Born and raised in the South Bay Area, Karla is a proud hija de imigrantes. She is a first gen college graduate from San Francisco State University where she majored in Raza Studies and minored in American Indian Studies. Karla started working at Summit Denali Middle School SY17 as a tutor with Americorps, joined the founding class of the Marshall Teacher Residency (formerly SLTR) the following school year at Summit Prep and received her teaching credential for Social Science. She taught Modern World II at Summit Denali the following four years, and graduated an amazing group of young individuals in 2022. For the SY23, Karla worked as a Dean of Culture and Instruction at Summit Denali High School and is excited to transition to Dean of Expeditions at Everest for the SY24!

Morris was born in Taiwan and raised in the San Gabriel Valley near LA. Early in his education Morris pursued being a doctor. Although he obtained a degree in Human Biology from UCSD, Morris realized he did not enjoy the medical field despite enjoying science in general. After a bit of soul searching, he realized that the most fulfilling moments in his life were filled with working with younger students in educational settings. This led him to apply to Americorps where he found his first job in education as a 6th grade math tutor at Match Next in Boston. The following year he transferred to the high school to teach the Foundations of Chemistry course while pursuing his Masters in Effective Teaching. After two years away from California, Morris was ready to return. He found a home at Summit Tahoma where he taught chemistry for the past seven years, and mentored two mentor groups. This year he is very excited to serve as the Dean of Culture and Instruction at Everest and grow with the new team!

Mr. Barragan is entering his second year as Everest’s Executive Director. He has a long history with Summit Public Schools, and is a proud alumni of our sister school Summit Prep. Mr Barragan has been a Spanish teacher, Ethnics and Human Rights teacher, was the Dean of Culture and Instruction for Expeditions. But nothing has brought us much joy as coming back to Everest and being part of the community he grew up knowing.

Meet Daira Ramirez, our incredible Dean of Operations, who is entering her 5th year at Everest! A Redwood City native, Daira’s passion for supporting students and families shines through daily. Motivated and collaborative, she spearheaded the Food Distribution initiative with Second Harvest and led various impactful collaborations within our community.