Here at YLHS, there are numerous amounts of new teachers and students. Some of the new teachers are the best educators the school has to offer. One of them is a loving mother, exuberant german teacher, and soccer enthusiast, and her name is Frau Daniela Picciottta (Staff) (Mrs. Picciotta). This is her first year teaching at YLHS but her second year in our district. Frau plans to stay at YLHS until she retires.

Frau Picciotta was born in a village not far from Hamburg, Germany and always knew that one day she was going to become a teacher. Frau moved to the United States as a foreign exchange student in high school. After she graduated, she moved back to Germany to get her teaching degree in ESL and French at the University of Kiel, Germany. To complete her teaching degree, she studied in the Single Subject Credential Program at UCI (University of California, Irvine).

Beginning to teach German at La Habra High School, Frau found her first teaching job. She taught there for about 15 years after “it was too hard to get the students excited for German.” Because it was a predominately latino neighborhood, Frau wanted to make a change and get students excited for Germany and its culture. This sparked an interest in Frau, so she moved schools to Esperanza High School. Moving to Esperanza was a good choice because she is familiar with the area. After a year at Esperanza, a teaching opportunity opened up at YLHS and Frau accepted in a heartbeat.

On her free time, Frau loves to do zumba, yoga, read, and watch her daughter play soccer. She lives in Yorba Linda with her family. Frau is married to Michael Picciotta and has two kids. Kevin is 18 and recently graduated from YLHS and is now studying at Cal Poly Pomona and Alina is 12 and goes to school at Yorba Linda Middle School.

Teaching German 1, German 3/3H, and German 4/Ap German, Frau is ecstatic to have such wonderful kids in her classes. When asked what her favorite thing about teaching German was, Frau Picciotta responded, “My favorite thing about teaching German is sharing my culture and language.”
Frau Picciotta is funny, kind, and a loving German teacher at our school. She is a terrific addition to so many delightful teachers. One of her students, Amr Baumy (9), says that, “She is an awesome teacher who knows how to make the learning environment fun!” On the behalf of The Wrangler, we welcome you to YLHS and have a great school year and more to come!