Maricopa

Amy Sundeen

Mrs. Amy Sundeen began her educational career in 2007. After several years of teaching special education, and then supporting special education teachers as a coordinator, she pursued her Master’s Degree in Education Leadership which she obtained from Grand Canyon University. Mrs. Sundeen was excited to join the Leading Edge Academy team who shared her vision and commitment to providing every student the opportunity to be successful as well as helping them establish a love for learning.

Sherreis Moreland

Ms. Sherreis Moreland has been in the field of education since 2001. She has a Master’s in Education Administration and a Bachelor’s in Family Resources and Human Development. Ms. Moreland has five years teaching experience and moved to administration in 2007. Ms. Moreland is passionate about all children having access to high quality education programs.

Jennifer Solina

Mayra Harvey

Petrita Verdugo

Kristi Marcus

Mrs. Kristi Marcus has a wonderful husband named Kevin and a beautiful little girl named Khloe. She and her family moved to Arizona near the end of 2015 from Northern California. She worked in California as a Preschool Teacher and Director for 19 1/2 years. During that time, she found that she loves the Administrative side of Education. Kristi has an AA in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Child Development.

Maricarmen Rodriguez

Mrs. Rodriguez is a mother of two and has been married for 10 years. She moved to Maricopa in 2016 and loves it. She has her AA in Medical Specialty and has worked in medical offices doing front desk & medical billing before joining our team.

Shannon Trezos

Mrs. Shannon Trezos has been at Leading Edge Academy since 2010 and says she absolutely loves this school! She has taught both kindergarten and first grade. Her goal is to challenge students and set positive expectations, ensuring every child will succeed. She holds a BS in Communications from Northern Arizona University and a BA from Rio Salado College in Early Childhood Education. She most enjoys being with her family and two big dogs. She also enjoys working out, swimming and cooking!

Jessie Rockstraw

Mrs. Jessie Rockstraw is originally from Orange County, California and has lived in Arizona since August of 2016. She attended Azusa Pacific University and has her BA in Psychology with an emphasis in Child Life. Jessie enjoys spending time with her family and her dog, and enjoys sports, crime documentaries, and french fries. This is Jessie’s first year teaching Kindergarten and is so excited to be on the Leading Edge team!

Sarah Burger

Ms. Sarah Burger recently moved to Maricopa from Northern Minnesota. She graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and is enjoying her first year at Leading Edge Academy. In her free time, she enjoys being with her family, baking and weightlifting.

Floshene Sanders

My name is Floshene Sanders and I am current a Kindergarten teacher in Maricopa with more than 53 years of experience in education. I have a true passion for education and teaching. Helping each child progress in all areas of their development social, academic, and motor skills is a challenge that I accept each day with a smile because I am creating learners that nurtures growth in a positive, fun environment.

Roberta Cianciosi

Fabiola Estrada

Ms. Fabiola Estrada holds a Bachelor’s degree in design. She has experience as a paraprofessional for five years working in preschool, kindergarten, and special education. She is now a highly qualified elementary teacher. Her personal interests include reading, photography, art, and history. Her mission is to be the best version of herself. She is excited to be an addition to the Leading Edge Academy Maricopa campus.

Kaitlyn Trump

Miss Trump was born and raised in Orange County, California. In 2015, after graduating high school she went on to study Education in Florida at Pensacola Christian College. She graduated in May, 2019 with her Bachelors degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Early Childhood Education. In July 2019, she moved to Arizona to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher. Miss Trump spent her first year in kindergarten and now teaches in first grade. When she is not at school Miss Trump enjoys spending time with her family and her dog.

Nathan Rockstraw

Mr. Rockstraw has a Master’s degree in education and has been teaching 1st grade at the Maricopa campus for almost two years. He loves football and basketball!

Macayla Winkler

Briana Lasky

Mrs. Lasky is from Mesa, Arizona, and she attended Grand Canyon University. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Professional Counseling. This is her second year teaching, and she is excited to be a part of the team! She enjoys spending time with her family and reading.

