Telya Lopez was born in New Orleans, Louisiana at Charity Hospital. She attended St. Jude Catholic School for elementary school. For high school, she attended Oliver Perry Walker High in New Orleans. From then, she began her collegiate journey at the University of Lafayette and finished at Southern Univiersity of New Orleans in 1997 with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education.
Ms. Lopez has three children who are all products of a St. Bernard Education. Her oldest son will be a senior at Brother Martin, her middle son will be entering 8th grade at Brother Martin, and her youngest daughter will be entering 5th grade at J. F. Gauthier elementary.
Ms. Lopez has been teaching for eighteen years, with twelve of those years being in St. Bernard Parish. She has been teaching at W. Smith for 11 years, with eight years teaching 5th grade. Ms. Lopez is looking forward to continuing her teaching career at Smith and meeting her future fifth graders.