Baymonte Christian Preschool is run by a highly qualified professional team who are committed to Jesus Christ and to children. They meet all of the State of California requirements for education and experience. They are committed to helping every child reach his/her God-given potential in a caring, loving environment. The child to teacher ratio is determined by the age and personality of each classroom. Ratios never exceed state requirements; every staff member in the preschool meets state requirements as a fully qualified teacher.
Teachers from all three preschool campuses meet regularly to lesson plan together. They also attend staff meetings and conferences together. Our goal is to stay abreast of current trends and practices in early education.
Preschool
Directors
Each campus has a site director to oversee the day to day operation of the preschool. State requirements are met and exceeded by all three of our directors.

Lisa Patterson is the Administrative Director for Baymonte Christian Preschools, and the Site Director for the preschool on Granite Creek Road. She began working at Baymonte in August 1998 as a daycare provider and classroom aide while pursuing Early Childhood Education at Cabrillo College. In 2000 she began working at the preschool as a co-teacher for the three-year-old and pre-kindergarten classes. She graduated with an Associate degree for administration in Early Childhood Education in 2005. Lisa has been married since 1984 and has two beautiful daughters. Both girls attended Baymonte from preschool through eighth grade. In her spare time she enjoys taking walks, scrapbooking and spending time with family and friends.


Teaching Staff
GRANITE CREEK CAMPUS



Lori Morper attended Baymonte Christian School as a student from preschool through 8th grade. She began working for Baymonte preschool at the ECLC campus in the fall of 2018. Fall of 2019 she moved to the Granite Creek preschool location. She married her husband, Ryan, in 2008 and they have two adorable children; Brooklynn and Brody are both students at Baymonte. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, baking/cooking, and catching up on sleep!

Sandra Valdez has always enjoyed working with children. At a young age she began volunteering at her local church and this is where God gave her the passion to teach. Sandra currently attends Cabrillo College where she is studying Early Childhood Education. In her free time, Sandra enjoys working out, sewing, volunteering at her church and playing with her new kitten, Zoe.
PRESCHOOL TOO

Denise Tinkess spent ten years working in the action sports industry, doing sales and marketing for the companies of Billabong, O’Neill and Sessions. After having her children, Nathan and Desiree, she realized that she really wanted to work with children. She went back to school to earn the Early Childhood Education units required to work with preschoolers. She loves the adventures and wonderful insights that each day brings working with young children. In her spare time she loves spending time with her family, running marathons and enjoying the great outdoors. She loves to see things in a fresh way through the eyes of the children she teaches.
EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING CENTER


Martha Fowler received her BA from the University of Southern California and has enjoyed working with children since 2005. She and her husband have been married for 27 years and they have two girls. She moved from the San Diego area to Scotts Valley several years ago and joined the Baymonte team in 2017. She thoroughly enjoys bringing Jesus into every aspect of the lives of children as they grow and learn. In her free time she enjoys going to farmers’ markets and the beach.

Jessalyn Lively grew up in the town of Oakhurst, California. She studied Psychology in college and is now planning on continuing her education in early childhood education to become a preschool teacher. Jessalyn is also a certified trainer through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine), and works with clients on her days off. She enjoys working with youth in ministry as well as younger children at Baymonte Preschool. Jessalyn is married to Reeve Lively who is a youth pastor at ReGeneration Church and together, they serve as worship leaders and in youth ministries. In Jessalyn’s free time she enjoys beach days with her dog and husband, going on hikes, movie nights, music, and naps. Jessalyn feels very blessed to be a part of the Baymonte staff and believes it is a gift from God to be placed here.




Elementary School
KINDERGARTEN


FIRST GRADE


SECOND GRADE


Third Grade


FOURTH GRADE

Terra Bliss grew up in Scotts Valley and with the exception of two years in college, has lived her whole life in the Santa Cruz mountains. She went to local schools and played on many sports teams growing up. After graduating from Harbor High School, she went to California State Hayward and then to Bethany University to earn her undergrad degree, teaching credential, and Master’s degree. She competed in college soccer and softball. She helped coach both of these sports at Bethany University. She has also been a coach for Scotts Valley High School and Baymonte. Terra worked as a recreation leader for the Parks and Recreation Department and as the director for the Baymonte Summer Quest program. She joined the staff at Baymonte in 2006 teaching third grade. In 2008, she switched to teaching fifth grade then in 2019 began teaching fourth grade. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her friends and family, having game nights, being outdoors, and playing sports.

FIFTH GRADE



Specialists
ELEMENTARY PHYSICAL EDUCATION

MUSIC DIRECTOR

INDEPENDENT PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION (IPI)


Middle School


Rachel Hofmann, a former Baymonte student, joined our faculty in 2008 after teaching in Baltimore, Maryland since 2005. She received her B.A. in Economics with a minor in Chemistry from Pepperdine University and a Master’s in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College. She received her Maryland Teaching Credential from Johns Hopkins University. Rachel became Baymonte’s Vice Principal in addition to her teaching role in June, 2020. If you peek into her classroom you could see a team of students working with Lego Robotics, rocketry or CO2 cars! On her day off you will find her sailing in the Monterey Bay.

Jeremae Reyes received her BA from Long Beach State University and her teacher education coursework at Biola University. She has joined our staff as the new middle school Science teacher. She was born and raised in Long Beach and although an only child she has a God given passion for teaching children. She has experience as YMCA youth leader, a substitute teacher in the Long Beach Unified School district, and has taught robotics in Compton Public Schools. She loves going to Disneyland and drinking coffee but top of her list is her love for God. She loves to sing and was on her home church worship team. Moving to Scotts Valley was a big change for this Southern California native but she has enjoyed her new adventure here at Baymonte Christian School.