Ariana George

Melissa Leslie

Stella Calles

Ms. Stella Calles has been teaching for over twenty years both at charter schools and public schools. She is a graduate of Arizona State University with a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a Multicultural Emphasis. She is also a Bilingual/ESL endorsed teacher. She enjoys working with the students and their families and always encourage parents to come and visit the classroom.

Samantha Plascencia

Mrs. Plascencia is originally from Orange County, California where she earned her Bachelors of Science in Child and Adolescents Studies. Mrs. Plascencia has been a resident of Arizona since 2019. She loves spending time with her husband and 2 small dogs.

Gabriella Villaescusa

Ms. Gabriela Villaescusa is from Douglas, a small border town in SE Arizona. She attended the University of Arizona and is a proud Wildcat! This is her second year of teaching, but she has been with Leading Edge Academy since 2014. She has 2 daughters and a 13 yr. old Chihuahua. Her favorite pastime is reading.

Elizabeth Fuiava

Mrs. Fuiava has been a teacher for over 18 years. She currently holds a Bachelors in Elementary Education from the University of Hawaii. She anticipates graduating with her Masters of Science in Special Education through the online Western Governors University program in 2019. She has taught K-6th grades for the American Samoa Department of Education from 1997 to 2012. In 2012, she moved with her family to Renton, WA and worked as an educator. While in Washington, she earned her teacher residency certification. In 2018, Mrs. Fuiava moved to Arizona to serve its community alongside her husband in a newly established ministry. Mrs. Fuiava loves spending quality time with her husband and family.

Don Vaughan

Mr. Vaughan graduated from Arizona State University. Go Sun Devils! He is an avid outdoor enthusiast and enjoys hiking, mountain biking, running, golfing and furniture making. His favorite subjects are history and science.

Mary Jean Hepner

Mary Jean holds a Bachelor of Science in Commerce Major in Business Management with Entrepreneurship. She has been with Leading Edge Academy Maricopa for 3 years. The first 2 years, she was a Para-Professional supporting the 4th grade and the 2021-2022 year is her first year as a 4th Grade Teacher.

Lester McKenzie

Lester is a U.S Navy veteran and a graduate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He has two years experience in education and 15 years experience in behavioral health. Lester is originally from Little Rock, AR, but has called Maricopa, AZ home for the past 5 years.

Charna Menker

Mrs. Charna Menker has a BA in History from Arizona State University. She has experience as a one-on-one aid, paraprofessional, substitute teacher, and now as a fourth grade teacher. This is her second year teaching full time at Leading Edge and her ninth year with a child at Leading Edge.

Troy Riester

Mr. Troy Riester come to Leading Edge Academy with over 20 years of child development experience in the aquatics profession. As a coach Mr. Riester developed many athletes to regional, national, and global recognition. Many of the programs that Mr. Riester stepped into were turned into top programs in the country. He accomplished this by implementing new theories, practices, and research. Troy’s degree in Information technology is a key component of his approach to teaching.

Vonetta Cullars

Ms. Cullars moved from Houston, Texas to Phoenix, Arizona in the summer of 2019. She moved here in response to the teacher shortage in Arizona. Ms. Cullars has a master’s degree in elementary education. As of 2021, she has been teaching for 11 years. Ms. Cullars has taught grades PK-6th and truly enjoys teaching.

Jordan Foltz

Mr. Foltz is enjoying his second year as a teacher at LEAM. A 2010 graduate of Liberty University he has taught in a classroom setting for a little over 4 years, the rest of the time being spent experientially teaching on challenge courses on the East Coast. In his free time Mr. Foltz enjoys hiking, biking, paddle boarding and most importantly any sport that involves a disc.

