Claudia grew up in Switzerland and moved to the United States in her early 20’s. She earned her B.A. in English and German at California Lutheran University (CLU), where she graduated summa cum laude. She then went on to receive her single-subject teaching credential in English and her Master’s Degree in teaching from CLU as well. After teaching middle and high school students at local public schools, CLU approached her to teach as a part-time adjunct faculty member in the German and English departments.

When her own kids started to approach college age, she decided to look for full-time work and found a position at a local charter school in Ventura as the Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator. During the time there, she learned as much as possible about independent study charter schools, measurement, and curriculum. She had the privilege to work under the director and was able to participate in such important tasks as the WASC self-study, board presentations, creating math intervention strategies, the graduation committee and more. After that, two other charter schools approached Claudia to build their homeschool programs, which she did for three years. Both programs were successful and had a long waitlist of students.

In 2013 Claudia joined ROA. During her time at ROA, the school successfully renewed its charter twice, received a 6-year WASC re-accreditation and a $600,000 career pathways grant. The school’s student population has tripled in the last two years as well. ROA also opened a second facility in Oxnard three years ago and has moved in July 2020 to a new facility, which offers twice the square footage. The enrollment in Oxnard tripled in the last three years and growth continues at that rate. Claudia considers it a privilege to work with ROA’s dedicated, brilliant and amazing staff and enjoys the daily interaction with the school’s amazing students and families.

During her free time, Claudia loves to work with animals. She used to breed and raise alpacas and worked with the Sheriff’s K9 Search and Rescue team, where she trained her dog, Toby, to be a search and rescue dog. She loves the outdoors, enjoys her sunrise hikes out in the local hills and spends time with her friends and family. Claudia has 3 children. All of them are now pursuing their own passions. Both of her daughters finished veterinary schools and are working in their fields (one with large animals and one with small ones) and her son finished his PhD in psychology and he is working partially as a clinician and partially in research at UCLA.

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Maria was born in Venezuela. As a child, she lived in Canada and France, before returning to her home country. By middle school, Maria had realized that she had a penchant for Mathematics and started to tutor her family and friends. This is how she learned that she enjoyed teaching others and after graduation pursued a career in Mathematics. In 1999, her family moved to Orlando, Florida where she completed a BS in Applied Mathematics, and a MA in Mathematics Education.
When not teaching, she likes to spend her time experimenting with new cooking recipes, attempting to surf with her husband Enrique, and meditating with her two black cats Tweeky and Pixie. Maria has committed herself to sharing her enthusiasm for Mathematics and looks forward bringing this passion to River Oaks Academy families.

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Nick was born in southern California and has lived in the Pasadena area for most of his life. He started his path in education as a counselor at the day camp he attended as a child. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara as an undergrad he attended Cal State Channel Islands for his teaching credential. He first taught in the traditional classroom in Rowland Heights as 2/3 grade and 6th grade social studies teacher before coming to River Oaks. He has been teaching at ROA since 2011. When he is not teaching at ROA you can find him on his bicycle either at race or riding across the country.

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A native born Californian, Leslie was number four out of six children. There were three boys first then, three girls followed. Being the oldest of the girls made her a little bossy. Leslie lived in north Orange County all of her childhood in an obscure place called La Habra. It wasn’t until 1989 did she get the privilege of relocating to beautiful Ventura County. Her oldest son Gregory was a mere four year old; today he is twenty-seven. Her daughter Madison is twenty-five and youngest child Luke, is eighteen. Her house is a busy place; Madison is at home applying for graduate programs. She wants to be a teacher. Luke is attending Moorpark College and her husband works from home. Mr. Maple is a very talented museum designer. To add to the fun, there are three dogs: Lady a Sheltie, James a Scottish Terrier and Simon a mutt, but mostly Pomeranian. During the summer she loves to garden, travel and visit her family that still all live in Whittier and La Habra. Leslie has been a teacher for almost thirty years and finally she is back at school for her Master of Arts in Education: Curriculum & Instruction at CSUCI. She loves teaching and especially loves reading awesome books. One of her favorite pastimes is getting kids excited about writing. So watch out ROA students!

