Preschool - Meet the Staff

I am blessed to be the Director of Preschool at Our Lady of Joy Catholic Preschool. I have been in education for 17 years in both private and Catholic schools. A positive, engaging and safe learning environment is the setting here at OLOJ Catholic Preschool and I am proud to lead our great school in academic excellence in a faith filled surroundings.

My family has been parishioners at Our Lady of Joy for over 25 years and we love being a part of the Cave Creek community. I enjoy being a part of the community in which I was raised, growing up in Cave Creek has been wonderful. Our two children, Warren age 15 and Elena age 12 enjoy participating in church activities, playing basketball and camping.

Credentials

• M.ED Administration and Supervision/University of Phoenix
• B.A Science /University of Arizona
• Arizona Certified Principal
• Arizona Teaching Certificate/Highly Qualified Biology
• Structured English Immersion Certificate
• Catechist Certification

Hello! I am Antonella Guarino a proud mother of 2 beautiful children. My son Gabriel,12, attends Annunciation Catholic School In Cave Creek and my daughter Elianna,4, is a student here at beautiful OLJ. I was born and raised In The Bronx, NY and my entire education from elementary to college has been through Catholic institutions. My strong tie to faith and education as one began as a child with my parents’ decision and now as a parent myself, it is a proud decision I have made for my children. I am very blessed to be part of this amazing school which humbles me daily as I witness the teachings of Christ reflected in the children’s actions.

I graduated Iona College located in New Rochelle, NY with a BA in international studies and I am fluent in Italian and Spanish.

I am thankful for the opportunity to teach the young members of Our Lady Of Joy Catholic Preschool. I have over 17 years of teaching experience, having taught preschool classes, early elementary, middle school and special education classes. My education began with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the College of Staten Island. After earning my bachelor’s degree, I started working at Goldman Sachs on the Institutional trading floor and attended St. John’s University graduating with a Masters In Business Administration with a major in Finance. God truly blessed me with four amazing sons Matthew, Ryan Tyler and Robert. I stopped working for a while to raise them, and while volunteering in the classroom I decided to become a teacher. I attended Rider University earning a Graduate Level Teaching Certificate. I moved here last January and became a parish member of Our Lady of Joy. I enjoyed volunteering at OLOJ preschool and was thrilled when a position became available. It is an honor to teach in such a nurturing environment where Faith is not just a religion but a way of life.

Credentials

BA in Psychology
MBA in Finance
Graduate Level Teaching Certificate Specialization in Science

I am excited to come out of retirement after raising my family for the last 20 years! I can’t wait to get back into the classroom!

I have been blessed with a wonderful family. My husband Tim and I have been married for 25 years. We have three beautiful children, Julia (23), Garrett (20) and Grace (15). In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, quilting and spending time with my horse.

Education

BA - University of California Santa Barbara
Multiple Subject Teaching Credential – California State University Northridge

Hello! I am Krystie Burgess and I am thrilled to join the staff here at Our Lady of Joy. I was born and raised in Riverside, California where I attended a Christian preschool, elementary and high school, graduating with 17 kids that had attended kindergarten with both my twin sister and I. I love the small size and family atmosphere here at Our Lady of Joy Preschool.  Our parish has felt like home since day one.

I am married to Patrick, also a teacher and our son Liam is in 3rd grade at Annunciation in Cave Creek.

We are relocating here to Carefree and have nearly finished building our forever home just up the road.

I completed my BA in marketing and worked for many years as a retail manager and buyer for companies in California, Oregon and Washington before moving to Arizona to live closer to family.

After many years of volunteering in children’s ministries at church and working in the behavioral health field with kids of all ages I began substitute teaching in public school districts near where we have lived. For eight years I taught school part time at Mayer Elementary school.

I am super excited to return to preschool where my desire for teaching all began.

Credentials

Arizona Teaching Certificate

I am so excited to join the exceptional staff at Our Lady of Joy Preschool. As a parent of two children that graduated from Notre Dame Catholic Preparatory, I fully embrace the balance of religion and an education that surpasses other alternatives.

My husband and I moved to Cave Creek seventeen years ago by way of Boston, Dallas, Houston and Nashville. We enjoyed having a local business in Carefree for ten years and when it was time to move on, I joined a Montessori school as a Toddler/Pre-school teacher for a fun four years. Much to my son’s objection, I chose to spend his senior year as an active volunteer Mom at NDP. I also discovered a few fabulous young families that could use a hand to maintain order in their busy lives.

I am excited to be here at Our Lady of Joy Preschool teaching the foundations of a life time of learning.