The Candidate

Hi! I'm Monica Lee. I'm a mom to two students in EUSD. I'm a teacher and a painter. I have a Master's of Education from UC Santa Barbara.​ I was a high school art teacher at San Ysidro High School for 14 years.

I'm married to Sumner Lee, a Navy veteran who runs a small technology business. We have two children. Our kids are sweet, fun, inquisitive little people!

Being a high school art teacher was a career that gave me a sense of purpose, connection and creativity. It also gave me a birds eye view of education - some children were confident and creative, and some children struggled with a fear of failure. When I had children, I came to see the immense and innate sense of creativity that all children are born with.​ I made it my passion to develop and nurture creativity in children.

While living in Point Loma during the Covid shutdowns, I saw the failure produced by the bureaucracy of a large school district. When schools closed down, I saw wealthy friends send their kids to private schools or pay for pod based schooling, while blue collar families struggled to juggle homeschooling and providing for their families. Many children were neglected during this time and fell behind socially and academically. EUSD kept the path to learning open. This showed me that small districts have the power to truly put students first.

We moved north and never looked back. For the past 3 years I taught art at OPE, where my kids attend. Teaching K-6 was a whole new world for me. Excitement, eagerness to learn and creativity are bursting out of the walls of our elementary schools! ​I feel blessed to have had the privilege to be an art teacher to so many creative souls over the last 18+ years of teaching, and now I want to serve our community in a new way!

Becoming a School Board Member is not some stepping stone into politics for me, SCHOOLS ARE MY PASSION and serving in EUSD as a Trustee is where I want to be.
​