Nicole Mauro

Nicole Mauro’s family has deep roots in the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD). Mauro is a 1988 Burlingame graduate with parents who attended San Mateo High School, a brother and grandparent that attended Burlingame and a daughter who currently goes to Mills High School. And this year, Mauro began her first year as a teacher at Burlingame.

“So we’ve got three generations of SMUHSD high schools represented in the family,” Mauro said.

Mauro teaches English 3, focused on American literature, along with Rhetoric and Language at the University of San Francisco (USF). She came to Burlingame when a substitute teaching position opened up for Ms. Farley, who will return in the spring.

“I decided to move into high school teaching because I feel like I can have more of an impact,” Mauro said.

While in high school, she wrote for The Burlingame B, inspiring her to major in journalism at USF. She also minored in political science, and would go on to earn a master’s degree in short fiction and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in poetry from Mills College at Northeastern University.

“So basically, everything had to do with writing,” Mauro said. “It doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s journalism, or poetry or whatever. I was pretty interested in it.”

While Mauro has always loved the exploration of language, she decided to teach high school because of the students. 

“I think the students are really engaged. They’re very community minded, and they’re curious. And so that makes it a lot of fun to teach,” Mauro said.

While many teachers may find students who love to argue irritating, Mauro fully embraces and encourages these aspects to high schoolers.

“I’m really interested in how they make arguments, you know, how persuasive they are, not just for themselves, but also for kind of the greater good,” Mauro said.

Luckily, Mauro’s experiences at Burlingame have already gotten off to a fantastic start. 

“It’s a really welcoming environment. I felt very welcomed and supported by the administration and also by the English team,” Mauro said.