Administration And Support Staff 

Teachers

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. 

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Tracy ElFiki - Curriculum Coach
Ms. ElFiki joined the Summit staff in December of 2018. She received a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from McDaniel College. Her previous experience includes work as a teacher, curriculum specialist, instructional specialist, curriculum operations manager, and as an educational liaison for the Maryland State Department of Education. She is a welcome addition to the Summit community.

​Benjamin Varosky - Dean of Students
Mr. Varosky is the Dean of Students and also teaches English. 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. 

Erik Fladager - Student Mentor
Mr. Fladager has been a staff member at Summit High School since August of 2017, first as a paraprofessional working with our math classes. 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 student mentor. ​

Zabdi Hess - Science
Ms. Hess began teaching at Summit High School in the 2016-2017 school year. She has a Bachelor of Science from Northern Arizona University in Criminal Justice and Criminology. She has worked in education for five years.

Ryan Jaret - Resource Teacher
Mr. Jaret graduated from the University of Miami in 2013. Go Canes! He began teaching in 2016 in Las Vegas. He came to Summit High School in 2017 and enjoys working with the Summit community. 
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Sabrina Williams - Art
Ms. Williams graduated from School of Visual Arts in NYC, and has been teaching since 2004. She has been at Summit since 2011. She currently teaches Drawing and Painting, Printmaking, and Sculpture and is the director of the annual Summit Student Art Show.

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.

Laurine Stafin - Structured English Immersion
Ms. Stafin has been teaching SEI and Life Skills for Summit High School since 2017. She is a graduate of Sacred Heart University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management and a minor in Spanish. She began her career as an educator in 2013. Prior to teaching at SHS, Ms. Stafin worked in Brazil as an ELL instructor as well as a high school teacher for the University of Missouri High School program.

Lance Cassano - Computer-Based Education
Mr. Cassano graduated from the University of Rochester in New York, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 1992. After working for many years in the financial services industry, he started pursuing education as a second career in 2011. He entered the field as a full-time substitute teacher and experienced all grade levels for 2 years. He was hired by The Leona Group in 2013 as a math paraprofessional for Desert Hills High School in Chandler, AZ. He transferred to Summit High School in 2014. He now facilitates the computer-based education classroom.
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Elena Frost - English
Ms. Frost 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!"

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.

Ryan Krebs - English
Mr. Krebs graduated with honors from Arizona State University, where he studied English Literature and Philosophy. Having been an editor for two local literary magazines, his love for reading the written word is only matched by his desire to be the one writing it. Currently working on a collection of short stories, he spends what little free time he has on studying design, enjoying music and exploring the outer edges of the city with an iced Americano in-hand. You can find him doing a dramatic reading in class or catching up with his students in the hall. 

Sara Lupien - Mathematics
Ms. Lupien grew up in Santa Barbara, California but has lived in Central Phoenix since 2011. She is an Arizona State University graduate and entered the field of education as a substitute teacher. After nearly a year of full-time substitute teaching at Summit High School, she returned as a permanent Summit teacher in the math department. When she isn't thinking of really tough math problems for students to solve, she is spending time with her two dogs, sewing costumes, baking or traveling to run races (mainly half and full marathons).

Hali Morrison - English/SEI
Ms. Morrison began teaching SEI at Summit High school during the 2019 school year. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts in 2011 where she also studied both French and Italian. She loves traveling and exploring other cultures, especially through their languages and food.

Taylor Rodriguez-Kempton - Math
Ms. Rodriguez-Kempton was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona in May of 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and minors in Spanish, Communication, and Global Business. All of Ms. Rodriguez' prior work experience has been with youth and education. She has previously worked at after-school programs, summer camps, and has 5+ years of tutoring experience. She began teaching math at Summit in August of 2018 and has enjoyed working with students in the classroom environment! When Ms. Rodriguez isn't teaching, she loves going to concerts, traveling, and spending time with friends and family!