Heritage Elementary
Staff
Principal
Courtney Smith has worked in Tustin Unified School District for the past 23 years. She completed her undergraduate degree at Westmont College, and received her Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Concordia University. She began her career in TUSD teaching in a magnet school for 20 years. She has also been an instructional coach as well as an intervention specialist. Most recently, she finished up the 2020-2021 school year as the assistant principal at Hicks Canyon Elementary school. Among her many accomplishments, Smith was named TUSD Teacher of the Year and Orange County Teacher of the Year in 2016, and California Teacher of the Year nominee in 2017.
Front Office
| Position Name | Staff Name | Contact Email |
|---|---|---|
| Principal | Courtney Smith | csmith@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| School Secretary | Debbie Bissonnette | dbissonnette@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Office Assistant | Shannon Hilmar | shilmar@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Health Clerk | Alyssa Martinez | acmartinez@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Nurse | Cerissa Morita | cmorita@tustin.k12.ca.us |
Teachers
| Grade Level | Teacher Name | Contact Email |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K (AM and PM) | Veronica Jimenez-Fernandez | vjimenezfernandez@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| TK | Tara Pauley | tpauley@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Kindergarten | Jennifer Gause | jgause@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Kindergarten | Leslie Johnson | ljohnson@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Kinder / 1st Grade | Nicole Franco | nafranco@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 1st Grade | Katie Melcer | kmelcer@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 1st Grade | Maureen Petta | mpetta@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 1st Grade | Liz Steffes | |
| 1st / 2nd Grade | Carrie Bunge | cbunge@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 2nd Grade | Kate Cross | kcross@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 2nd Grade | Felisa Gibbs | fgibbs@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 2nd Grade | Jane Lee | jklee@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 3rd Grade | Jennifer Haagen | jhaagen@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 3rd Grade | Cheri Kaplan | ckaplan@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 3rd Grade | Jessamy Tran | jtran@tustin.k12.ca.us |
|
4th Grade |
Taylor Hurst | thurst@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 4th Grade | Summer Peig | speig@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 4th Grade | Alex Valdovinos | |
| 5th Grade | Elizabeth Catron | ecatron@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 5th Grade | Susan Davidson | sdavidson@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 5th Grade | Jacob Kramer | jkramer@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Resource Specialist (SAI) | Karina Pannizzo | kpannizzo@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Intervention Lead Teacher | Jennah Shmuckler | jshmuckler@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| MTSS Teacher | Jenny Slumskie | jslumskie@tustin.k12.ca.us |
Support Staff
| Librarian | Honour Del Crognale | hdelcrognale@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Head Custodian | Joaquin Cabrera | jcabrera@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Night Custodian | Mario Chavarria | mchavarria@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Speech | Kimberly Scheible Ambros | kscheibleambrose@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Occupational Therapist | Renee Moreno | rmoreno@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Psychologist |
Scarlett Hak |
khak@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Counselor | Heather Luis Martinez | hluismartinez@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Mental Health Specialist | Christine Ger | cger@tustin.k12.ca.us |