Three graduates of Our Lady of the Valley School in Canoga Park are making the transition from Catholic school students to teachers as participants in the P.L.A.C.E. Program (Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education). As P.L.A.C.E. students, Jennifer Ratner, Teresa Delgado and Esthela Garcia live together in Catholic community while teaching in archdiocesan city schools and attending classes at Loyola Marymount University in pursuit of their teaching credentials and Master's degrees in education.

Delgado just completed the two-year program and will continue as a teacher at Serra High School in Gardena. Garcia is in her second year of the program, teaching at All Saints School in Los Angeles. Ratner is just starting the program and will begin teaching at St. Philomena School in Carson. Both Delgado and Garcia are graduates of Louisville High School and Ratner is a graduate of Alemany High School. "We are very proud to have three graduates giving back to Catholic education," said Kathleen Delgado, principal of Our Lady of the Valley School.