Meet the Principal

Mr. Manluco came to the US from Canada at the age of 10. As the son of immigrant Filipino/a parents, he grew up in a rich multilingual environment, with regular exposure to a variety of Filipino languages. In Canada, he lived in the immigrant enclave of Winnipeg, MB where his classmates came from many backgrounds such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, China, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Portugal, the Ukraine, Poland, Canadian Aboriginal, and so many other backgrounds in a uniquely diverse Canadian city. In the U.S., he was willing and supportive of his classmates, who were developing in English ability. Between Canada and the USA, Mr. Manluco kept consistent with martial arts training and he continues to have ties with his former schools. These experiences elevated his desire to serve communities of students with multicultural and multilingual backgrounds.

He completed his undergraduate degree at UC Davis, where he was accepted as a USN ROTC candidate at UC Berkeley. He completed double majors focused on immigration policy and diaspora in addition to juvenile justice. He interned at the California Legislature under Assemblyman Ted Lieu, who now serves as a US Congressman, where he became even more acutely aware of the needs for service among our state's diverse population. For three years at UCD, he supported Title I high school students in Sacramento, Stockton, and Vallejo as a TRIO Upward Bound Student Advisor. With TRIO, he learned to advocate for first generation college students, by helping them plan their college preparatory coursework and in applying to four year colleges.

Immediately after UCD, Mr. Manluco entered the teaching profession with Americorps under Teach for America. He passed all examinations as a student teacher at summer school in Watts, South Los Angeles before coming to work in Santa Clara County's most marginalized Title I schools. Mr. Manluco spent the majority of his teaching career as a secondary science teacher and holds teaching certifications in Social Science, Elementary Education, and Secondary Science. Additional education experiences include 12 years of wrestling coaching, adjunct professorship of Science Teaching Methods at Loyola Marymount University, fellowships with Lockheed Martin and the Silicon Valley Bank. He is also finishing up his doctoral studies at Santa Clara University in May 2024, where his research focus is on Asian Language Immersion programs in K12 California public schools.

With pride and accomplishment, he continues his teaching service here to support the students, staff, and families of Ben Painter Elementary School working across all lines of business from custodial, to clerical and instructional services.