Tamara Washington

Mrs. Tamara Washington began working at Leading Edge in 2017. She’s originally from Detroit, MI and relocated to Arizona with her family in 2007. She has taught in ministry for approximately 18 years. She received her Associates Degree in Hospitality Management from the University of Phoenix and continued on to earn a BS in Business Administration from Capella University. She is currently working on her Master’s Degree at Grand Canyon University. Although she enjoys teaching, she absolutely loves learning. She strongly believes that life is only 10% of what happens to you, the other 90% is how you react to it.

Caleb Cortez

Blayne Booth

Craig Smith

Laura Zindler

Reggie Overton

Mr. Reggie Overton has previously tutored for Kumon Learning, Sure Prep, and Achievement Learning. He completed his student teaching and interning through ASU. He is excited to be on board this year with Leading Edge Academy at the Maricopa campus.

Joel Moyar

Mr. Moyar earned his bachelor’s degree from Ohio Christian University in 2005, and graduated from Wesley Biblical Seminary with his masters degree in 2009. He has taught at the collegiate level for over ten years. During this time, Mr. Moyar taught in both the in-seat and online context. He has a wide range of experience, teaching both adults and traditional aged students. Mr. Moyar has trained and taught world history, philosophy, and theology. He is excited to be in Maricopa teaching at Leading Edge Academy.

Misti Oosthuizen

Misti has been teaching in Maricopa since 2013. She has a bachelors and master’s degree in psychology and she is highly qualified to teach both psychology and middle school science. In addition to teaching, Misti, who also goes by Mrs. O., has worked as an instructional coach as well as an adjunct faculty member for a community college. She loves to travel, loves her family and her amazing dogs.

Bernard Shaver

Bernard Shavers is a special education teacher at the Leading Edge Maricopa campus. He currently provides services for middle grades, 6th through 8th. He has been in the education field for 9 years

Karen Deadrick

Margaret Bush

Mrs. Bush has been working in Education since 2013. She received her Bachelor’s in Elementary and Special Education in 2016 from Grand Canyon University and her Master’s degree as a Reading Specialist in 2019 from Grand Canyon University. She is currently working as the Special education teacher at the Maricopa campus for grades K-3rd.

Karen Vaughan

Ms. Karen Vaughan received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from the University of Mississippi. She has been teaching Kindergarten for many wonderful years. She has enjoyed teaching the students at Leading Edge Academy Maricopa since 2008.

Jessica Fox

Ms. Jessica Fox grew up in upstate New York (Rochester) and moved to Arizona in 2011. Having studied many instruments and being a member in several bands for years, she started college in a music education program. However, in her 3rd year she felt she needed to switch to art as she had been naturally an artist her whole life. She ended up choosing art history and loves it. She went on to earn a Masters in Art History from Syracuse University in 2010 and later attended the Rio Salado Teacher Education program in Phoenix. Her goal is to inspire kids to try new things with art and be exposed to topics through art history references. “The more we learn to really SEE, to QUESTION, to THINK and to TRY, the better.”

Ashlee Dollar

Ms. Dollar was born and raised in Miami, FL. She received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Southern Adventist University and her Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Andrews University. She has experience teaching: in the private and public sector, in religious and public institutions, domestically and internationally, and has taught students ranging from the very young to college students to the young at heart and has taught in various capacities since 2007. She also has over 10 years of experience worship leading and coordinating for collegiate chapels, various churches as well as religious conferences. Her instruments include: voice, piano, guitar, ukulele and clarinet. Aside from teaching, she enjoys playing/composing/writing music, performing, all things choir, ministry and baking. However, her greatest joy in life is being a mom to her two beautiful children.

Lindsay Hammer

Ms. Lindsey Hammer has a always known she wanted to teach music. She received her bachelors from Liberty University and her masters from Anderson University, both in music education. She taught general music and beginner band at Easton Elementary school for 6 years before moving to Arizona. In her free time, she likes outdoor activities, playing sports, and hanging out with her husband, Jordan, and their three furry babies.

Daniel Mayo

Joel Rodriguez