My name is Katelyn Russo and I am proud to be a part of Garden Grove Preschool's family. I am from Ocean County and moved to Vernon 5 years ago where I now reside with my husband, 2 kids and 2 dogs. I have a Bachelor's Degree from Stockton University with a major in Psychology and minor in Education. I attended graduate school at Georgian Court University as part of their Applied Behavioral Analysis program.

My love of early childhood education began in childcare classes in high school and grew from there. I have now worked in the field for over 13 years - it's crazy how fast the time goes! While in college I worked in a Head Start program which was partnered with a local school district. After graduating, I had the opportunity to teach PreK in a public school district, as well as lead their preschool summer camp program for 5 years before having my first son in 2016. I decided to stay home with him for 2 years before going back to work in an early childhood learning center. I had my second son in May of 2020 and was very lucky to again be able to stay home and raise my children for another 2 years.

My oldest son, Asher is 7 and my youngest, Boden is 2. We are an outdoorsy family and love to be one with nature. Hiking, biking, swimming, snowboarding, bug hunts and nature walks are some of our favorite activities. We also live for our pizza and movie nights!!

I have a true passion for working with our youngest of learners! I understand the importance that early childhood education has on future success in school and in life. I feel very fortunate to be a part of a highly individualized play-based preschool program working alongside such dedicated and warm-hearted staff. I'm excited to meet our new parents and watch "our" children grow! My favorite flower is the stargazer lily.

I have over 25 years of early childhood experience and am excited to be part of the Garden Grove Preschool family! I am a graduate of Sussex County Community College (AA) and Felician College (Education P-8). I started my career as a head teacher at Second Home Childcare/Preschool Center. After raising my 2 daughters I returned to education as a registered behavioral technician (RBT) trained staff member in the Newton Public Schools. I am trained in Behavioral management strategies and working with a diverse student population, including children with special needs.

In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my husband of 29 years and my 2 daughters, Allison (26) and Mattison (20). I enjoy going to Disney and spending time at the beach. Family is very important to me. Some of my hobbies are baking, crafting, nature walks, and shopping. I reside in Frankford Twp. and have been a lifelong Sussex County resident. I am excited to work with your child and be part of their growth and success at Garden Grove!

My name is Ms. Dina and I'm excited to be part of the team at Garden Grove Preschool. I have been working in the early childhood education field for over 15 years!

I'm dedicated to the social and emotional development of each child and make sure that each child receives the best care and love that they all deserve. My favorite thing about working in the education field is the "lightbulb moment," when a child finally understands or completes a task they have been working on.

Some of my personal interests include spending time with my family and friends, dancing and watching movies. I also enjoy spoiling my very cute dog Milo.

I'm looking forward to getting to know all of the children and families here at Garden Grove Preschool.

I am so excited to be teaching at Garden Grove Preschool! I have always love children and get such as satisfying and gratifying feeling as I am teaching them new things in a fun and exciting way! I find children to be absolutely adorable, and very entertaining as well! I am thrilled to be working with such a wonderful group of people at Garden Grove.

I have taught pre-K, Kindergarten and children with special needs my entire adult life and also ran an in-home preschool while I was raising my two daughters. I live in this awesome town of Sparta, and I have a wonderful husband, and those two beautiful daughters that I have are all grown up now! They both attended Pope John high school, and have recently gone through their college years! They love children and animals just like I do!

We have a German Shepherd, which is Shepherd number three! We love the outdoors, and boy, does my pup loves to play frisbee! I also care for my mother-in-law in my home. She’s almost 99, whoa, but in fantastic health!

I love to write song parodies, and I teach so much through songs! If I’m not teaching my favorite places to be are with my family and on the beach!

Hello friends! I am the pre-K 4 teacher here at beautiful Garden Grove Pre-school! I have been a primary school teacher for 21 years and am so happy to be part of Garden Grove’s amazing team!

I attended The College of Saint Elizabeth and earned my bachelor degree in Psychology and Education. I have been married to my wonderful husband for 38 years and our family is growing! My eldest son Ryan is married to his lovely wife Kelly and they have blessed us with 2 beautiful grand-daughters, Ella and Harper. My second son, Kyle is following his dream and traveling the east coast as the drummer of his band, Royals.

My passion is teaching young children, but in my free time I enjoy painting, reading and spending time with my family and friends. My favorite places to visit are Ocean Grove, NJ and Lake George, NY.

I am thrilled to be part of the Garden Grove Preschool. I was born and raised in Poland, and I received a bachelors degree in Early childhood education, and masters degree in Early Support Child Development. I have 10 + years of experience working with children from preschool through second grade.

I have a true passion for working with our youngest learners! I love working with children and seeing their eyes light up when they discover something new. Helping each child progress in all areas of their development—socio - emotional, academic, language, and motor—is a challenge that I am honored to accept daily. I strive to create a community of learners that nurtures this growth in a positive, fun environment.

