Mrs. Valdes graduated from California State University Fullerton with a B.A. in English. After teaching English in Taiwan for one year and Japan for two years, she went on to teach English for second language learners at Fairmont Preparatory Academy in Anaheim for two years.

In 1999, she started her career in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District at La Habra High School. In her five years there, she started and taught in the AVID program as well as the Marketing and Business Academy. In 2002, she began the Who Do You Want 2 Be? project with her MBA students and paired that with their first Invention Convention.  By 2003, they were showcasing at the Orange County Computer Using Educators Conference.

In 2004, she moved to La Sierra High School's Independent Study Program. Within 6 years, the Independent Study team started the iSierra Online Academy. Mrs. Valdes is currently the Department Lead for iSierra (although she gets a lot of assistance from the iSierra teacher team), the La Vista/La Sierra Web Facilitator and Social Media Coordinator.

Mrs. Valdes has been married for 23 years, has three children; twins aged 13, and a fifteen year old, as well as two cats, a few fish and pet rats (yes, rats).  She loves to camp, hike, body surf, travel, and is a voracious reader.

She enjoys her job,  greatly appreciates her students, and feels fortunate to work with a team of teachers who are absolutely phenomenal.