School Leadership
Eugene D. Straub
Executive Director, Larchmont Schools
Prior to joining the Larchmont Schools as Executive Director, Eugene D. Straub was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Citizens of the World Charter Schools. Gene also served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Youth Policy Institute and Chief Financial Officer for IMMS and Chief Operating Officer of Break the Cycle Inc., where he had oversight of development, program implementation, public policy and all financial activities. Gene also served as Senior Vice President-Studio Operations for Twentieth Century Fox, where he was responsible for daily operational activity of the 54-acre studio lot and had oversight of an $85 million operating budget.
Gene serves on the Board of Directors for Citizens of the World Charter Schools, Bert Corona Charter Middle School, and Monseñor Oscar Romero Charter Middle School and was a founding board member of Valley Charter School. Gene earned a B.A. in Finance from Michigan State University and has received a Diplôme de Cuisine with honors from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.
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Dolores Patton
Head of Elementary School
Dolores Patton has been a Los Angeles-based educator, mentor and advisor for 35 years. During her tenure as a teacher at Open Magnet Charter School, one of Larchmont Charter's model schools, from 1985 to 2009, she was also a Beginning Teacher Support Provider, a mentor for the Cotsen Foundation, and a faculty advisor for Teach For America. Throughout her career, Dolores has taught grades 1 through 6, primarily in a team-teaching, project-based environment, and also in bilingual classrooms. Since 1996, she has participated in the Open Charter School Institute: Constructivism in Action. She is the recipient of numerous commendations and grants from organizations throughout California and the U.S., including California Network of Educational Charters, Los Angeles Educational Partnership, American Education Research Association, and two A+ for Energy Grants. Her credentials include: Educational Administration; Life Credential; and National Board Certification, Middle Childhood Generalist. She received three degrees from California State University: two M.A.’s, in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, and Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education; and a B.A. in Spanish, a language in which she is fluent. Dolores is very proud to be the principal of Larchmont Charter School working with a skilled staff, supportive parents, and an enriching community to offer an exciting, meaningful, and demanding constructivist educational program to the diverse LCS student body.
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Rick Esquivel
Head of Middle School
Rick Esquivel brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion to the community of Larchmont Charter School. He attended the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology with a focus in pre-medicine. Upon graduating from UCSB, Rick joined Teach for America—a national teaching corps that recruits the nation’s most talented undergraduates to commit two years to close the educational gap in our nation’s most underserved schools. After realizing a strong need for passionate and empathetic educators, Rick decided to continue providing students with meaningful learning experiences where his students have met and exceeded state and district performance levels on standardized tests awarding him “Teacher of the Year” while in LAUSD. Mr. Esquivel holds a Master’s Degree in K-12 Education from Loyola Marymount University and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Policy with an administrative credential from California State University, Northridge. Rick’s commitment has reached beyond the classroom; he has served as school leader for LAUSD K-8 Schools for the past four years. As a former Department Chair, School Director and Assistant Principal, Rick is now happy to serve as Head of Middle School and collaborate with teachers, team members, families and students to continue placing LCS in the top 10% of all public schools in California. Rick’s attributes his aspirations to the students he meets everyday and considers himself fortunate to be working towards securing their promising futures.
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Myra Salinas
Assistant Principal
Myra Salinas is the current Assistant Principal of Larchmont Charter School. Originally from the Philippines, Myra immigrated to Los Angeles when she was eleven years old. She is fluent in Tagalog and can converse in Spanish. Myra is a proud Trojan. She received her BA and MA in Education from the University of Southern California. As an educator, she was previously the Director of School and Program Compliance for Camino Nuevo Charter Academy from 2003 through 2007. She was also the co-Principal for the Camino Nuevo Charter Academy - Harvard site for the school year 2002-2003. Myra also worked at Foshay Learning Center, a K-12 LAUSD school. She worked as a middle school teacher and later became the testing coordinator and Reading coordinator. She co-developed and implemented a 6th Grade Reading Program at Foshay which helped increase 6th Grade Reading scores on the Stanford 9 Test.
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Beth Tigay
Gabriel Ramirez