I live in Lake Hopatcong, with my husband Matthew and two- year-old son Vincent. In my free time, I love spending time with my family, and friends. I love to travel, and explore new places in my area or outside. I look forward to working together with you as partners in your child’s growth and development!

Annmarie grew up in a small town, Pine Bush, NY. She started working with children at the young age of 11 when she took a babysitting certification course through the Red Cross. She then babysat the neighborhood children and helped take care of her 3 younger siblings.

In high school Annmarie took a course in Allied Health and earned a Medical Assistant Certification. Taking care of others has always been her passion. Annmarie later went on to work as a teaching assistant at Tots-N-Us in Hopewell Junction, NY. Shortly after moving to Vernon, NJ she had her son, Gage. Annmarie made the hard decision to leave her job at Tots-N-Us because her commute was long and she would be too far from her son in case of emergency. She then found Garden Grove Preschool. Annmarie looks forward to continuing her passion for caring for and teaching children at Garden Grove. In her spare time, Annmarie loves to spend time with her family including her fiancé, Steven, son Gage, dog Stevie and cats Sophia and Grace. She also enjoys crocheting, diamond art and going camping. Her favorite flowers are morning glories.

My name is Melissa Spillane. I am a Sussex County native and have lived in Sparta my whole life. I am a graduate of Pope John XXIII High School and proceeded to the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania. At Scranton, I earned a Bachelors degree in Counseling and Human Services while volunteering at a local preschool. I also interned at a youth shelter where I gained experience working with underprivileged teens. I am currently pursuing a Masters in school counseling and exploring my options for earning a teaching certification in early childhood education.

In my free time, I like to spend time with my family including my boyfriend, and two very cute cats, Jiminy and Adora. I enjoy sipping on a big cup of coffee while completing jigsaw puzzles, rewatching my favorite tv shows or listening to a good podcast.

I am looking forward to the new school year and creating relationships with all the Garden Grove families! My favorite flowers are peonies.

Hi, my name is Mr. Michael. I grew up in Hampton township, NJ and now live in Montclair, NJ. I attended Misericordia University where I studied business administration and ran track. I have several years of experience working with children through coaching sports performance and working youth athletes.

Some of my favorite things are weight lifting, Star Wars, and Nintendo Switch.

I am excited to be working with all of the children who attend Garden Grove. I look forward to every opportunity I get to watch them learn and grow, and it lights me up to see them laugh and smile.

Hello! My name is Lois Caruso and I am delighted to be a part of Garden Grove Preschool. It is truly a pleasure to be surrounded by a wonderful team of educators in a happy, safe, stimulating environment for early learners.

I am a graduate of William Paterson University where I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and Early Childhood Education. I have over 15 years experience in Early Childhood Education. I have taught Pre-K and Kindergarten. My true calling for teaching started when I worked at a child-care center throughout high school and college. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing those "a-ha" moments and witnessing the incredible growth and development that children experience during their early years.

I was born and raised in Bergen County NJ and now I reside in Lake Hopatcong. I have a wonderful husband and two amazing and ambitious children. We also have a new pup named "Lucky". I am blessed.

My personal interests including cooking and baking. I love entertaining and hosting dinner parties for my family and friends. I also enjoy singing and dancing as well as Karaoke. My favorite places to be are on the beach or the lake. A perfect night for me is spending quality time with my husband and children going out for dinner and watching a movie.

My favorite flower is the calla lily.

My name is Christina Dolan and I am so happy to be working at Garden Grove preschool! I am from Long Island, where I grew up outside Queens and in Massapequa. I moved to Orange County, New York when I was 22 years old. I now reside in Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania with my four children and my mini farm of pets. I obtained my bachelors degree in psychology from Adelphi University in 2002 and I obtained my masters degree in education in 2003. I went on to obtain another masters degree in biology and one in teaching biology from Western governors University.

I started my career in the Bronx teaching middle school science and English. We spent many days learning science through natural experiences, such as trips to the Bronx zoo and the Botanical Gardens. I always found that children learn best when they can experience something first hand and what better way to learn about tigers than to see real life ones?! I encourage my kids (and yours) to ask as many questions as possible about why things happen, such as why do leaves change colors or why does the sky turn red at Sunset or sunrise? One of the many things I look forward to every day is seeing the natural curiosity on the children’s faces when they are learning about the world around them.

My oldest son, Logan, is 17 years old. I also have a 16 year old, Kaiden, a 13-year-old son named Liam, and a seven-year-old daughter named Emmaleigh. We are very active family. If they are not on the football field playing, we are found at a Stadium rooting for one of the many teams we follow. We could also be on the baseball field, or in the gym training where I coach my daughters competition cheer squad. I am usually the mom behind the camera capturing every moment I can, because “the days are long, but the years are short”, and it’s amazing on how quickly time passes. I am so fortunate to have a career that I love. Everyone here at Garden Grove is family and I am so excited to be part of that family. We all work together to help our little Garden Grove flowers bloom.

