Crestwood School Teaching Staff
Ms. Carrie Burlin holds a B.S. in Childhood Education from L.I.U. and a M.A. in Early Childhood Education from N.Y.U. She has spent many summers at Crestwood as a camper parent and then as a Group Leader since the summer of 2016. Miss Carrie has also enjoyed being a part of the Parent and Child summer program. In 2018, she joined our year round staff as a toddler teacher. Miss Carrie has previously taught Nursery in Manhattan, kindergarten in the Syosset School District, and in the Toddler program at a local Nursery School.
Ms. Nicole Friedman has a B.A. in Psychology, and an M.S.E in Childhood Education from LIU. She has taught first grade, third grade, and kindergarten in the Jericho School District for several years. In 2023, Ms. Nicole came full circle and became Crestwood’s new kindergarten teacher after she attended Crestwood herself as a kindergartner and camper. She also sent her own children to both camp and school at Crestwood. Ms. Nicole’s goals for her students is to build confidence, self-esteem, and instill a love for learning.
Ms. Lisa DiLillo is a year round staff member who has worked at Crestwood since the summer of 2008. She completed her undergraduate and master’s in education from Five Towns College. Miss Lisa has worked in the 5th and 6th grade division as well as in our teen program. She began teaching Pre- k for our school in 2013. In addition, Miss. Lisa has worked as a teacher’s assistant for many years in the Brentwood School District and has also worked in the Pre-school division over the summer for the past 7 years. She loves seeing the children’s smiles every morning when coming to school or camp. Her son attends both the preschool and summer program.
Ms. Maureen Lynde began working at Crestwood in 1988 as a camp counselor. She joined our year round staff in 1989. She has been a teacher in every grade level in our school program and works in the younger division over the summer. Maureen has B.S. in Education and a Master’s degree in school counseling. MIss Maureen lives in Melville and her daughter Allie attends Crestwood over the summer.
Ms. Kim Marotto has been part of the Crestwood family for many years. After spending summers here as a Camp Counselor and then Group Leader, she started as an Assistant Teacher while getting her Master’s Degree. She was a Pre-K Teacher for many years and then found her happy home in Nursery in 2012. Miss Kim is the Division Head for the kindergarten campers over the summer. Her three children have been through both school and camp here at Crestwood. She feels so lucky to see the smiles of her cuties all year long!
Ms. AnnMarie McQuade started working at Crestwood in 1986 as a Counselor in the summer camp. In 1990 she started working in school as a Teacher Assistant while she finished her Master’s Degree. Over the years, she has been a Toddler, Nursery and Pre-K Teacher. She loves to see the smiles every morning!
Ms. Rondi Miller has been part of the Crestwood family since 2001 as both a counselor and a group leader before joining our school staff in 2019. She holds a BA in English from Binghamton University and a Masters in Early Childhood/Childhood Education from Hofstra University. Before coming to Crestwood as a full time pre-k teacher, she spent over 10 years teaching in both the private and public sectors, including 5 years with the NYC DOE. She lives in Dix Hills with her husband Michael and her cat Rugby.
Ms. Kathleen (Kat) Serafin works at Crestwood year-round as a Preschool Teacher and then the Swim Director over the summer. She has been a part of the Crestwood family since 1990 where she attended as a student in the Nursery program. She continued as a camper all the way through the teen program and then became a lifeguard in 2003. Having taken on every leadership position at the Crestwood pools, it was a dream come true when Kat became the Swim Director in 2014. Kat received her Bachelor’s in Childhood Education at SUNY Cortland and her Masters in Special Education at C.W. Post LIU. She started as a Nursery Teacher at Crestwood in 2009 and has been teaching here ever since. Crestwood has shaped the person that she has become and she strives to do the same for every student.
Ms. Nicole Seeger has been working year-round at Crestwood since 2006. She is one of Crestwood’s Toddler Teachers and then over the summer, she runs Crestwood’s Art Program. She holds both a Bachelor of Science and Masters in Art Education plus a permanent teaching certification for NYS. Nicole worked for West Hempstead high school for three years, during that time she was the Class Advisor, the Girl’s Varsity Swim Coach and was voted teacher of the year. Nicole is also a member of the National Art Education Association and NYS Teachers Association. Along with her many roles at Crestwood, Nicole is an inventor and holds a patent for her yarn storage invention.
