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As the school year comes to a close, two Pleasanton Unified School District staffers are ending off on a positive note after having been named as the 2025 Teacher of the Year and the Classified Employee of the Year.
Esperanza Jimenez, a fifth grade dual immersion teacher at Valley View Elementary School, and longtime Harvest Park Middle School registered behavior technician Lisa Libert were each recognized for their notable contributions to the district and for the work they do helping students succeed in various ways.
Both Libert and Jimenez were recognized for their awards at the county level by the Alameda County Office of Education.
“Maestra Jimenez embodies the very best of teaching — blending academic excellence with deep care, cultural connection and community engagement,” PUSD Interim Superintendent Maurice Ghysels said in a press release. “Her dedication to bilingual education, inclusive practices, and family partnership has made a lasting impact on students, families, and colleagues alike.”
As for Libert, Ghysels commended her work supporting students with moderate to severe mental or physical challenges.
“Lisa Libert is a shining example of the profound impact our classified employees have on students and schools every day,” Ghysels said in a separate press release. “Through her dedication to inclusion, equity, and student success, Lisa has helped transform lives and strengthen our school community.”
Jimenez told the Weekly that her initial reaction when she heard she won the Teacher of the Year award was shock.
“This was not something I was expecting, and I was very surprised,” she said.
The fifth grade teacher is one of Valley View’s several bilingual teachers who work within the school’s Dual Language Immersion program, which is designed for both Spanish-speaking students who are learning English as a second language and for English-speaking students who want to learn Spanish.
“Teaching in the Dual Language program at Valley View has allowed me the opportunity to grow as an educator and learn from some amazing colleagues,” Jimenez said. “It takes a community of educators to come together in order to find that success in each child’s educational journey.”
Jimenez does more than just teach, district officials noted.
She also organizes the fifth grade outdoor education program, cheers on students at local soccer games and helps lead the school’s parent information night for the DLI program — all of which “strengthens the connection between school, home, and community.”
“Esperanza Jimenez is more than just a teacher — she is a mentor, a guide, and an advocate who inspires students and colleagues alike,” Valley View principal Andrea Withers said in the press release focused on Jimenez. “Whether she is mentoring new teachers, supporting struggling students, collaborating with parents, or leading professional development, she does so with passion, dedication and a positive attitude.”
Jimenez told the Weekly she loves what she does and she carries herself with the goal of making a difference in the lives of her students — not expecting recognition. However, she also said she was grateful and honored to have received the award and she hopes to continue her work in having positive impacts for all of her students.
“As an educator, I feel honored to receive this recognition and feel that every teacher should be recognized for the work we do every day to help our students,” she said. “As a Latina educator, I feel seen. I hope to be an example for my students that with hard work and dedication, they can accomplish their dreams, and be that example for our future generations.”
For Libert, the recognition of Classified Employee of the Year — while very much appreciated by her — is a bittersweet one because she is set to retire at the end of this school year.
Libert is a 20-year staffer at Harvest Park who, according to the district, was instrumental in the school’s “transformation of its special education programming to foster equity, inclusion, and academic success for students with Individualized Education Plans.”
“Lisa has spent many of her lunch hours in my room suggesting ways I can work with her students to make their and my experience richer and more productive,” Harvest Park teacher Mimi Davis said in a press release. “Her knowledge and abilities to work with her students, parents, and teachers, help those students who would otherwise not have a voice to learn, build relationships with their peers, and stay in a general ed setting.”
As a registered behavior technician, Libert mentors new paraeducators at the school so they know how to work with individual students with mental or physical challenges. She said educating the new aides is important because a lot of them get thrown into schools with little knowledge.
But a lot of her work mainly revolves around supporting students with special needs, which she said she loves to do because of how rewarding it is to see a student communicate their needs and get those needs met — even if it does take months to get that student comfortable enough to get to that point.
“I love working with the kids that have the higher behaviors; that have problems with frustration and might hit you or kick you,” she told the Weekly. “I love the fact that when you get them not doing that because you taught them how to communicate their wants or their needs, it makes a huge difference in their lives.”
Now, after two decades of living in Pleasanton and working at the middle school, Libert said she moved to Manteca to take care of her parents and that, combined with wanting to spend more time with her grandchildren, led to her decision to retire.
And while she said she will miss her students and is sad to go, she was honored and happy to go out on the positive note with being recognized as the 2025 Classified Employee of the Year.
“It’s on to the next adventure, but this one will always be huge in my heart,” she said.
