Mrs. Valerie Bustamante has had the pleasure of working with students with a variety of settings over the past 15 years. She is originally from Miami, but absolutely loves living in New Orleans! This is her first year of teaching at HNJ, and she looks forward to helping students build strong foundations with intervention. She began her career as an academic tutor, helping struggling students with literacy development. Later as an academic instructor she led a therapeutic classroom setting for children with autism and related disorders. After her time in the classroom Valerie worked as a program and curriculum coordinator. She created individual and group learning activities, individual learning goals, and earned her Master’s degree in Special Education. Valerie and her husband have two boys, entering Pre-K 4 and second grade at HNJ.