Mrs. Allard

Mrs. Allard has been teaching elementary school for 9 years. The first 3 years were spent teaching 2 3/4 combos and 5th grade at King Elementary. After those 3 years, she came to Vista Grande with her fellow King colleague Alvin Miller. Her first year she taught 2nd grade, requested a change to 4th grade, which she taught for 3 years. Mr. Miller taught 3rd grade and then moved into the position of science lab teacher. He taught in the science lab for 1 full year. Unfortunately, Mr. Miller passed away in November 2006 from a blood clot after having surgery for back and leg pain.

After having spent a lot of time working on the subject of science with Mr. Miller, apart from being friends, Mrs. Allard took over the position in September 2007. While she greatly enjoys this new role, Alvin Miller is greatly missed.

Mrs. Allard was born in Indiana. She then moved to Colorado for her kindergarten year as her father finished his PhD at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Her family then moved to San Diego when her father was offered a position as professor in the Business Administration Department at San Diego State University.

Here in San Diego, she attended Hardy Elementary, was in the seminar program at Encanto Elementary, then continued on to Horace Mann Junior High and Crawford High School.

After having taken college courses at Grossmont College, University of California at Santa Barbara, she earned her Bachelor's in Art from San Diego State University. She went on to also earn her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and Master's in Education: Curriculum & Instruction, also from SDSU. She continues to take courses toward a 2nd Master's in Educational Technology, and would someday like to earn her PhD in Education.

Mrs. Allard has been married to Dylan Allard since 1/19/1991. Mr. Allard works as an Audio/Video specialist installing home theaters and high-end audio/video systems. Together they have 5 children: fraternal triplet girls born in 1996, a daughter born in 2001, and a son born in 2003.

Her home is also shared by 2 dogs: Sebastian, a bull mastiff, and Zelda, a "Boggle" (Boston Terrier and Beagle mix). Besides the 2 dogs, animals of various types and sizes have been a part of the Allard family as well as the science lab. Currently, the science lab is home to "Buster," a black and white kingsnake, fish, 2 aquatic turtles named Fred and George (George is a girl), an Anole (lizard), some fish, and some crayfish. Other animals may be making appearances as the year passes.

Mrs. Allard also maintains the Vista Grande website.

She can be reached through email at: mrsallard@mattermasters.com or kallard@sandi.net.