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A fifty year resident of the Conejo Valley, Richard grew up in the Sherman Oaks/Studios City area before heading off to the University of Notre Dame, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1971. Richard began his career in education at Sequoia Intermediate School in Newbury Park in 1973 before moving on to teach English at Newbury Park High School in 1978. In the mid-1980’s, Richard spent two years as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of English and the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, while pursuing a Master’s Degree in Counseling and Guidance at California Lutheran University. He rejoined the Newbury Park High School faculty as a counselor in the fall of 1987, serving in that capacity until his retirement in June of 2013. Richard joined the River Oaks staff in February of 2015 as the high school counselor. He is thrilled to be able to continue working with the students, parents, and staff at this very special school.
Richard is a Fellow of the South Coast Writing Project at UCSB, and he serves on the Board of Directors at the Miller Family YMCA in Newbury Park. He loves travel, reading, writing, and sports of all kinds!

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Moira has lived in Westlake Village for 21 years with her husband, Greg and son, Jeffrey.
After retiring from Westlake High School she has worked at Oak Park High School as a counselor and is now excited to continue counseling at River Oaks Academy. Moira holds a master’s degree in Educational Counseling and a teaching credential.
Moira enjoys playing pickleball, hiking, and spending time with her husband Greg, son Jeffrey and large extended family in the area.

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Gretchen was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, and moved her family to Ventura County in 2014. Although she misses her midwestern roots, and cheese, she has acclimated quite well to the glorious California weather and all that the beautiful state has to offer. She has become a die-hard Dodger fan, enjoys live music, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family. Gretchen has four awesome children, two of which she has homeschooled. Gretchen is honored to support a team of such dedicated educators at this truly amazing school.

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Ludo was born and raised in beautiful Southern Italy and moved to California in 2019. She earned her Bachelor degree in English and Chinese at l’Orientale in Naples, where she graduated cum laude.
She loves learning new languages, studying computers, drawing, cooking, trying new cuisines and practicing any outdoor activity. She enjoys traveling, playing videogames and spending time with her family and friends.

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Alicia was born in London, England and raised in Monterey, California along with her four sisters whose names also start with A. For the last 19 years, she was maturing like a fine wine in France and is now back, giving the USA another try. She has a BA in English Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing, along with a California Multiple Subject Credential. She loves writing, organizing homes, working with students of all ages and connecting authentically with those around her. When she’s not taking care of her two handfuls – a.k.a kids – she’s most likely to be found taking long walks, reading a good book, dancing in her kitchen (beats cooking any day) or teaching yoga, which she found 30 years ago and will hopefully be practicing for 30 more. She’s new to River Oaks and is excited to be part of the team.

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Lisa is from southern California and earned a degree in Urban Studies with an emphasis in City Planning. Prior to joining the River Oaks team she ran a computer lab for Century Academy. She loves to hike, workout, attend yoga/pilates classes, and has been known to be seen axe throwing. She also has started to play golf.
Lisa is looking forward to being part of the River Oaks team.

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Deborah was born and raised in Northeast Ohio and loves to visit her family there in the Fall. She received her BA and teaching credential from UCSB. She taught for the Oxnard School District for 25 years. Deborah is married, has 2 sons and 2 grandsons. She enjoys traveling, kayaking, exercising, making art and spending time with family and friends.

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Jennifer is from southern California but has spent years living in northern California and Montana. She received her B.S. in Psychology and her B.A. in Elementary Education from Montana State University and her M.A. From California State University Northridge in Deaf Education. She currently holds a regular Multi Subject Teaching Credential as well as a Special Education Teaching Credential. Jennifer has three amazing kids, two of which she home schooled. She has been married for over 20 years and loves going to the beach with her family and scrap-booking with her girlfriends.

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Leina grew up on the Mendocino Coast of northern California. She earned her bachelors in geography and enjoyed learning about various people and places. Next she pursued her masters in teaching in a constructivist program at Washington State University. Over the last dozen years she has taught all subjects in 4th-8th grades, taught English as a second language to first graders, and tutored foster students K-12th grade in their homes. She earned her national board certification in English and is a teaching consultant for the national writing project.
Until discovering BRIDGES and Ventura charter schools the closest she had come to educating in the spirit she was trained was through the national writing project. In the summer of 2010 she was fortunate to Co-Direct their summer institute which celebrates teachers teaching teachers and teachers who teach writing being writers themselves. She is an avid reader and writer who loves to share her enthusiasm for learning with her students. She also enjoys spending as much time as possible regenerating in nature.

