Rancho Solano Preparatory School

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.

Ms. 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.

Ms. 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 & Faculty

Ms. kaitlyn myzwinski

Director of Admissions

Ms. Kristin
Liley

Registrar

Ms. lindsay
fitzpatrick

College Counselor

Ms. Elizabeth Strimbu

Upper School Counselor

Ms. Jill
Babcock

Lower School Counselor

Mrs. Ilse Chaigneau

Communications Manager

Mrs. Judith
Crane

Upper School Admin

Mrs. Joanna case-sanders

Lower School
Office Admin

MS. Gabriella Canavan

Lower School
Office Admin

Mr. chris
brown

Director of Educational Technology

Ms. Kamani Odina-Herbert

Upper School Nurse

Ms. Kim
Kaplan

Lower School Nurse

Mr. Joe
Pugh

Lower School Security

MR. Johnny
Marshall

Middle & Upper School Security

Ms. myeisha
johnson

Pre-K 2

Ms. Genesis
Gordon

Pre-K 2

MS. Debbie
Petras

Pre-K 3

MS. Tina
KHalil

Pre-K 3

MS. Sheila
Rose

Pre-K 3

Ms. JEssica
Dang

Pre-K 4

MS. Margaret ramsey

Pre-K 4

Ms. Stephany
McMahon

Pre-K 4

MS. KAitlyn
Hauser

Teacher Assistant

Ms. Jeannette
Suarez

Teacher Assistant

MS. teena
dennis

Teacher Assistant

MS. patricia
grant

Teacher Assistant

MS. Karen
Carter

Teacher Assistant

MS. quinn
madow

Teacher Assistant

MS. Mary
Johnson

Teacher Assistant

MS. Theresa
Wilson

Teacher Assistant

MS. Kelsey
Lambert

Kindergarten

Mrs. Sara
paulson

Kindergarten

Ms. sydney
wahl

Kindergarten

Mrs. Trysten
Melhart

Kindergarten

MS. carrie
caruso

Pre-K Music and Orchestra

MRS. Cyra
Behrana

Pre-K/1st Grade Art

MRS. Pamela Vernon

1st Grade

MS. kristen
roden

1st Grade

MS. janie helfinstine

1st Grade

MS. denise robinson

2nd Grade

MS. sheena
barton

2nd Grade

MS. Nicole
Liebentritt

2nd Grade

MS. tamy
ramsey

3rd Grade

MS. rachel
smith

3rd Grade

MS. Mary
Hegwood

3rd Grade

MS. Kristine Harrison

4th Grade

MS. jessica robertson

4th Grade

MS. Emma
Pappas

4th Grade

MS. Priscilla
ferry

5th Grade

MS. kelsie
nielsen

5th Grade

MS. maria
mayeux

Spanish PK 3-1st

MS. lourdes armas frezza

Spanish 2nd-5th

Ms. kimberly
nyabela

IT/STEM PK3-1st

Ms. Lyttia Cancinos

IT/STEM 2nd-5th

MS. erin
joyce

Lower School Reading Specialist

Ms. ellen
king

Lower School Art

Mr. christopher webb

Lower School Music & Band

Mr. Dante
Hunter

P.E. PK-1st

Mr. jason hertzberg

Middle School Math

Ms. Shelly
Jain

Middle School Math

Mr. Chris
Kotila

Middle School Science & Chair

Ms. karen martinson

Middle School STEM & Science

Ms. Molly
Poniatowski

Middle School Science

Mr. ted
strickland

Middle School History & Chair

Ms. Francesca
Angelone

Middle School History

MS. Molly
Lawson

Middle School History

MS. Michelle
Blincoe

Middle School English

Ms. Shasta
Phillips

Middle School English & Photojournalism

Ms. Kathleen
Wyrowski

Middle School English & IB Psychology

Ms. Cecile
mahieux

Middle School French

Ms. Carmen
Sanchez

Middle School Spanish & Chair

MS. Jessie
Tolman

Middle School Spanish

Ms. Gail
Avenell

Middle School P.E. & Chair

MS. Remy
Barnes

Middle School Visual Arts

MS. Andrea
Gamez

Middle & Upper School Dance

Mr. Brandon
Zale

Choir, Musical Theatre & Fine Arts Chair

Dr. Maurice
Terrell

Band Director

Dr. Therese
Kerbey

Instruments & Orchestra

Mr. Scott
Guerin

Middle & Upper School Technology

Mr. Carl
Vernado

Mac Lab, Media, and Film

Ms. Cheryl
Berech

Upper School Visual Arts

Dr. Kaylee
Hamann

Upper School Math & Chair

Ms. yukari bromfield

Upper School Math

Mr. Jim
Berman

Upper School Math

Mr. ryan
mcleod

Upper School Math

Ms. Shelli
Powell

Upper School Chemistry

Dr. Jean
Witty

Upper School Biology

Mr. paul
zukowski

Middle & Upper School Physics

Dr. Jennifer
Bryant NAgel

Upper School History

Ms. Angela
George

Upper School History

Ms. Devorah
Kenney

IB History, Economics & Government

Mr. marco garbino

IB Coordinator & Upper School Economics

Dr. Dane
spencer

Upper School English, TOK & Chair

Mrs. Pamela
Mccarty

Upper School English & EE Coordinator

Ms. Charlie
Drummond

Upper School English

Ms. Sylvia
Adam

Upper School ELL

Mrs. claudia descloux-peisl

Upper School French

Ms. Cristina correas

Upper School Spanish

Mr. Wilson
Moreno

Upper School Spanish

Mr. Richard
Cao

Upper School Mandarin

Mr. dallin
payne

Assistant Athletic Director

Ms. Vicki
Dereszkiewicz

Sports Medicine and Athletic Trainer

Mr. Ryan
Okwudibonye

Upper School P.E.

Ms. Stacey
Peed

Upper School P.E.
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