Heritage Elementary
Staff
Principal
Courtney Smith is in her 4th year as the principal at Heritage Elementary School. She has worked in Tustin Unified School District for the past 26 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 and has also been an instructional coach as well as an intervention specialist. She finished 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. She is currently working on her doctorate degree in instructional leadership and was awarded the designation of Top 5 Leaders of Orange County by OC Parenting Magazine in March 2024.
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 |
| TK | Christine Peters | cpeters@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Kindergarten | Jennifer Gause | jgause@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Kindergarten | Leslie Johnson | ljohnson@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Kindergarten | Nicole Franco | |
|
1st Grade |
Katie Melcer | kmelcer@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 1st Grade | Maureen Petta | mpetta@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 1st Grade | Jenny Slumskie | jslumskie@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 1st / 2nd Grade | Kate Cross | kcross@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| 2nd Grade | Carrie Bunge | cbunge@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 | |
| 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 | Reena Oza | roza@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Resource Specialist (SAI) | Karina Pannizzo | kpannizzo@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Literacy & Math Specialist | Jennah Shmuckler | jshmuckler@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 |
| Social Worker |
Meghan Denike |
mdenike@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Psychologist / ERMHS | Morgan Cota | mcota@tustin.k12.ca.us |
| Mental Health Specialist | Jacqueline Larios | jlarios@tustin.k12.ca.us |