Dan Rozeboom has been teaching at Baymonte since 2000; he currently teaches social studies in the middle school. Dan also serves as the middle school student activities director and is the faculty advisor for the student council. He previously taught middle school physical education and coached both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams at Baymonte. Prior to his time at Baymonte, Dan was a director, counselor and experiential education specialist at numerous camps in Santa Cruz county – including Mount Hermon, Mission Springs, Kruz Kidz at Twin Lakes Church and Baymonte’s SummerQuest program. He graduated from Westmont College (Santa Barbara, California) in 1996 after studying History, Philosophy, Political Science and Economics. Presently, he loves spending time hanging out with his family, riding his bike in the Santa Cruz Mountains, listening to music, cheering for the Oakland A’s and Golden State Warriors and drinking coffee.
Christian Warne grew up in Davis, California and shortly after eighth grade accepted Christ while attending Camp Hammer. He quickly fell in love with ministry and proceeded to work at Camp Hammer for five summers. His heart for ministry expanded and in 2006 he began working for Twin Lakes Church in Aptos as a High School Ministry Associate. There he met his bride Lacy and they got married in 2009 and moved to Fresno, California to start a middle school ministry at The Well Community Church. While in Fresno, he got his degree in Organizational Leadership from Fresno Pacific University. He was the Director of Student Ministries at The Well and enjoyed seven years of pouring into high school and middle school students at The Well. In 2014, God called him and Lacy back to the Santa Cruz Mountains to be the Program Director at Mission Springs. Christian ran programs and directed Frontier Ranch for seven years and he loved every moment with the staff and campers. Christian and Lacy have two kids Sage and Scout. Christian is passionate about helping students take steps closer to Jesus. He is enjoying teaching Bible at Baymonte because his desire is for students to learn how to practically live out their faith and pursue Jesus on their own. In his free time, Christian loves spending time with his family, going on hikes, and fishing at the Santa Cruz Wharf.
Specialists
MUSIC DIRECTOR

Elizabeth Barrett is Baymonte’s kindergarten – 8th grade music teacher this year. Though she has roots in Davis, California, she grew up in Central Illinois and studied Instrumental Music Education and English at Wheaton College. She has fostered musicianship in students of all ages, applying her Musikgarten training in Wheaton College’s Community School of the Arts with emerging musicians and teaching advanced musicians in high school and middle school wind bands to earn her Illinois Teaching Credential. She is passionate about celebrating God’s exhortation: “Sing unto the Lord a new song” (Psalm 96:1), and in her free time, if she is not reading Debussy, Bach, or Conductor’s Scores; she is either reading the likes of G.K. Chesterton, Emily Dickinson, and Dallas Willard; or hiking, climbing, and birding in the book of nature.
MIDDLE SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Kristi Trefethen is our middle school PE teacher. Her background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology as well as a Master’s Degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Kristi has taught many styles of fitness classes at over a dozen clubs, from Northern California to the Silicon Valley to San Diego, instructing students of all ages for more than twenty years. Kristi and her husband Steve married in 2001 and have been blessed with three amazing children. Kristi is currently teaching fitness classes for Active Sports and Toadal Fitness and has her own personal training business here in Scotts Valley. When she isn’t watching one of her kids play sports, she loves spending time at the beach, going on short day trips and being active with her family and friends.
ART & ARCHITECTURE TEACHER

Lauri McNeill, owner of McNeill Design Architects, practicing architect and artist, shares her passion for the arts as she teaches our middle school art and architecture classes. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a Masters in Architecture. She has been teaching the art program since 2012 at Baymonte and also offers an after-school Art club for those who want to continue their growth and are passionate about art.
She uses a variety of studio lessons, including art history, she incorporates different art mediums and daily sketch prompts to teach basic techniques and elements of art, composition, design, and color.
Lauri explains her teaching philosophy, “Becoming an artist is truly about observation. I believe students can be taught to draw, if they can learn to see and have the desire to practice it regularly.”
ArcKIDtecture is a unique Baymonte school elective taught twice per week and introduces students to three dimensional design and planning. As a creative, hands-on experience, the students learn to create spaces in the built form, using cardboard, wood, Legos, hand drawing and computer design tools.
Lauri’s family is a source of joy and inspiration for her work, especially Grandbaby June with her love for noticing the little things God has given each of us daily in a new light!
INDEPENDENT PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION (IPI)

Ellen Arzouni is an Academic Support Specialist. She is trained in the Barton System of Instruction for children with learning disabilities. Her passion is keeping current and updated on student learning issues, attending workshops and clinics. She has worked in a variety of capacities at Baymonte since 1994. Her two daughters, Jenny and Mandy graduated from Baymonte. In addition to helping students learn to love learning, she enjoys reading , studying the Bible, and going for walks with her friends.

Sarah Schimmel received her BA degree in liberal studies from Biola University and finished her credential work at UC Irvine. She was the first 4/5th grade combo teacher at Mariners Christian School in Newport Beach. Her first job at Baymonte was working with Mrs. Thompson in IPI and then went on to teach Spanish in the middle school for several years. She is happy to be part of the IPI program. Sarah and her husband have lived in the Santa Cruz area over 20 years and have 3 grown children. In her spare time you might find her walking her husky trying to wear her out and develop her courage.
Administration
Administrative Staff

Admissions Director

Bookkeeper

Director of Human Resources

Office Manager

Administrative Assistant
Daycare

Daycare Director

Teacher’s Aide

Teacher’s Aide

Teacher’s Aide

Teacher’s Aide
Other Staff

Lunch Service