Jenny Tejada - Principal Ms. Tejada began teaching in 2000. She is a certified teacher and principal. Her teaching experience ranges from elementary to high school levels, with an emphasis in Structured English Immersion and Dual Language instruction. She has also served as a member and chairperson of student intervention teams, as a collaborative peer teacher, master teacher, and as the school coordinator for the IB Primary Years Programme. Most recently, she has served as the assistant principal and curriculum coach at Summit High School before being named the principal in September of 2017. She is passionate about quality instruction for all students and empowering students to work hard for the life they want to lead. Ms. Tejada also believes that an education without service to the community is incomplete. She hopes to establish regular opportunities for students to work within the community as part of their experience at Summit High School.
Erik Fladager - Dean of Students Mr. Fladager has been a staff member at Summit High School since August of 2017, first as a paraprofessional working with our math classes and then as the student mentor. He received a Bachelor of Science in Human Services with a focus in Child and Family Services from the University of Phoenix. Before coming to Summit, he spent several years working in Behavioral Health in varying roles as a behavior coach and parent aide. His experiences and education have given him a great deal of perspective and insight into how to best serve our students here at Summit as the school's dean of students.
Benjamin Varosky - Instructional Support Specialist Mr. Varosky was hired as the Instructional Support Specialist in October 2020. He received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Arizona State University and a Master of Arts in English from California State University Fullerton. Mr. Varosky has been in education since 2012 and has worked at Summit since 2015. He is also a skilled bus driver and the lovely voice of the school announcements.
Nicole Hall - Social Worker Ms. Hall received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a Minor in History from National University and a Master of Social Work with a Concentration in Military Families from Walden University. Most recently, she worked as a mental health and crisis intervention counselor with adolescents and veterans. Her previous experience includes early childhood development, drivers education instructor, preschool teaching, teaching ELL for a K-8 charter school, working in a foster placement agency, and military college admissions counseling. Additionally, she volunteered with CASA and an international adoption agency. She is passionate about “being the change you wish to see in the world” and committed to providing the students with a supportive environment to meet their social-emotional needs. Ms. Hall also hopes to empower them to make a positive impact around them.
Haley Archambault - Mathematics Ms. Archambault obtained her Bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental Engineering. Before coming to Summit, she worked as a civil engineer at a water utility company, where she furthered her knowledge in math, physics and environmental science. She currently teaches Geometry 1, Algebra II and Statistics. Ramon Estrada - Physical Education and Electives Mr. Estrada teaches Health, College and Career Readiness, Youth Entrepreneurs, and Physical Education. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education. He has been at Summit High School since 2008. He coaches our school's soccer and basketball teams. He says he teaches to make a difference in our students lives and prides himself on being a positive role model.
Morgan Hammerman - Resource Mr. Hammerman obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of Hartford in Elementary and Special Education. He furthered his education by getting a masters in STEM Education. Before joining Summit, Mr. Hammerman worked in New York City before moving to Arizona and working at our sister school, Crestview Preparatory High School. Mr. Hammerman is currently the special education teacher at Summit and Crestview.
Sarah Lauchnor - Science Ms. Lauchnor obtained her Bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in Health Sciences with a minor in Anthropology and her Master's degree from Johns Hopkins University in Biotechnology with a concentration in Bioinformatics. She has been teaching at Summit High School since 2019. Currently, she teaches Anatomy 1 and 2 and Biology 1 and 2.
Emily Legarra - Structured English Immersion, CBE Ms. Legarra started teaching in 2019, having been employed as the registrar and ELAS coordinator at Summit previously. She earned her bachelor's degree from Arizona State University.
Rebecca Linaman - Social Studies Ms. Linaman teaches U.S. History and Economics. She began teaching the first year that Summit opened, which was the 1998-1999 school year. Prior to teaching here, she taught an 8th grade class at Sacred Heart Academy in Prescott, Arizona. Her degree in education is from the University of Arizona. She is ESL-certified through course work at Arizona State University. Over her lifetime, she has also been a child care director, business owner/manager, real estate agent, and insurance agent. Teaching is the most personally rewarding of all her career efforts.
Edwin Lopez - Mathematics Mr. Lopez was born and raised here in the valley (Phoenix, AZ) and is a son of Mexican immigrants. Mr. Lopez was recruited and awarded a soccer scholarship to play for Waldorf University in Forest City, IA (Go Warriors!), which is where he obtained his Bachelor's degree. Mr. Lopez currently teaches Algebra 1.1 and Algebra 1.2.
Dion Sanchez - Structured English Immersion, CBE Mr. Sanchez is originally from Hollywood, California and started with a career in rock music before becoming an English teacher. He holds a master's degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of San Francisco and has been teaching since 2013. He started teaching at Summit High School in 2020. Elena Szymanski (Frost) - English Ms. Szymanski was born and grew up in Siberia, Russia. There she graduated from the university with a major in linguistics. She began her teaching career in 1985 as a vice principal at a high school. In 2000, she immigrated to the United States where she lived in Maine and taught English as a Second Language. Then she moved to Arizona (a nice warm climate for a change) and started working at Summit High School in 2010 as an English teacher as well as a Russian language instructor at Mesa Community College. When she is not grading students' papers or working on lessons' plans, she loves spending time with her family and her two dogs. Her life motto is, "No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up, and never give up!"
Dylan Welker - Paraprofessional Mr. Welker is an Arizona native with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Communication from Arizona State University. In his free time, he likes to play guitar, watch baseball games on TV and hang out with his dog. Currently, he is a paraprofessional assisting in a variety of courses at Summit.