Administration

Mr. Kevin Holman
Executive Director
Mr. Holman joined Canyon Heights Academy after fifteen years of working in the Bay Area’s finest higher educational institutions. While at University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University Mr. Holman oversaw revenue generation aspects of the Athletic Departments as well as client retention. Mr. Holman is passionate about students and their educational pursuits as well as their interests outside of the classroom. In working at Canyon Heights Academy, Mr. Holman is able to combine his love of students and their formation along with his Catholic faith and his desire to see authentic Catholic education in the lives of the children at Canyon Heights Academy.
Born and raised in Southern California, Mr. Holman attended the University of the South in Tennessee where he was able to pursue both his academic and athletic pursuits as a baseball pitcher. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics with a minor in Political Science as well as a Master’s Degree in Sport Management. Mr. Holman is delighted to call the Bay Area home with his wife and children.

Dr. Analiza Filion
Principal
Dr. Analiza Filion joined Canyon Heights Academy in Summer 2022 after working as a teacher and administrator for 15 years. Before joining Canyon Heights Academy, Dr. Filion spent most of her educational career within the Diocese of San Jose, where she served as a Vice-Principal of Academic Excellence and middle school English language arts teacher. Dr. Filion also served as the Director of Student Success for Futures Academy, San Mateo campus and as an elementary school teacher within the Hawaii Department of Education.
Dr. Filion is passionate about Catholic education and the opportunity as a school leader to support the integral formation of students. She approaches student learning through an asset-based approach and leverages positive student relationships and achievement data to identify and respond to students’ unique learning needs. Dr. Filion received her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from San Jose State University. She also holds an M.A. in Elementary Teaching and B.S. in Marketing.

Mrs. Marija Fisher
Vice Principal - Early Montessori, Preschool and Kindergarten to 3rd grade
Mrs. Fisher joined Canyon Heights Academy in 2006 as a teacher in Preschool. The following year she became the Kindergarten teacher as well as the Director of the Extended Day Care program. Mrs. Fisher received a BA in Biology from UCSC and holds an American Montessori Society teaching credential. After 12 years of teaching Kindergarten, Mrs. Fisher is excited to be overseeing Early Montessori, Preschool and Kindergarten. She is currently working towards her Montessori Administration credential.

Mrs. Barbara Larson
Vice Principal - Upper School and MS Math
Mrs. Barbara Larson has been teaching for 19 years. She has taught second grade, fourth grade, and junior high. She has a BA in Child Development from San Jose State University and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with a Supplement in Mathematics from Bethany College. She believes in having a safe and caring classroom environment where students feel comfortable taking risks and are willing to persevere through challenging tasks. She is thrilled to be here at Canyon Heights Academy!

Ms. Melissa Ma
Director of Finance and Operations
Ms. Ma came to Canyon Heights Academy in 2017 after many years of business and finance management experience working with and advising public and private companies of all sizes. Prior to joining Canyon Heights Academy, she ran her own financial consulting business and advised clients from startup to growth through exit. Ms. Ma has worked in mergers and acquisitions finance, accounting advisory, audit, as well as program and project management in Canada, the UK, and the US. She previously worked at Electronic Arts as well as KPMG in their Vancouver, London, and San Francisco offices. Ms. Ma graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in accounting. In addition, she is a Chartered Professional Accountant (Canada), Chartered Financial Analyst, and Certified Public Accountant (CA).

Miss Joanne Hawkins
Administrative Assistant
Miss Hawkins is a San Jose native, who attended SJCC and was a part of their volleyball team. Her biggest accomplishments were outside of her education and career, she walked the Camino De Santiago in Spain and hiked over 2,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail.
She has a background in administration work & and has worked with children as a nanny, a family assistant, a camp counselor and a volleyball coach.
She is brand new to the Canyon Heights Academy and very excited to be a part of this wonderful community. GO Cardinals!
Mrs. Lydia Lim
Director of Admissions and Marketing
Lydia is a new member of the Canyon Heights community. She joined the team in June 2023. She graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Political Science and Economics degree. She holds an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA. Lydia brings to the team 20 years of support leadership and operations experience. As the Director of various enterprise-level organizations, Lydia focuses on the entire customer experience and streamlines processes to fit the customers’ needs. She has previously held leadership positions at Hewlett Packard, Splunk, Cloudera, Fortinet, and Deep Instinct. Lydia was the parent board secretary for Yew Chung International School of Silicon Valley for two years. She looks forward to expanding and continuing to grow with the Canyon Heights family.

Mr. John Catalano
Facilities Supervisor, Maintenance
Mr Catalono joined Canyon Heights Academy in 2018. He is responsible for facilities maintenance
across our beautiful campus and classrooms.
Open House Schedule

Upcoming Open House Dates
To contact one of our school administrators, please call us at: (408) 370-6727 and request their extension below.
Mr. Kevin Holman, Executive Director
ext. 203
Mrs. Adrienne Barajas, Advancement Coordinator
ext. 301
Dr. Analiza Filion, Principal
ext. 207
Mrs. Marija Fisher, Vice Principal - Early Montessori, Preschool and Kindergarten Director
ext. 259
Ms. Melissa Ma, Director of Finance and Operations
ext. 202

Gold Medal
Best Montessori School

Silver Medal
Preschool or Childcare Center
Private Elementary School
Private Middle School