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Lidia Finocchiaro grew up in San Luis Obispo, California prior to residing in Ventura County. She attended Cal Poly State University where she earned her Liberal Studies degree and multiple subject credential. She taught elementary school aged children for 12 years and then stayed home after having her son. Lidia enjoys hiking, kayaking, cooking, and traveling amongst many other things.

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Jackie is an Oxnard native. After high school, she attended Ventura College and transferred to UC Santa Barbara where she received her B.A in History. Jackie went on to pursue her teaching credential in Social Science from the University of La Verne and is currently working on her Masters in Educational Leadership. She hopes to continue her education and earn a Masters in American History. She spent almost ten years working in elementary and middle schools as a literacy tutor and as an after-school coordinator. She comes to ROA with experience working at the high school level and a lot of enthusiasm for working with our students. When not teaching, Jackie is spending time with her husband and her two kitties at home. She loves going to the movies and finding local vegetarian and vegan restaurants to eat at. She enjoys baking and decided to turn that into a small business.

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Chris was born and raised in Ventura County and attended CSUCI for his degree in English and his teaching credentials. He currently resides in Port Hueneme. Chris has been with River Oaks since 2019 and has had a wonderful time helping his students grow.

Chris has two basset hounds who bark at him until he gets out of bed each morning! He also barbecues frequently and does a pretty good job of it. He also enjoys sleeping, which makes him wonder why he became a teacher! Chris always looks forward to meeting new families and discussing where their education goals lie and how to achieve them.

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Glenn comes to ROA with three teaching credentials and 25 years of classroom experience in public and private schools in Ventura County, Los Angeles, and Central America. His work experience outside of education includes writing computer code for spacecraft at JPL; conducting environmental impact studies; and, founding the Surfrider Foundation. His two children, Pierce and Helen, now have careers in architecture and the entertainment industry. Glenn is married to the love of his life, Heidi, a yoga teacher. They live a block from the beach in Oxnard Shores, where Glenn can be found riding waves in his free time.

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Kathy is a native Californian. She has lived in Thousand Oaks most of her life. She joined a lively family of four older siblings and then delighted in the addition of a little sister, rounding out the family with six children, 3 boys and 3 girls. She attended local Conejo Valley schools and graduated from Newbury Park High School. She attended Moorpark College and then transferred to Westmont College in Santa Barbara where she majored in Liberal Studies. She did her student teaching in 6th grade at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Barbara and loved every minute of it. She moved back to Ventura County and began teaching in the Conejo Valley, working alongside many teachers who had previously taught her. While subbing, she got her first position at Redwood Intermediate School as an English teacher. After this assignment she was assigned to Colina Intermediate School where she taught social studies, English, and math. After these assignments she went to University Elementary where she taught 6th grade. Between her first two assignments, she returned to California Lutheran University and completed her Master’s Degree in Elementary Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in English. Upon the arrival of their first child, Kathy was grateful to able to “leave” her career in order to stay at home with their children. However, when the Jackson’s first son approached kindergarten, the decision was made to home educate this child, at least until he read fluently. Thus began an unplanned adventure into the world of home education. 20 years later, she has graduated all four sons and gained a daughter in law and a beautiful grandson. Her eldest son is a Mandarin Chinese Linguist with our US NAVY and her second son is a Mechanical Engineer. The youngest are twins who have just begun college at Moorpark and she is excited to see where their gifts and talents will take them. She is returning to her professional role as teacher, hoping the years of parenting have resulted in greater wisdom, compassion and understanding for all students and their parents. She is very active in her community of faith and is involved in several mentoring relationships with other women, young and old!. She enjoys daily hikes into the nearby hills, swimming or boogie boarding at the beach, cooking and baking for her hungry and still growing sons, enjoying her friendships, investing in her own extended family and spending time with her grandson. She is very grateful for the privilege of being a parent and teacher and appreciates the relationships she is developing with her new families at ROA.

