Meet Our Teachers
Diana Ji
Director
Teacher Diana was born in San Francisco but grew up mostly in South Korea and Hawaii. She is an alumni parent at Silverspot, whose son Alex, was enrolled in the first years the school was open in 2003. She served on our Board of Directors as the Fundraising Chair for two years and she designed the murals which still adorn our building today.
Teacher Diana has a BA from San Francisco State University and a Teaching Certificate from City College of San Francisco. She has been teaching preschool since 2005 and has had the opportunity to work at different schools in the bay area. Coming back to Silverspot was a full circle moment and she has been our Director/PreK teacher since 2020. In 2022, Diana received the Outstanding Teacher Director Award from the California Council of Parent Participation Nursery Schools for her work at Silverspot. In her spare time she enjoys listening to books on audible, yoga and being an empty nester.
Vanessa Merino
Teacher
Teacher Vanessa was born in Los Angeles but lived most of her life in Aromas, California. She moved to South San Francisco with her husband in 2012. Teacher Vanessa has a background in business management but when she had her first child decided to be a stay at home mom. She joined Silverspot as a parent in 2017. She quickly fell in love with the program and decided to go back to school to study Early Childhood Education. While Vanessa attended ECE classes at Skyline College, she served on the Silverspot board as Fundraiser and then President. Vanessa began teaching at Silverspot in 2021. In her spare time she enjoys camping and hiking with her family.
Rawan Al Tewq
Teacher
Teacher Rawan was born and raised in Jordan and in 2015 she moved to San Francisco. She has her BA in geographic information systems from Yarmouk University and taught in an elementary school for two years after her graduation. In 2016, she decided to work with children again and finished her ECE units at Saddleback college. She has been teaching preschool age children since 2016.
Rawan was referred to us by one of our teachers and joined our Silverspot team in October of 2024. She was looking for a program that allowed her to be herself, support families and create playful memories with young children. In her spare time, she enjoys taking road trips and traveling abroad with her husband.