Michelle Dreyer

Kindergarten Teacher

Michelle Dreyer was born and raised in San Jose, right around the corner from Queen of Apostles. Michelle is a graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School, and earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance, at Long Beach State University. She acquired her teaching credential (CLAD) from San Jose State University. Prior to being hired at Queen of Apostles, Michelle taught kindergarten for two years at Braly Elementary School in the Santa Clara Unified School District. Mrs. Dreyer has worked with many different curriculums and loves to challenge her students to reach their highest potential.

Mrs. Dreyer has a true love of children. She has spent 10 years working with children teaching dance before receiving her credential. She has a passion for teaching, and is dedicated and devoted to the ministry of developing children academically, and socially. Outside of school, Mrs. Dreyer enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and especially her dog Harley. She loves dancing, reading, and going out on the lake in her father’s boat. She is incredibly excited to be a part of the Queen of Apostles family!

Stacy Amicarelli

Kindergarten Teacher

Stacy Amicarelli was born and raised in San Jose. She is a graduate of Queen of Apostles, Archbishop Mitty High School, and Santa Clara University, where she completed her teaching credential and Masters Degree. Prior to coming to Queen of Apostles she spent 10 years in the Cupertino Union School District, teaching a Kindergarten/First Grade multi-age class. Mrs. Amicarelli enjoys the challenge of working with kindergarten students here at Queen of Apostles.

Outside of school, Mrs. Amicarelli enjoys spending time with her two boys and husband. She likes traveling and being outdoors, and is thrilled to be a part of Queen of Apostles! 

Mimi Scurich

First Grade Teacher

Mimi Scurich has been a first-grade teacher at Queen of Apostles School since 1997, and has taught in the Diocese of San Jose for nearly 25 years. This experience enables her to engage students in their work, and to specialize in helping struggling students, whom she always encourages, building their self-confidence.

Miss Scurich has also come to the belief that technology enhances her students’ learning. She often incorporates technology into her lessons, and uses it to assess her students’ reading skills. Miss Scurich was featured as “Teacher of the Year” in a recent issue of San Jose magazine.

Outside her first-grade classes, Miss Scurich has worked as a tutor, helping students in all primary grades. She also acts as the school’s curriculum coordinator, often working with Mr. Chargin, where they discuss educational strategies with a flexible approach to any given situation. Miss Scurich enjoys serving as a mentor to the less experienced teachers.

Joan Baines

Second Grade Teacher

Mrs. Joan Baines was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and attended St. Mary’s Primary, followed by St. Mary’s College. On completion of her Teaching Degree at Christchurch College of Education, she taught kindergarten through to fifth grade for 15 years. Mrs. Baines has been at Queen of Apostles since 1998, teaching second grade. She coached Girls Volleyball for 4 years, and can be found leading an early morning exercise session for students. Mrs. Baines' goal is: “To create a relaxed, happy but educationally challenging environment where children will arrive each day, keen and eager to learn."

Mrs. Baines is married and has a daughter pursuing a medical degree. Mrs. Baines’ interests are travel, reading, sports, and spending time with family and friends.

Melissa Battiato

Third Grade Teacher

Melissa Battiato is a native of San Jose, CA. She is a graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School, and Syracuse University. She has been employed at Queen of Apostles School as an instructional aide for the past five years. The 2011-2012 school year is her first year as a classroom teacher. She is excited and enthusiastic about beginning her full time teaching career this year.

Melissa was an outstanding field hockey and softball player in high school. She earned many honors in sports and continued her softball career at West Valley College, and earned a scholarship to Syracuse University. She has many interests including reading, sports, hiking with her dog Turbo, and music. Melissa is married to former Archbishop Mitty High School student, Eric Battiato and they have one child; Brenna Leigh.

Tracy Nicoletti

Fourth Grade Teacher

Having graduated from Queen of Apostles herself in 1993, Ms. Tracy Nicoletti is privileged to be teaching fourth grade at Queen of Apostles School. After graduating from Archbishop Mitty High School in 1997, she attended Santa Clara University and graduated in 2001 with a B.A. in English Literature. After graduation, she attended Notre Dame DeNamur University to earn her teaching credential, while teaching freshman and Junior English classes at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino. In 2002, she taught freshman and Junior English at Archbishop Mitty High School.

Outside of teaching, Ms. Nicoletti swam competitively for ten years at Almaden Swim and Racquet Club, in San Jose, and was also a four- year varsity swimmer at Mitty. She was an active member of the women’s NCAA water polo team at Santa Clara University. While teaching at Monta Vista High School, she was the women’s Junior Varsity and Varsity water polo coach and assistant swimming coach. At Mitty, she was the women’s assistant swimming coach.

Ms Nicoletti is also a marathon runner, having completed several Team in Training marathons.

Maria James

Fifth Grade Teacher

Mrs. Maria James is our fifth grade teacher. She taught fourth grade for several years before joining the Queen of Apostles faculty in 2002. In addition to teaching she serves as a Student Council Moderator.

