Cave Language Academy teacher wins Vallejo’s 2026 Teacher of the Year award

VALLEJO – Fourth grade Cave Language Academy teacher Sarah Ruiz received the Vallejo City Unified School District's 2026 Teacher of the Year earlier this month.

The 32-year-old teacher said she’s been on cloud nine since winning the award, and being recognized by the school district and her colleagues feels special. 

“People say teaching is a thankless job,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a thankless job. I hear thank yous from my students everyday. But hearing it from other professionals in my field has felt really great.”

Now in her ninth year of teaching at Cave, Ruiz said her job fulfills a dream she’s had for as far back as she can remember. Even as a teenager, she liked working with kids, and regularly babysat and taught Sunday school.

Ruiz grew up at Fairfield as is the oldest of two children. Her family encouraged her to follow her aspirations to be a teacher, including her aunts and uncles who were educators in New York City and regularly sent her and her sister books.

“That love of education,” Ruiz said, “that love for growing, it’s something that was instilled in me as a child.”

Ruiz went to Sacramento State for undergraduate and graduate school. She was the first person in her immediate family to graduate from college. While in school, she got an internship at Cave, and was hired on immediately after it ended. She’s taught there ever since.

Ruiz, who’s half Puerto Rican and half Mexican, said she’s proud of her roots, and happy that she teaches in both English and Spanish at the bilingual school.

Ruiz told the Vallejo Sun that she covers the required curriculum, but also goes deeper. As she thinks the California history curriculum provides a watered down interpretation of the past, she expands on the textbook, telling students more about Native American history and the role of Spanish missionaries. 

“Without getting anything opinionated or political,” Ruiz said, “I try my best to teach my students the realities of our history. I tell them it’s important to learn about the negative to not repeat it.”

Ruiz said she brings the curriculum into context to expand her students’ worldview. This year she taught a required lesson on Romare Bearden, a collage artist and painter who was active during the Harlem Renaissance. Although not required, she used Bearden as a gateway to educate her students about the Harlem Renaissance in general. She showed them videos of Louis Armstrong playing music, and shared poems by Langston Hughes. She also had them make their own collages, emulating Bearden’s art while also expressing themselves. 

“They can read a story and then forget about it next year,” Ruiz said. “But when they make their own art they remember it more.”

Ruiz tries to support a relaxing and friendly environment in her classroom. Questions are encouraged. She regularly repeats the phrase “mistakes are your friend.” Students aren’t required to sit in one spot. They can sit where they like as long as they’re productive and focused. 

In recent years, Ruiz said social media has caused her students to be more distracted and have shorter attention spans than when she first started teaching. She navigates this by mixing up activities often, and regularly checking in with students for understanding.

Ruiz’s class regularly does a community circle where they share goals and talk about themselves and their lives. It’s one way everyone can get to know each other better, a challenge in a class of 31 students. 

Ruiz said that, just like her students, she and her colleges also carve out time to get to know each other better. They regularly share tips and strategize about teaching, and they have monthly meet-ups where they just have fun. They’ve gone to restaurants, done karaoke and salsa dancing, and attended Giants games.

Ruiz said her students have been dedicated this year, and they’re a part of why she won the award.

“My class this year has grown so much,” Ruiz said. “Without them, I still would have been a great teacher, but I wouldn’t have received this recognition. Shout out to my class for sure.”