Discover Our Staff

At Stella Elementary Charter Academy (SECA), Gene Castro leads the school to ensure all Lionesses achieve academic excellence and grow their unique talents so that they find joy and fulfillment in higher education, career, and life. His mission is that SECA students are able to build a strong foundation in literacy, mathematical practice, social-emotional competencies, and social justice education before continuing onto middle school.

Previously, Gene served Bright Star Schools as Stella Elementary’s Assistant Principal of Instruction. Under his leadership, Stella Elementary improved its English Language Development program and increased the English learner reclassification rate from 1% to 14%. The school also launched its first after-school tutoring program for students with the highest academic needs.

Prior to joining Bright Star Schools, Gene joined Teach For America and taught upper elementary on the East Coast. During this time, he received training on leadership and coaching, and eventually served as a Corps Member Advisor at the Teach For America National Philadelphia Institute. In 2015, he helped found a charter school in South Los Angeles where he served as a classroom teacher and then Dean of Culture. He holds a Bachelor's degree in international/global studies from UC Santa Barbara and a Master’s degree in elementary education from Wilmington University.

Contact Mark: mjutabha@brightstarschools.org

Dr. Mark Jutabha is the Community School Manager for Stella Elementary Charter Academy, a TK-4 Bright Star School (BSS). He is responsible for coordinating systems and services as part of the California Community Schools Partnership Program to implement programs that support the educational and socio-economic needs of students and their families in the communities where they live. He believes that knowledge and education is the pathway to liberation.

Prior to joining Bright Star Schools, Dr. Jutabha was a Senior Engagement Manager at WestEd, a national leader in education research, development, and service.  Dr. Jutabha partnered with educational leaders at the state-, district-, and school-level to lead research-based professional development and coaching services in School Turnaround, Leadership, Mathematics, and English Language Learning. He has conducted needs assessments to identify site-based assets and priority areas for turnaround efforts and has created and supported the design of district-, school- classroom-level curriculum and assessments aligned to the CCSS, ELD, NGSS standards and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium protocols for over 100 public and charter schools in urban and rural districts across the country.

 Dr. Jutabha holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from UCLA, a M.A. in Education and Administrative Services Credential from Pepperdine University, a M.A. and Teaching Credential from UCLA, and a B.S. in Political Science from UCLA.