Rancho Solano Preparatory School

LEADERSHIP

Mr. Scott Salk

Managing Director
Mr. Salk joined Rancho Solano during the 2015-2016 school year with 14 years of private school administrative experience. While specializing in the areas of admissions and marketing, he also has school experience in operations, finance, facilities management, and development. Mr. Salk has a BS in Marketing from the University of Arizona and earned his MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Mr. Gordon Brown

Associate Head of School/Upper School Principal
Mr. Brown has been teaching for the last 26 years including public, private, and community college schools. Mr. Brown holds a BA in Biological Sciences as well as Physical Education and earned his Master’s Degree from Northern Arizona University in Exercise Physiology. Mr. Brown joined RS in the fall of 2010 from Glendale Community College. Prior to becoming the Upper School Principal, he taught IB Biology and Anatomy Physiology.

Mrs. Erika Goethe

Associate Head of School/Middle School Principal
Mrs. Goethe joined Rancho Solano in 2015 with 25 years of experience in Middle School education and holds a BA in Political Science and a MA in Education. It is her passion and absolute joy to work with middle school-aged children. Mrs. Goethe has successfully built schools based upon best practices in education, which are founded in adolescent development.

Dr. Theresa nabavi

Lower School Principal
Dr. Nabavi joined Rancho Solano in 2021 with over 15 years of experience in PK-12 private education. She is a three-time graduate of the University of Florida earning a Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education. Prior to her role at Rancho Solano, Dr. Nabavi was an administrator at Windermere Preparatory School in Windermere, Florida. Dr. Nabavi began her career in education as a Kindergarten and First Grade Teacher.

Mr. Ben Paulson

Lower School Vice Principal
Mr. Paulson joined Rancho Solano as an educator in 2014. As a member of the Physical Education Department, he taught and coached elementary and middle school Physical Education and sports to Mustangs for 7 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and a minor in Adapted Physical Education from Minnesota State University, Mankato and a background in Applied Behavior Analysis. Mr. Paulson now proudly serves as the Vice Principal for the Lower Campus.

Mrs. Juli Jeffers

Chief Financial Officer
Mrs. Jeffers joined Rancho Solano in March of 2018 with over ten years of accounting and finance experience. She holds a Master of Accountancy from Arizona State University and is a Certified Public Accountant. During her master’s program, she had the opportunity to teach a few classes at ASU and teaching quickly became a passion of hers. After that endeavor, she accepted a position at Heinfeld & Meech, Inc. performing Audits and Consulting work for school districts and non-profit organizations. She leveraged the knowledge she obtained in this job to jump into the corporate world at Republic Services, a waste company with over $10B in annual revenue. She helped to build the company’s quarterly and annual financial statements and managed the largest liability of the company- their landfills. Near the end of her term with Republic, she managed all the accounting aspects of an $80M/year in revenue division of the business. Mrs. Jeffers is very excited to be a part of the Rancho Solano community where she can bring her passion of teaching, her school district auditing knowledge, and her corporate and field accounting experience to such a wonderful organization that she truly believes in!

Mr. Aaron Trigg

Director of Athletics
Coach Trigg joined Rancho Solano in 2013 as Athletic Director and Head Boys Basketball Coach. Since his arrival, the Athletic Department has grown into one of the top small school programs in Arizona. In the past seven years Trigg has led the addition of seven new sports and each year the program has set new records for participation. On the playing field, the Mustangs have seen incredible success in winning four State Championships, and 20+ team and individual State Tournament appearances. As the Boys Basketball coach, Trigg has led one of the largest program turnarounds in Arizona history, taking the program from a 2-20 record in his first season to winning two State Championships (2018, 2020), while assisting numerous athletes to play collegiately. Coach Trigg is passionate about the role athletics plays in the overall education of all students and his goal is for all athletes to become Scholar-Athletes of high character prepared for lifelong success. Trigg is a graduate and Hall of Honor member of Gordon College (B.A. Finance and Business Administration) and of the DeVos Sports Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida (MBA; MSBM). While at UCF Trigg was a member of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports and Co-Authored two “Racial and Gender Report Cards” with world renowned social justice pioneer Dr. Richard Lapchick.

