With a BA and an MA from The University of Texas at Austin, Juan joined the Morristown Beard community in 2002, shortly after completing graduate work in linguistics. For the next thirteen years, he taught Middle School Spanish and French. Following a seven-year tenure teaching Spanish in Cranford, Juan returned to MBS to continue teaching Spanish and French in Middle and Upper School.

In the classroom, Juan loves to communicate and connect with all his students, learning about them–and learning from them–every day. Juan appreciates that the beauty of teaching a language is that anything can be the subject of the day’s lesson, from the students’ interests, passions, and serious socio-cultural topics to frivolous celebrity news or imaginative scenarios. He knows that as long as the conversation is in the target language, students not only acquire the language, they also foster a sense of community.

Besides a love of studying languages, Juan enjoys drawing, in particular, the art of the caricature. Juan’s work has been featured in the Crimson magazine, and he teaches caricature drawing as a Middle School club. In addition, Juan is writing and illustrating an interactive novel for language learners.