Mrs. James received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Creighton University. Her favorite teaching moment is when the “light bulb” goes off for her students and she knows that they understand what she has just taught. She is dedicated to the teaching profession and truly enjoys teaching at Queen of Apostles.

David Weinstein

Sixth Grade Teacher

Mr. Weinstein is excited and enthusiastic about beginning his full time teaching career at Queen of Apostles School. After attending Acalanes High School in Lafayette, CA, Mr. Weinstein attended a variety of community colleges until he found his niche as a daily news writer at Santa Barbara City College. Following acceptance to San Jose State University, Mr. David Weinstein studied mass communications and graduated with a B.S. degree in Journalism with a Minor in English Literature in 2002.

Upon graduation, he pursued a career in Journalism and covered the city beat for East Palo Alto and Menlo-Atherton writing for the Palo Alto Daily News, as well as for the Los Gatos Daily News. During his tenure as a news writer, Mr. Weinstein began substitute teaching at St. Lucy’s School in Campbell, CA where his wife Danielle Weinstein is the third grade teacher. As Mrs. Weinstein and other teachers observed him in the classroom, they reinforced and encouraged Mr. Weinstein to pursue teaching given it seemed to be his calling. Mr. Weinstein’s students responded positively and enthusiastically whenever he taught, further convincing Mr. Weinstein to pursue this new opportunity. During the summer of 2007, Mr. Weinstein taught Digital Creative Arts and Digital Film Making at Harker Preparatory School. He then joined the Junior High Teaching Staff at Queen of Apostles for the 2007-2008 school year.

When not in the classroom teaching, Mr. Weinstein enjoys competing in several different sports. As a talented athlete at Acalanes High School, Mr. Weinstein was a four-year varsity starter in soccer, a two-year starter in basketball, two-year varsity starter in track, and competed year-round in club soccer. He also plays a variety of instruments including the piano, clarinet, acoustic guitar and congo drums. In addition, Mr. Weinstein enjoys bass fishing, backpacking and Frisbee golf. His students and Queen of Apostles faculty are also now well aware of what his family has known for years: Mr. Weinstein is a long-time, die-hard Michigan Wolverines and Oakland Athletics fan.

Jonathan Nichols

Seventh Grade Teacher

2006-2007 marked the first year Mr. Nichols taught in a US Catholic school; it has been a wonderful experience. His 9-12th grade math teacher told him that to teach is to touch a life forever. He fully understands the responsibility that comes with such an important task. As a teacher and dedicated Catholic, his goal is to help each and every student to develop and succeed academically, emotionally, and spiritually. He expects every student he teaches to work with him so as to fulfill the student’s potential, and believes our children are the future leaders and inspiration of our society.

After attending English Catholic Schools from first grade*, he was accepted into Greyfriars College, Oxford University to read Mathematics. He graduated with honors in 2004. Since then he moved to Santa Clara and enrolled in the masters-level teaching credential program at Santa Clara University. His working career has always taken second place to his education but has included educator positions in the fields of (investment) banking and ESL education.

He enjoys a variety of sports, which occupy his free-time. On weekends you will find him mountain biking, trails riding, snowboarding, playing tennis or squash, or playing soccer with his nephew at Henry Schmidt Park.

*St. Joseph’s RC Primary School, Christchurch, England and St. Peter’s RC Secondary School and Sixth Form College, Boscombe, England.

Elizabeth Trela

Eighth Grade Teacher

Looking back at her own educational experiences, it is very easy for Mrs. Trela to realize that she is in the right career. She loved school from the first minute that she stepped into Mrs. O’Connell’s kindergarten classroom. Mrs. Trela lived most of her life in Grants, New Mexico, a small town west of Albuquerque. She graduated from Grants High School and moved to South Bend, Indiana to attend the University of Notre Dame. After graduating from Notre Dame with her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, she went into the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program, affiliated with Notre Dame. During her time in this program, she both taught second and third grade in Catholic schools in East Los Angeles and worked on her Masters’ Degree in Education and teaching credential, which she completed in 2004. From here she moved to the lovely Bay Area where she married her college sweetheart. She has been teaching seventh/eighth grade language arts since 2004, serving as the seventh grade homeroom teacher from 2004 2006, and in 2006 was appointed as the eighth grade homeroom teacher. Mrs. Trela is also Student Council and Yearbook Moderator.

Teaching is her passion. She loves to see the “light bulb” go on when a student makes a connection that he/she has never made before. She engages her students in their work using many different strategies and asks students to push themselves to their highest potential in all they do. You will often find the classroom buzzing with students talking as group work is used as much as possible.

Not only does she enjoy teaching but she especially enjoys teaching at Queen of Apostles. It is very important to her that she pass on her religion to the next generation and she gets to do that a great deal at Queen of Apostles. She also enjoys working with the families in the community and believes she has a good working relationship with them. She hopes to continue working at Queen of Apostles and lead the students to find the same lasting love of education that she herself found with Mrs. O’Connell.

