Claudia Weintraub – Shape the future by shaping the education system

Claudia grew up in Switzerland and moved to the United States in her early 20’s. She earned her B.A. in English and German at California Lutheran University (CLU), where she graduated summa cum laude. She then went on to receive her single-subject teaching credential in English and her Master’s Degree in teaching from CLU as well. After teaching middle and high school students at local public schools, CLU approached her to teach as a part-time adjunct faculty member in the German and English departments.

When her own kids started to approach college age, she decided to look for full-time work. She found a position at a local charter school in Ventura as the Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator. During the time there, she learned as much as possible about independent study charter schools, measurement, and curriculum. She had the privilege to work under the director. She participated in such important tasks as the WASC self-study, board presentations, creating math intervention strategies, the graduation committee, and more. After that, two other charter schools approached Claudia to build their homeschool programs, which she did for three years. Both programs were successful and had a long waitlist of students.

In 2013 Claudia joined ROA. During her time at ROA, the school successfully renewed its charter twice, received a 6-year WASC re-accreditation and a $600,000 career pathways grant. The school’s student population has tripled in the last two years as well. ROA also opened a second facility in Oxnard three years ago and has moved in July 2020 to a new facility, which offers twice the square footage. The enrollment in Oxnard tripled in the last three years, and growth continues at that rate. Claudia considers it a privilege to work with ROA’s dedicated, brilliant and amazing staff. She enjoys the daily interaction with the school’s amazing students and families.

During her free time, Claudia loves to work with animals. She used to breed and raise alpacas and worked with the Sheriff’s K9 Search and Rescue team, where she trained her dog, Toby, to be a search and rescue dog. She loves the outdoors, enjoys her sunrise hikes out in the local hills, and spends time with her friends and family. Claudia has 3 children. All of them are now pursuing their own passions. Both of her daughters finished veterinary schools and are working in their fields (one with large animals and one with small ones) and her son finished his Ph.D. in psychology. He is working partially as a clinician and partially in research at UCLA.