Ms. Alyse Skoller has been part of the Crestwood family since 2007 and joined our school staff in 2013. She holds a teaching certification from the State University of New York at Fredonia and worked for several years in the East Meadow School District before coming to Crestwood full time. Miss Alyse is currently a Teacher in our Nursery Program but has worked at every age level from Toddlers through Kindergarten. She is also a Division Head over the summer for our 3rd and 4th grade girl campers, and loves spending 365 days a year at Crestwood!
Ms. Heather Stern has been working at Crestwood since the summer of 2014 in our Kindergarten Boys Division and has been a teacher in our Pre-K since 2017. Heather studied at Syracuse University where she got a degree in Child Development and then went on to earn her Master’s Degree at NYU in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Heather spent over 10 years as a kindergarten teacher in Manhattan at both The Hewitt School and Columbia Grammar and Prep. Heather lives in Old Bethpage with her husband Jonathan and son Ethan who loves attending Crestwood every summer.
Ms. Amanda Hickey started working at Crestwood during the summer of 2013, first as a counselor and then later as a Group Leader. She joined Crestwood’s year round staff as a Nursery Teacher in 2022. She previously worked at a local Preschool as a Nursery Teacher before becoming a year round staff member at Crestwood. Amanda graduated with a Bachelors of Science from SUNY Farmingdale.
Ms. Jaime Radler became one of Crestwood’s Toddler Teachers in 2023. She started at Crestwood as a camp counselor in our Pre-K division in 2017 and then became a Group Leader in 2020. She joined our year-round staff that Fall as a Teacher’s Assistant with one of our Pre-K classes. She graduated Cortland with a Bachelors. Jaime loves having a positive impact on each child while having fun everyday!
Ms. Ally Uzbay started at Crestwood as a camper and then was hired to work here in 2018 first as a counselor and then a Group Leader. She joined Crestwood’s year round staff as a Toddler Teacher in 2021. Ally holds a Bachelors Degree and is currently working on her Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education as her passion for working with young children continues to grow.
ASSISTANTS
Ms. Joanne Axler has worked at Crestwood as an Assistant Teacher since 1987. She has taught and has experience in the Toddler, Nursery and Pre-K classrooms. In addition, for several summers she was also involved in the Parent and Child Summer Program.
Ms. Jen Kessler started Crestwood as a camper and then was hired to work here in 2021 as a Camp Group Leader during the summer and then a Pre-K teacher that fall. In 2022, she became one of Crestwood’s Toddler Teaching Assistants. She has worked as a Nursery teacher for 10 years at a local Preschool and also in Public Schools for 6 years in grades K-2. She holds a BS in Childhood Education and a Masters in Students with Disabilities. Jen’s daughter attends camp here in the summer and they both absolutely love Crestwood!
Mr. Jordan Ashley started working at Crestwood in 2023 as the new Summer Transportation Director. He continues to work at Crestwood year-round as the Kindergarten Assistant. Jordan received his Bachelor’s of Science in Physical Education at The Citadel and his Masters at Hofstra in Health Education. He has experience teaching Physical Education for grades K-12 in various districts across Long Island. Jordan is a running enthusiast who won several athletic awards and was the recipient of an athletic scholarship to The Citadel.
Ms. Jocelyn Lin started working at Crestwood as an Assistant Teacher in 2021 and then continued working at our summer camp that summer. Prior to Crestwood, she worked as a Pre-K Assistant Teacher for six years in Queens. Jocelyn has two kids who absolutely love attending Crestwood’s Summer Camp. She loves her job and is so happy to be a part of the Crestwood family!
Ms. Gabriella Cohen worked as a Group Leader for three summers at a local day camp. She then started at Crestwood School in 2021 as a Teacher Assistant and continued working over the summer at Crestwood Camp as a Group Leader. She is currently working towards her Bachelor’s Degree in Childhood Education.
Ms. Janice Kobin has taught nursery school for the past twenty-nine years at a synagogue in Syosset. This year, she joined the Crestwood staff as an assistant in a four year old classroom. The past eight years, during the summer months, she has worked at Crestwood assisting in the office. She is looking forward to joining the office staff again this summer and happy to be a part of the year round Crestwood family.
