A staff of ninety, including 60 full-time teachers, work at Puesta. Monica Osborn teaches in a combined third and fourth grade classroom at Puesta, and Corina Haley teaches in a fourth and fifth grade classroom. They are both members of the working group and are CFG coaches. Puesta enjoys a fairly active and involved parent population. Teachers benefit from parent involvement as volunteers in the classroom and in other areas of the school.
Involvement seems to decline, however, in the later years of elementary school.
Puesta is also aware of the need for efforts to increase involvement among the school's working class and single-parent population. In its relationship with the surrounding community, Puesta has faced a few persistent challenges. A growing number of parents are supportive of the school's efforts in special education inclusion, multi-age classrooms, and integrated science curriculum. In the past two years, with an increased focus on state-level assessments, the Puesta faculty has learned that their parent community is supportive when issues such as concern over upcoming testing are made public and discussed honestly. In the context of an already-strong collegial working and learning environment, Critical Friends Group work at Puesta began in the fall of 1997.