Staff / ADMINISTRATION

MRs. kaitlyn myzwinski

Director of Admissions

Mrs. Katie Wyrowski

Dean of Students

MRs. lindsay fitzpatrick

College Counselor

Ms. Elizabeth Strimbu

Middle & Upper School Counselor

Ms. Jill Babcock

Lower School Counselor

Mr. chris brown

Director of Educational Technology

Mrs. Ilse Chaigneau

Communications Manager

MRs. Kristin Liley

Registrar

Mrs. Judith Crane

Upper School Admin

Mrs. Joanna case-sanders

Lower School Office Admin

MS. Gabriella Canavan

Lower School Office Admin

Ms. Kamani Odina-Herbert

Upper School Nurse

Ms. Kim Kaplan

Lower School Nurse

FACULTY - LOWER SCHOOL

Ms. Genesis Gordon

Pre-K 2

Ms. myeisha johnson

Pre-K 2

Ms. Julia Christian

Pre-K 3

Mrs. Eva Erskine

Pre-K 3

MS. Debbie Petras

Pre-K 3

Mrs. Jessica Dang

Pre-K 4

Ms. Stephany McMahon

Pre-K 4

MS. Margaret ramsey

Pre-K 4

MS. Mia Canavan

Pre-K Teacher Assistant

Mrs. Patricia Grant

Pre-K Teacher Assistant

MS. KAitlyn Hauser

Pre-K Teacher Assistant

MS. Mary Johnson

Pre-K Teacher Assistant

MS. quinn madow

Pre-K Teacher Assistant

Ms. Jeannette Suarez

Pre-K Teacher Assistant

MS. Theresa Wilson

Pre-K Teacher Assistant

MS. Alexis Wolf

Pre-K Teacher Assistant

Mrs. Trysten Baird

Kindergarten

MrS. Meaghan Brewster

Kindergarten

Ms. Ari Moffitt

Kindergarten

Mrs. sydney wahl

Kindergarten

Mrs. Janie Goode

1st Grade

Mrs. Kim Lugowski

1st Grade

MS. kristen roden

1st Grade

MRS. Pamela Vernon

1st Grade

Mrs. Nicole Liebentritt

2nd Grade

Mrs. denise robinson

2nd Grade

MS. Brittany Stannard

2nd Grade

MS. Mary Hegwood

3rd Grade

MS. tamy ramsey

3rd Grade

MS. rachel smith

3rd Grade

MS. Ally Lugowski

4th Grade

MrS. Becky O'Malia

4th Grade

MS. Emma Pappas

4th Grade

MS. Alexis Bell

5th Grade

Mrs. Priscilla ferry

5th Grade

MS. kelsie nielsen

5th Grade

Mrs. Justine Padilla

Substitute Teacher

SPECIALISTS - LOWER SCHOOL

Mrs. maria mayeux

Spanish PK 3-1st

Mrs. lourdes armas frezza

Spanish 2nd-5th

Ms. kimberly nyabela

IT/STEM PK3-1st

Ms. Alyssa MacKenzie

IT/STEM 2nd-5th

MRS. Cyra Behrana

Pre-K/1st Grade Art

Mrs. ellen king

Lower School Art

MS. carrie caruso

Music and Orchestra

Mr. Tim Hainsworth

Music & Band

MS. Tina KHalil

EC Fine Arts/Creative Arts

Mr. Martin Garcia

Physical Education

Mr. Dante Hunter

Physical Education

Mrs. Vicki Lyttle

Physical Education

MS. erin joyce

Lower School Reading Specialist

Mrs. Tracey Hainsworth

Wellbeing Coordinator

FACULTY - MIDDLE & UPPER SCHOOL

Dr. Jennifer Bryant NAgel

Upper School English & Dept. Chair

MrS. Michelle Blincoe

Upper School English

Ms. Charlie Drummond

Upper School English

Mrs. Pamela Mccarty

Upper School English & Extended Essay Coordinator

Mr. Zach Oden

Middle School English

Mrs. Shasta Phillips

Middle School English

Ms. Julie Seiz

Middle School English

Dr. Dane spencer

Upper School English & TOK

Dr. Kaylee Hamann

Upper School Math & Dept. Chair

Mr. Jim Berman

Upper School Math

Ms. yukari bromfield

Upper School Math

Mr. Paul Lundquist

Upper School Math

Mr. ryan mcleod

Upper School Math

Mrs. Jennifer Printz

Middle School Math

Mrs. Jessica robertson

Middle School Math

Mr. Rakesh Sharma

Upper School Math

Mrs. Shelli Powell

Upper School Chemistry & Dept. Chair

Mr. Paul Azabu

Upper School Physics

Mr. Chris Kotila

Middle School Science

Ms. karen martinson

Middle School STEM & Science

Mr. John McCulley

Upper School Biology, Anatomy & Physiology

Mr. Geoff Montgomery

Upper School Biology

Ms. Megan Taflinger

Middle School Science

Dr. Jean Witty

Upper School Biology

Mr. Ted strickland

Middle School History & Dept. Chair

Mr. marco Garbarino

Upper School Economics & IB Coordinator

Ms. Angela George

Upper School History

Ms. Devorah Kenney

IB History

Mr. Matthew Moran

Upper School Economics & Government

Ms. Alisha Eisenstock

Middle School History

Mr. Jack Zuggi

Upper School History

Mrs. Kathleen Wyrowski

IB Psychology

Mr. Wilson Moreno

Upper School Spanish & Dept. Chair

Ms. Sylvia Adam

Upper School ELL

Mr. Richard Cao

Upper School Mandarin

Mrs. claudia descloux-peisl

Upper School French

Mrs. Adriana Herrera

Upper School Spanish

Mrs. Cecile mahieux

Middle School French

Mr. Travis Murray

Upper School Spanish

Mrs. Carmen Sanchez

Middle School Spanish

MS. Jessie Tolman

Middle School Spanish

MS. Julianne Wahl

Middle School Mandarin

Mr. Brandon Zale

Choir, Musical Theatre & Fine Arts Chair

MS. Remy Barnes

Middle School Visual Arts

Ms. Cheryl Berech

Upper School Visual Arts

MrS. Andrea Gamez

Middle & Upper School Dance

Dr. Therese Kerbey

Instruments & Orchestra

Dr. Maurice Terrell

Band Director

Mr. Scott Guerin

Middle & Upper School Technology

Mrs. Melanie Hopek

Middle School Technology

Mr. Daniel Welter

Upper School Technology

Mr. Carl Varnado

Mac Lab, Media, and Film

Ms. Gail Avenell

Middle School P.E. & Dept. Chair

Mr. Brett Cauchi

Middle & Upper School P.E.

Ms. Vicki Dereszkiewicz

Sports Medicine and Athletic Trainer

Mr. Jackson Oldham

Middle School P.E.

Mr. dallin payne

Middle School P.E. & Assistant Athletic Director

Ms. Stacey Peed

Upper School P.E.
Translate »