Lynn Bays

Computers Teacher

Ms. Bays was born in San Jose, but grew up in different towns in California. She earned an Associate of Arts degree from Foothill College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Science from Chico State University. She earned her California Credential from San Jose State University and a Master’s in Education from National University.

Ms. Bays has been in the field of education for over thirty years having taught elementary school age students through college age. Before coming to Queen of Apostles School, she worked at De Anza College in Cupertino for eleven years where she was the instructor in charge of the High Tech Center for Students with Disabilities. Ms. Bays also worked as a part-time Learning Disabilities instructor at Mission College in Santa Clara.

Ms. Bays joined the Queen of Apostles School staff during the 2000-2001 school year. She teaches K-8 students how to use computer programs, and also maintains and updates campus technology. During lunch recess, intermediate grade students are encouraged to join the Cocoa Group (a computer programming group) or the school newspaper group. The first group develops computer programs for younger students while the second creates a school newspaper especially for students. Ms. Bays thinks that Technology is a wonderful tool, and she loves sharing that knowledge with her students. She would not trade her career for any other.

Dan McCrone

Physical Education Teacher

Coach Daniel J. McCrone was born in Detroit, Michigan but spent his school years in Santa Clara County. He graduated from St. Simon’s Elementary School in Los Altos and St. Francis High School in Mountain View, completing his education and graduating from San Francisco State University.

Coach McCrone began teaching and coaching at Archbishop Mitty High School in 1980 and has been the Queen of Apostles School Physical Education teacher since 1988. Physical Education classes include between sixteen and twenty activities that help develop small and large motor skills, along with group and individual skills. Students look forward to their PE classes and their interaction with Coach McCrone.
Coach McCrone comments that the friendly, small community and affection from students are some of the best qualities of Queen of Apostles School.

Coach McCrone spends out-of-school time with his family, and can be found refereeing softball games on weekends and during the summer. He continues to hone his skills as a physical education educator at the annual Elementary Physical Education workshop held at Cal Poly each summer.

Joan Rehbock

Science Teacher, Grades: 5 - 8

Mrs. Joan Rehbock, a native of Chicago, Illinois, began her teaching career in 1984 after graduating from Mundelein College. She taught Math and English to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders at St. Richard’s School on the Southwest side of Chicago for seven years. Joan and her husband moved to California in 1991 after her husband accepted an exciting job with the Atari Corporation. Joan happily joined the faculty of St. John the Baptist School in Milpitas, teaching fourth grade, and worked there until 1994, when she took off time to stay at home and raise her family. In 2002, Joan joined the staff of Queen of Apostles as school librarian, and in 2004, she returned to the classroom in the role of science specialty teacher for grades 5-8.

Despite teaching different subjects and grade levels over the years, one thing remains constant with Joan – she has a passion for teaching. She thoroughly enjoys working with children and helping them learn through doing. She firmly believes in a hands-on approach to science to hold the students’ interest and make them more eager to learn. Joan feels that teaching children is not just a job, but a vocation.

Azreena Kumar

Science Teacher, Grades 1 - 4

Mrs. Azreena Kumar, originally a native of Assam, India, is now a US citizen. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Botany from Dibrugarh University, Assam India, and a Masters of Science degree with a major in Microbiology from Guwahati University, Assam India. She began her teaching career after earning her masters degree and spent one and half years teaching science and math in India. She was married in 1998 and moved to California in 1998. She began computer studies at Ohlone College in Fremont and later she pursued Bioinformatics in Berkeley University.

Mrs. Kumar resumed her teaching in the year 2001 at Purple Lotus High School in Union City, CA. She taught science, math and basic computer science for two years. In 2003, Mrs. Kumar joined Queen of Apostles as a specialty science teacher, and currently teaches science to grades one through four.

Margarita Colpo

Spanish Teacher

A native of Santiago, Chile, Mrs. Margarita Colpo has been teaching Spanish at Queen of Apostles School since 2005. She has a business degree from San Jose State University and obtained her teaching credential from National University in 2003. Her experience includes teaching reading at St. Christopher School and Spanish at St. Frances Cabrini School.

Mrs. Colpo enjoys the environment at Queen of Apostles where she teaches Spanish to all grades (K-8). This gives her the opportunity to know all the students and integrate the Spanish language and culture at all grade levels. As part of her teaching, Mrs. Colpo exposes the students to all the Spanish-speaking countries around the world. In the upper grades, she incorporates the importance of the Catholic faith into her teaching as the students learn prayers in Spanish. Every year, many of the eighth grade students attend a Spanish Mass at St. Joseph Basilica in downtown San Jose, which is a culturally enriching experience for the students and their families.

In addition to her teaching accomplishments, Mrs. Colpo was a coach for a group of fifth graders that participated in the Odyssey of the Mind in 2005. The team won the California state competition and finished 3rd in the World Tournament.