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. 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 daughter attends both the preschool and both her children attend the summer program.

Ms. Melissa Evernham joined the Crestwood family in 2025 as a Group Leader for the Toddlers and a member of the school staff as a Toddler Teacher. Working with young children has always been her passion and she loves every moment of it. She has dedicated over 26 wonderful years as a teacher and director at a local camp and preschool. She is thrilled to continue doing what she loves at Crestwood. Outside of camp, she is a proud mom of 3 and all attend summer camp at Crestwood. They have an absolute blast making cherished summer memories and look forward to returning every summer!

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. 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. Crystal Johnson  has worked at Crestwood since 2022 in the Teen Travel program. She is excited to come onboard full time as the Physical Education Teacher. She obtained both her BA & MA in Forensic Psychology at John Jay College, while playing softball and working as a Peer Mentor. She currently runs her own business coaching various youth sports such as volleyball and softball. She is the Head Varsity Boys Volleyball Coach at Sewanhaka High School and former Assistant Softball Coach at St. Joseph’s University- Brooklyn Campus. Miss Crystal is certified in Youth Sports Instruction.

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. 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.  September 2025 Amy was promoted to a Toddler teacher. 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. 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. 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. Now her son gets to enjoy the same joy she experienced as a kid!

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. Victoria Uron is a dedicated science educator who has been at Crestwood for many years over the summer months but has recently started teaching during the school year as well.  After completing an internship under Ms. Fro last year, she now teaches science during the school year alongside Miss Kaitlyn. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Developmental Science with a child emphasis. Miss Victoria is passionate about exploratory, child-led learning-especially through hands-on experiments. Her goal is to ensure every child leaves the program with the confidence and knowledge to explore all areas of science.

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. Yuliya Bektasheva is a year-round staff at Crestwood. Besides being a school bus driver, she enjoys her role as a teacher’s assistant in toddlers, helping out throughout the day with classroom routines and activities. Yuliya received her BFA degree at Briarcliffe College. After dedicating over a decade to graphic design, prepress industry, and digital photography, Yuliya decided to leave the corporate world for a completely new pace, by getting her CDL and beginning her new career as a bus driver at Huntington Coach. Yuliya joined our team in 2023 as a Bus Driver and T/A, also a Group Leader Assistant in the summer, finding her joy in every single day spent at Crestwood.

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. Teagan Dispinseri joined the Crestwood Staff in the summer of 2025 as a Group Leader and is thrilled to now be a part of the school staff as Nursery Teacher Assistant. She is so excited to help your children learn, grow and develop their lifelong love of knowledge. Before joining the Crestwood Staff, she worked at a local Nursery where she was a Co-Teacher in Pre-K. Outside of Crestwood, Teagan is a proud Mom of 6 and her children are her greatest achievements. Her 2 youngest children attend camp here during the summer and they call Crestwood their “Happy Place”!  

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. 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!  

Ms. Janice Kobin has taught nursery school for the past twenty-nine years at a synagogue in Syosset. In 2020, she joined the Crestwood staff as an assistant in a four year old classroom. Since 2013, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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, Bridgette has worked as an after school teacher at Take A Bow for Pre-K  and Kindergarten students. 

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. Amanda McQuade has been working at Crestwood camp for 7 years. Three years ago she joined the school staff part time and this year began working at the school full time. . She also attended Crestwood for school and camp since she was 2 years old!  She attended Molloy University and graduated with her Bachelors in Criminal Justice.

Ms. Jessica Phillips recently just graduated from SUNY Oneonta with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Before attending SUNY Oneonta, She was a D1 collegiate lacrosse player at the University of Hartford. She is continuing her passion for working with children by working on receiving a masters in special education. She is also a nanny for 3 beautiful girls, and I love it! This past summer she  worked as a group leader at Crestwood and is excited to be working here year round.

Ms. Maura Storella started at Crestwood in 2017 as a Teaching Assistant during the school year. She was excited to make a career change after working for 27 years in the legal profession. Her daughter Rebecca attended Crestwood’s Teen Travel camp program for 4 summers and loved it!

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. 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. Adria Williams began working at Crestwood as a counselor in 2019, then as an assistant group leader in 2023, and a group leader in 2025. She graduated from St John’s University with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and a master’s in TESOL. In 2025, Miss Adria began working as a teaching assistant for Crestwood school. She is so happy to be at Crestwood year round.

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.