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Elyse comes to ROA with over 5 years of experience working in a personalized learning model. She also served in the classroom as a middle school English and history teacher for many years. She met her husband at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and has three active boys who love being outdoors. Her weekends are filled with trips to the beach, hiking, and swimming. She is so blessed to work with all of the fantastic ROA teachers and staff and enjoys collaborating with her amazing families and students.

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Sara lives in Camarillo with her two sons, Averian and Lucas, and with her husband, Ian, who is a high school math teacher. She was born in Torrance, California in 1979 and moved to Camarillo when she was 2. She earned her Elementary Teaching Credential from California State University, Chico, and has enjoyed teaching her sons since 2010. She enjoys family activities like hiking, going to the beach, watching The CW’s DC Comic TV shows and/or Marvel superhero movies, swimming, camping, and enjoying time with her extended family who lives here in Ventura County. Her hobbies are practicing the art of mehndi (or henna), gardening, walking, doing anything that has to do with glitter, reading novels and comics, grocery shopping (just kidding) and decoupaging most plain items in her house. Sara loves exploring interests and working with the incredible teachers and families at River Oaks Academy.

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Michal was born on a kibbutz in Israel, she has two brothers and one sister. She enjoyed growing up on a communal farm where she came to love animals. Among her pets as a child were: ducks, guinea pigs, goats, donkeys, water buffalo, and capuchin monkeys. At the age of 18 she served in the IDF for two years. Later she traveled and lived and for several years in Asia in India, Thailand, Nepal, and Laos. That’s where she developed the travel bug that brought her to the United States. She came to travel but stayed to peruse her other passion for learning. She earned her B.A. in Child Development and art from CSUN, and continued her education in CSUN earning a CA Multiple Subject Credential and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction. She married her husband who is also a teacher and they had this first child, Sean, in 2012. In her free time she likes to spend time with her family, do any kind of art, and she enjoys cooking, reading, and scuba diving. Her greatest passions are teaching young children, art, and travel.

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Karina was born in Peru. There, she got her bachelor’s degree in Economics. She worked as a customs officer for 4 years in the Peruvian government. In 2002, she moved to the USA and got married. After raising three children for 12 years, Karina decided to go back to work. She worked for Ocean View School District as a Bilingual Instructional Assistant. In 2019, she graduated from the teaching program at CSUCI and got a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with authorization in Spanish.

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Crystal received a BA in Chemistry and a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry from The University of Southern Mississippi. She has over 7 years of experience teaching from Hattiesburg, Mississippi to Chula Vista and now here at River Oaks. She is an adjuct faculty member at Ventura College and is currently an MBA candidate at The University of Southern Mississippi.

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Leah was born and raised in Westlake Village. Her mother is a California native, but her father was born and raised in Naples, Italy, and left there for America shortly after WWII. She, her younger brother, and parents spent most summers growing up in Italy, and she feels so blessed to have been able to marry her husband, a Santa Barbara native, in a small island off the coast of Naples.
After graduating from Westlake High School, Leah attended UC Santa Barbara, where she graduated in three years with a BA in English and Minor in Italian. She continued her education at Pepperdine, earning a Master’s in Education, a Clear Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, a Single Subject Teaching Credential in English, and a Preliminary Administration Credential. In addition to tutoring students of all ages, Leah has taught in several local schools over the past 20 years, teaching various elementary grades. Leah also has a 200-hour yoga certification and a 300-hour clinical yoga therapy certification.

Leah and her husband reside in Thousand Oaks, along with their three children, two cats, and one dog! She is an avid yogi, runner, and reader. She enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends BBQing, swimming, and just hanging out!

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Susan is a SoCal girl and grew up in North Hollywood. She attended CSUN where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism. Susan began her career in public relations, but soon realized that her true passion was in education and working with kids.
Susan earned her multiple subject teaching credential and Master’s degree in Education from Pepperdine University. She spent 12 years teaching 1st through 5th grade in Culver City and Santa Monica.

In 2013, Susan joined ROA as a parent where she homeschooled her son for six years. During that time, she also served as a board member. When her son switched to traditional school for 6th grade, she was excited to take on a coaching role. Using her own experience she now loves sharing her knowledge with other families.

Susan lives in Camarillo with her husband, Mike, son, Lucas, chocolate lab, Charlie Brown and tortoise, Brocky. She loves the beach, walking, spending time with friends and family and learning new things.

