroom to school administrator.
Jordan continued as a student at St. James through 3rd grade and is now a Senior at Sachse High School.
During her free time, Ms. Lisa enjoys catching movies with Jordan
Ms. Lisa treasures all the SJES events but has a real passion for the Moving Up Day Celebration since she sees how the kids have grown from the first day of school.

2010, is Anna’s second year working at St. James and is assisting in the Toddlers Class with Mrs. Tamara.  Anna has a Bachelors of Science in Early Childhood Development from the University of North Texas and is also a Certified Registered Dental Assistant from Baylor Dental College of Dentistry.  After graduation from North Texas in 1992, Anna married Stephen and moved to Louisville, KY for his Graduate work at the University of Louisville.  In 1997, they moved back to Dallas to be closer to family and friends.
Anna has three children Briana, Brendan and Brooke also known as the B.B. Crew.  Briana and Brendan are alumni of SJES and Brooke is in her second year at St. James, working hard to follow in their footsteps.  Anna’s interests are her children and keeping up with all their extracurricular activities.  Three schools, active volunteer for PTA/PTO and church.  On her spare time Anna is also a registered dental assistant of Baylor Dental College working at Healing Hands Ministries, an organization that helps families in need of Medical and Dental care in the Lake Highland area.

Ashley Flowers has worked at St. James since the fall of 2006. After graduating in 2004, Ashley went on to complete a missionary training school, Youth With A Mission, in San Francisco CA. She has worked abroad in over 7 countires giving medical care, doing disaster relief work, teaching English classes, and working in Orphanages.  Ashley loves her huge family which includes her parents, 15 brothers and sisters, her beta fish and dog named Hans. She enjoys travel, coffee, camping, reading, Historic towns and shopping for antiques. Ashley has enjoyed her time at St. James because it has allowed her to share God’s love with her coworkers and the children.

Tamara Latchem lives with her husband in their fixer-upper home in uptown Dallas.  She has pursued her interest in education since 1999, when she began working in a summer camp and after school care program.  Since then, Tamara has worked as an English language tutor for refugee children and has participated in a variety of relief projects for children in Southeast Asia.  Tamara learned of the Montessori Method in 2007 and was quickly hooked for life!  She joined the St. James family in 2008 and completed her Infant and Toddler Certification from the North American Montessori Center in 2009.  Tamara loves working with toddlers, particularly teaching practical life skills and grace and courtesy lessons.  She has found a home at St. James and appreciates the way that faith and Montessori principles blend so beautifully here. 

Coral Birkenback is returning for her fourth year at St. James. Miss Coral spent the last three years as Mrs. Carmen’s assistant in the Mother’s Day Out program, but this year is our official Librarian. Miss Coral is a student at Collin County Community College, but is undecided as to what she will major in. Miss Coral began volunteering at the Rockwall Library when she was a teen-ager, and was a Library Aid for Rockwall High School.

Charlotte Hixon attended and graduated from the University of North Texas at Denton in 2005 with a BA.  During college Charlotte travelled through Europe and after graduation married and settled down in London and Amsterdam area.  Charlotte attended Full-time Montessori College for one year, completed her teaching practicum and graduated with commendation.
In 2007, Charlotte moved to Dallas and had her son Louis. 
Ms. Charlotte, trained with Shakta Kaur Khalsa for Radiant child Yoga levels 1 & 2 and also trained with Karen Prior for 200 hours of Samatua Yoga and for Mamaste Prenatal Yoga.
Ms. Charlotte, loves family, cooking and healthy eating; Yoga.

My name is Carmen Bear. I was born and raised in Mexico. After graduating high school, I married my husband of 40 years. I then, along with my new husband came to the United States. Upon arrival in the U.S., I learned to speak English and took some college courses while raising my three children. After my youngest child went to school I began working with children and have been doing so for the last twenty years.

Eva Soldevilla is a former high school teacher from Mexico is married, and has two lovely daughters. Eva moved from Mexico to Texas nine years ago, and is a wonderful addition to the  St. James staff.  Her favorite hobbies are reading, going to movies and listening to music. She also enjoys playing soccer.

Ashli Cheung began teaching at St. James in 2007, and works with the full day students teaching Art and Technology.  Ashli has a Bachelors of Fine Arts from UT Austin. She has a background in graphic art and advertising, and has been teaching for over 14 years. Ashli enjoys spending time with her family, the outdoors, reading, new technology, and all things creative. Ashli is a founding member of VCFS Texas and is a also a boardmember of the Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome Educational Foundation and helps educate and support families affected by VCFS / 22q11.