ABOUT MR. BRANSTETTER

The Branstetter Family – (left to right) Jacob, Hugh “Mr. B”, Donna, and Trevor.  

Although the name Branstetter is of German origin, my family is from Ecuador – specifically the cities of Latacunga and Quito.  All my relatives are Ecuadorian. I am (58) and I have two awesome younger sisters, Jacqueline – who lives in Ecuador and Susan – who lives in Huntington Beach, CA. I am married to an awesome wife and mother, Donna. We have two amazing boys, Jacob and Trevor, whom I love very much.

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I was born in Inglewood, California on May 8, 1968. My family lived in Westchester, CA until I was 8 years old. We then moved to Fountain Valley in Orange County. I graduated from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. At Mater Dei, I lettered in soccer where I played all four years.

I graduated from CSU Fullerton with a major in History.  While attending CSUF, I lived in the dorms where I met my wonderful wife to be.

My final year of college was completed abroad at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan. When I came back from Japan, I became a private investigator until I finished earning my teacher credential – also completed at CSUF.

In 1993, I was hired by the Lake Elsinore Unified School District to begin my teaching career at Machado Elementary School where I taught for two years.

In 1995, the sixth grade, which was still part of the elementary school, moved up to the middle school. I took a bold step and moved up with the sixth grade. It was at Elsinore Middle School that I taught Math and Science for seven years. I was definitely a big kid at EMS. I used to play basketball with the eighth graders before school, during recess break and during lunch. This is how I got to know most of the other kids at the school. I also organized an annual paintball gathering for all my students in Corona, CA. That was some of the most memorable times.

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In 1997, I graduated with a 4.0 G.P.A. from Azusa Pacific University with a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration.

I eventually moved back down to elementary school and began teaching at Cottonwood Canyon Elementary School when it first opened in 2002.  I taught fifth grade for one year and then moved down to third grade.  While teaching third grade, I had the opportunity to assist in the kindergarten classes.  I was amazed how well behaved the kids were and the amount of knowledge the children gained throughout their first year at CCE. 

In 2004, I decided to make the move to kindergarten and be a part of this amazing social and educational development.

It has been my privilege to be teaching kindergarten since 2004 and I absolutely love it. 

Present Interests:

I am currently working on a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence. After I retire from teaching in 2028, I plan to continue my education with a master’s degree in Land and Property Development. I’m excited to combine these two areas as I begin a new adventure after my teaching career.

I have always loved working on computers and finding creative ways to use technology. I built this website as a helpful resource for our parents, and I have been a proud Photoshop user for almost 30 years. Over that time, Photoshop has helped me create countless fun activities and projects for my students.

I also enjoy Dr. Pepper—although ‘enjoy’ may be understating the seriousness of the relationship. 😂

Let’s have a FUN-TASTIC year.  Yee-haw!