Mattison grew up in Sussex County all her life. She attended Sussex County Technical school as well as Sussex County Community College, where she earned her Associate’s degree. She has been caring for children since age 15. Mattison wanted to open her experience with children in childcare so she joined the Garden Grove family! Mattison has over 6 years of experience working with children. Mattison also teaches dance to young children in Sparta as well. Working with children has always been a joy and passion of Mattison!

Mattison is currently attending East Stroudsburg University, where she is a senior. She is working toward her Masters of Social Work degree, and plans to counsel children and families in the foster care system. In her free time she enjoys going to the beach with her family or spending time with her animals.

Chrissy developed a love of working with small children at a young age. At age 16 she began working at Camp Auxilium with preschool-aged children, where she worked for 10 summers throughout high school, college, and graduate school. Chrissy also developed a passion for how the brain works, and so she went on to obtain her masters of social work with a concentration in direct practice working with children and families. Chrissy began her social work career working for an agency which worked closely with families, children, and children in the foster care system involved with DCP&P (formerly DYFS). She provide in-home family and individual psychotherapy for at-risk children and youth and their families throughout Sussex county. From there, Chrissy went on to develop a specialty in treating children who have experienced trauma, and established her private psychotherapy practice in Sussex county in 2014. In 2016, shortly after having her son, Teddy, she launched a second business, Silver Lining Services, in which she supervised clinicians who provide intensive in-community counseling to at-risk children & youth in crisis through the perform care system in Sussex and Morris counties. In 2020, Chrissy had her second son, Wally, and shortly after, began casually looking at available real estate to possibly expand Silver Lining Services-- that is how she stumbled upon the property listing where Garden Grove is now located!

Chrissy is passionate about children’s mental health, safety, and protection. She is excited to use her social work skills in new ways with the children, families, and staff at Garden Grove. Outside of her work, Chrissy enjoys being a boy mom, cuddling her dog and 2 kitties, going on adventures with her family, cooking, decorating cakes, gardening, walking in nature, art, dancing, shiny things/glitter, and everything Disney. Her favorite flower is the hydrangea.

Joanne comes to us with a strong background in finance. She spent the beginning of her career managing large military budgets during her 11 years working at Picatinny Arsenal as a financial program analyst, where she met her husband, Walter. She and Walter had 2 biological children (Chrissy, our owner is her oldest, and a son, John) and later adopted their nephew, Billy. After the birth of John, Joanne left her job at Picatinny to spend more time with her children and to start her own decorative painting business in which enjoyed 15 years of success. Joanne decided it was time for a change and worked for a brief time in an auditing position before which she then had to leave to focus on fostering her nephew. When Chrissy opened her group therapy practice in 2016, she hired Joanne to process and manage the billing; Joanne still doss this, and has now added managing Garden Grove’s finances to her resume.

When Chrissy presented the idea of creating Garden Grove, Joanne (and her husband) immediately stepped up to support Chrissy and Dan with the endeavor in every way, and continue to be Garden Grove’s biggest cheerleaders. Joanne was so excited at the prospect of being an integral part of breathing new life into the school where she had chosen to send her children way back when, and has assisted in every way. You can see a some of her artwork on the walls inside our school!

Outside of work, Joanne loves spending time with her children & grandchildren, traveling, and enjoys many creative outlets including painting, sewing, and interior design (she has many artistic talents). Her favorite flower is the hydrangea.

Mr. Dan is the unsung hero of Garden Grove. He works tirelessly behind the scenes making sure our school is the safest, cleanest, most beautiful place it can be! A licensed contractor, Mr. Dan completed most of the renovations to prepare our school for opening, and still works after school and on the weekends on our continued improvement projects (sometimes until very late at night!), and getting our teachers what they need in their classrooms. His “regular” job is at a major utility company where he has worked for 18 years; he is currently a construction supervisor there.

Mr. Dan and Chrissy have been married for almost 10 years, and they have 2 beautiful little boys. Mr. Dan has given his full support to Chrissy’s dream of creating Garden Grove from the very beginning, and is excited to be on this journey with her. When he is not working at his day job or at Garden Grove, Mr. Dan enjoys spending time with his family, going to Disney, and tinkering and creating with his multiple 3D printers. While he isn’t all that into flowers, Mr. Dan is an avid gardener and enjoys tending his mini-farm which includes over a hundred varieties of exotic & heirloom vegetable plants and his “girls” (his 20 or so chickens). He looks forward to spring when he can begin sharing his passion for growing things with the children at Garden Grove.