Our staff is built to teach each student individually, to develop the skills they need to thrive in mathematics, and to foster a love of learning.

Julien Villanueva

Assistant Director
Julien was born in Bellflower and lived in Lakewood. Growing up, Julien loved to play soccer and learn math. He graduated from Mayfair High School and is currently attending Long Beach City College in route transferring to a 4 year university. Julien loves working at Mathnasium and takes great pride in watching the students expand their math knowledge. For fun, Julien likes to watch the Raiders, FC Barcelona and the Lakers. He enjoys working out in the gym, waking his dog and hanging out with friends and family.

Matthew Baldivino

Assistant Director
Matthew grew up in Bellflower and graduated from Cerritos High School. He is a second year at Cal Poly Pomona majoring in computer science. He enjoys helping kids and has tutored for multiple years. In his free time he enjoys playing guitar, playing table tennis, and hanging out with friends.

Abdul Jumani

Senior Instructor
Abdul grew up in Artesia and graduated from Richard Gahr High School. He currently attends California State University, Long Beach where he is earning his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering. Math has been his favorite subject since elementary school and he loves teaching it. In his free time, he enjoys binge-watching TV shows and cooking great food.

Dani Gonzalez

Lead Instructor
Dani has been a lead instructor at Mathnasium for over a year and a half. She recently joined Mathnasium Cerritos after working for Mathnasium in Bixby Hills and is excited to oversee instruction for students of all ages here. Her hobbies include drawing portraits, going on hikes, and trying new food places. You may also find her playing her favorite video games! She tells us she loves math and loves teaching it because it brings her so much joy.

Stephanie Plascencia

Instructor
Stephanie grew up in La Mirada and graduated from La Mirada High School. She currently attends the University of Southern California (USC) where she is earning a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences. She has experience with tutoring in mathematics and English, ranging from elementary to high school students. In her free time she enjoys making origami, drawing, and hanging out with friends!

Ky Gaskill

Instructor
Ky was born in Bellflower and currently lives in Cerritos. After graduating from Our Lady of Fatima and Whitney High School, Ky now attends California State University Fullerton to study Theatre. Ky hopes to bring the best Math learning practices into their future classroom, and loves guiding students to the "lightbulb moment" when a student gains new understanding. Outside of work, Ky puts on plays and musicals, conducts Performing Arts research, voice acts, and plays mobile video games as well as Dungeons and Dragons.

Lana Moreno

Instructor
Lana grew up in Long Beach and is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Materials Science at California State University Long Beach. Her hobbies include reading, problem-solving, painting, traveling, playing video games, caring for plants, trying new things, and engaging in a variety of fitness activities. As a STEM major, she understands the importance of a strong math foundation and appreciates the personalized teaching approach at Mathnasium. Lana aims to help students excel in math while making the learning experience both rewarding and fun.

Grace Sabu George

Instructor
Grace holds a Master's Degree in Data Analytics and a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics from India. Her passion for math blossomed in high school, convinced that everything starts with the beauty of mathematical concepts. Unraveling the beauty of math and inspiring a new generation of mathematical thinkers bought her to Mathnasium.

Long Le

Instructor
Long is a student at California State University Fullerton. He is entering his fourth year studying business administration. Growing up, math is one of his favorite subjects to learn in school. His passion in this subject has led him to work at Mathnasium. He aspires to help students gain a broad understanding in mathematics. In his free time, Long likes to do word search puzzles, read books, and play video games on his Nintendo Wii.

Elias Soriano

Instructor

Chris Valerio

Instructor
Chris brings extensive experience to Mathnasium from her time as a math professor, chemical engineer, and environmental engineer. When Chris is at Mathnasium, teaching is her passion and achieving student success is her goal. When she is not engaged in working with our students, she pursues hobbies such as nature photography, hiking, and her love of dogs.

Daniel Rodriguez

Instructor
Daniel grew up in Buena Park, and is a current high school senior at Oxford Academy. His favorite school subject has always been math, which is what made him apply to Mathnasium! He wants to make learning math more fun and accessible to students, and believes that all students can excel in math if given the right guidance and tools. Daniel plans to major in Athletic Training, with the hopes of becoming a Certified Athletic Trainer. Some activities Daniel enjoys include reading, and playing video games, such as VALORANT and Roblox with friends.

Benjamin Thai

Instructor
Benjamin, a high school senior at Oxford Academy, has a passion for mathematics, which he hopes to share with younger students as a tutor at Mathnasium of Cerritos. With aspirations of studying computer science in college and striving for a career in the tech industry, he also enjoys creative outlets such as playing piano and guitar, while staying active with tennis in his spare time. Oh and did we mention that he also loves his food especially when there’s pizza involved!

Bhumi Shrestha

Instructor
Bhumi grew up in Artesia and was raised there. She graduated Whitney High School in 2023, and is majoring in Zoology at Cerritos College. She has many hobbies, including art, Dungeons & Dragons, and reading. In both school and extracurriculars, she has found that having a good foundation in math and reasoning will open up new opportunities, especially for young minds.

Alika Joshi

Instructor
Born in Long Beach, Alika grew up in Cypress and recently graduated from Oxford Academy. She is currently studying business at Cypress College in hopes to transfer into economics at a university. Alika loves helping teach math skills in an engaging way for all different ages, as she believes it is important to build a fun and motivating environment for students to learn. In her free time, Alika enjoys listening to music, going to the beach, and spending time with her family and friends.

Allyson Pham

Instructor
Allyson was born in Vietnam and currently lives in Cypress, attending UCI, where she is working towards a degree in Chemical Engineering. She has also attended Mathnasium as a student throughout her four years of High school, and is now an instructor here. Given the opportunity to see both sides as an instructor and a student at Mathnasium, she hopes to guide and show students that math can be a passion and a skill. Beyond math, Allyson enjoys hanging out with her friends, watching films, and knitting.

Our Mathnasium Mission

Teach children math so they understand it, master it, and love it. Math can change their lives, and they can change the world.

What I love about Mathnasium is the ability to teach problem-solving skills and make math make sense, while also making a student smile.
Amber W., Mathnasium Instructor

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