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Lisa Quartararo was raised in the Conejo Valley and resides in Moorpark. She enjoys hiking, traveling, and spending time with friends. She has two younger boys who keep her busy and on the go! Lisa has taught elementary school in the local area for 16 years. She is eager and ready to work with families at ROA.

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Andrea grew up in Temecula, CA and is the oldest of three sisters. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and teaching credential from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and earned her Masters in Education from Whittier College. Andrea has been teaching middle school science for the last six years and is excited to bring her passion for lifelong learning to River Oaks!

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Brooke is a Southern California native with a love of fishing, hiking, and ice hockey. She’s a California Lutheran University graduate with a Bachelors in Chemistry and a Masters in Education. She spends most of her free time playing with her young daughters.

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Bob has been a wonderful math tutor at River Oaks for many years. He loves working one-on-one with kids of all ages, teaching math in a calm, practical manner.

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We are fortunate to have Charles’s services while he is finishing his doctoral studies in the field of optometric medicine. He is great with our high school students and enjoys helping them explore the power of mathematics.

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Yoko has been a wealth of knowledge at River Oaks. She is a super math tutor and teaches a variety of workshops including Japanese language, cooking, and culture. She loves community service projects and even helped our students cheer up senior citizens with thoughtful greeting cards.

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Angeline has a bundle of passion for math and she shares it with our students with much enthusiasm. She is a great listener and will work diligently with students to solve problems. She is an amazing part of what makes ROA great.

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Mary Beth was born in Los Angeles to adventurous Irish immigrant parents. Her family moved to Northern Arizona where many of her new friends belonged to Native American groups including the Diné (Navajo). The influence of their rich cultures, honor for others and sense of community helps keep her focus as an educator on the learning style and success of every student and the value of working as a team alongside ROA parents and staff. It was volunteer work in her children’s classrooms that sparked Mary Beth’s passion for education. She earned a B.A. degree from Northern Arizona University in Biological Sciences. Mary Beth went on to become a general education teacher in the Santa Barbara School District and eventually an education specialist. She loves working with students in ROA’s energetic, interactive and inclusive learning environment.

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bio coming soon

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Sherry has been teaching for 42 years, including at a psychiatric hospital in LA and a federal youth Prison in Colorado. She was a Resource Specialist teaching at a school in Simi Valley as well as at a private Special Education school in Brentwood. She lives in Westlake Village, has a wonderful hubby and 2 sons, and just became a first time granny!! Sherry loves teaching Special Education kiddos and loves her kiddos at River Oaks!

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Sandra Lulow is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She moved to the San Fernando Valley when she was a child. She completed her Bachelor’s degree and Multiple Subjects teaching credential at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Her first Master’s degree in Speech/Communicative Disorders was earned at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Sandy attended California State University to earn a second Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. She had a once-in-a-lifetime experience of living and working as a speech and language pathologist in Victoria, Australia. In Sandy’s free time, she spends as much time as possible with her children and grandchildren, and works in her new nonprofit which she founded last year. She loves to cook, quilt, and take long walks with her two labs . Sandy has a variety of roles at River Oaks Academy, including speech therapy and special education supervision and mentoring. She loves working in such a warm and welcoming school.

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Mari got her bachelor’s and master’s degree in special education at University of South California. She started her teaching career working for the Los Angeles Unified School District and then worked in a psychiatric hospital, a private school, and a non-public school. Finally, she worked for the Simi Unified School District until her retirement.
She was married for 36 years until the loss of her husband. She has a wonderful daughter and an adorable, handsome and smart grandson. She enjoys spending time with them because they bring so much joy in her life.

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Nayri has over 15 years of experience as a school psychologist. She earned a BA in Child Development from California State University, Northridge and also earned two Master’s Degrees, one in School Counseling and another one in Educational Psychology, from Loyola Marymount University. She enjoys collaborating with teachers, parents, and administrators to find effective solutions to learning and behavior problems.

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Marygrace earned a BA, multiple subject credential, special education credential and Master’s degree from California State University Northridge.
She retired from SVUSD after teaching 34 years of high school, only to find herself missing teaching and working with students. So, she happily jumped back into teaching at River Oaks Academy.
She is an identical twin, and her sister is very often mistaken for her out in the community.

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