Ms. Robin Lerner has had the pleasure of working year-round at Crestwood since 2006 on various levels. Prior to coming to Crestwood, she worked at a Jewish Center Nursery School for 15 years. In her spare time, she enjoys being with her three grandchildren who all attend Crestwood in the summer.
Ms. Maura Storella is one of Crestwood’s new Teaching Assistants at the school since making a career change after working for 27 years in the legal profession. Her daughter Rebecca has attended Crestwood’s Teen Travel camp program for the past 4 summers and loves it!
Ms. Melissa Maricondo started at Crestwood in 2022 during the school year as a floating TA and then continued working over the summer at our camp. In the Fall of 2022 she became a Toddler TA. Melissa received her BFA at The New York School of Interior Design. After graduating Melissa worked as a Senior Project Manager for several large commercial office furniture dealers before starting her own delivery and installation company in 2001 with her husband Jeff. Melissa loves children and has always wanted to work with them. In her free time she greatly enjoys watching her son Tristan play various sports and spending time with her four grandchildren.
Ms. Bridgette Lord was a Teaching Assistant for kids ages 1-6 at a local daycare before starting year round at Crestwood in 2021. Over the summer, she works as a Group Leader and then during the school year she helps as a Teaching Assistant. Since 2019, Bridget has worked as an after school teacher at Take A Bow for Pre-K and Kindergarten students.
Ms. Nicole Freedman has worked at Crestwood every summer since 2013 as a Group Leader in our day camp. In 2016, Nicole joined the Crestwood School Staff as a Teaching Assistant. She Graduated from SUNY Old Westbury with a Bachelors in Childhood Education. She loves running her Crafting business in her spare time.
Ms. Shannon Lawlor has been working in childcare since 2016 with various ages and she always enjoys every single second of it. Shannon joined our year round staff as a floating TA for the School in May of 2022 and continued over the summer as a Group Leader for our young campers. She looks forward to seeing the children’s happy smiling faces and getting to spend her day helping them grow. Shannon says that these kids help her become a better person every single day.
Ms. Martha Vasco started working at Crestwood in the summer of 2022 as an Assistant Group Leader for our youngest campers. She then continued working over the school year as a Toddler Teaching Assistant. Martha also works for Zwanger Pesiri Radiology where she has worked for over 25 years. She is blessed with three lovely grandchildren who have been part of the Crestwood family for many years! Martha truly enjoys her job at Crestwood!
Ms. Rachel Ziman was a teacher at a local preschool for four years and then for seven years worked as a TA for the Hicksville & Locust Valley School District. She spent nine summers as a Group Leader at a local day camp. She joined Crestwood’s year round staff in 2021 first as a Teacher Assistant during the school year and a Group Leader over the summer. She graduated from the University of Hartford with a BS in Sociology. She is a proud mom to her two children.
Ms. Roseanne “Ro” Conroy started her career in the corporate world before working at a local preschool in 2020. She started as a Teacher Assistant at Crestwood in 2021. Ro graduated from CW Post with a Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education.
Ms. Amy Morales has worked with children ages 2-5 for many years. She started working at Crestwood in the summer of 2022 and then continued as a Nursery Teacher Assistant in the Fall of that same year. Amy has a degree in Early Childhood and is a proud mom to her two boys. Her youngest attended Crestwood’s Leadership Program in the summer of 2022 and loved it!
Ms. Maria Viteritti started at Crestwood in 2020 as a camp counselor in the preschool division and has been an Assistant Group Leader for the past two summers. After graduating from Mount Saint Mary in 2022 with a BA in Social Sciences with a concentration in Early Childhood and Childhood Education, she joined the year-round staff as a Teacher’s Assistant in our Toddler Program. She is passionate about working with children and helping them to learn and grow!
Ms. Allison Francis started working at Crestwood in 2021 as a counselor in the Pre-K division and then joined Crestwood’s year round staff as a floating TA in Fall of 2022. Prior to joining Crestwood, Allison worked for four summers at a local camp in the girls 1st-3rd grade division. She graduated in May of 2022 from the University of Delaware with Bachelor of Arts. Allison loves working with children and she’s so happy to be a part of the Crestwood family!