Ms. Attridge (Whitaker) earned her bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, Biology with a minor in Chemistry, from Northern Arizona University. She worked as a General Chemistry Lab Teaching Assistant where she taught the first semester general chemistry lab for three semesters. During this time, she was able to teach labs concerning density, flame tests, dilutions, and even acid-base titrations. Ms. Attridge was also the historian for the We TEACH club at NAU where she attended school-related events to create a newsletter for the student community. Ms. Attridge served as Dean of Students for four years, this is her second year as Headmaster.

Mr. Jason Stokes earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Anthropology and Classical Studies at Arizona State University before joining Arete in the summer of 2009 to teach Latin. Selected as a Quintilian Fellow by Great Hearts Academies and the University of Dallas in 2016, Mr. Stokes is completing his Master of Humanities with a focus in Classical Education through the University of Dallas. During his time at Arete, Mr. Stokes has taught Latin and History, served as the lead History teacher, coached football and basketball, and advised many clubs. He currently is serving as Assistant Headmaster.

Mr. Lerner grew up in an Air Force family, living for a time in places such as Woodland, California to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. However, he spent the majority of his time in Virginia, where he earned his BA in Classics (with a concentration in Latin) from the University of Virginia. Following graduation, he moved to Gilbert, Arizona to serve as an assistant teacher for a 5th grade classroom. Since 2015, he has been teaching Latin at Arete Prep. In addition, he also coach MS Cross Country and MS Track and Field. In his spare time, Mr. Lerner enjoys cheering on the Virginia Cavaliers, reading books, and hiking trails.

After teaching, coaching, and serving as the assistant athletic director at Chandler Prep, Coach Conklin is excited to begin his first year as Athletic Director at Arete Prep. A native of Buffalo, NY, Todd played soccer at and graduated from Slippery Rock University (PA) with a B.S in P.E and Health K-12. Coach Conklin then returned home, teaching elementary P.E and coaching at his all mater, Starpoint Central. While teaching, he earned an M.A in Physical Education with a Specialization in Coaching from Ball State University. During that time, Todd was very active in the coaching world. He coached soccer at the high school, club, and ODP levels, as well as, stints in high school basketball and middle school track and field. In his free time, Coach Conklin loves to spend time with his three kids, travel, read books on leadership, coaching, and athletics, play and watch any and all sports, and stay active.

Ms. Rebecca Arguello has been a college counselor with Arete Prep since 2014. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Arizona State University and a Master of Arts in Counseling from Loyola Marymount University. After spending her undergraduate years coordinating college prep activities for first generation students, managing a tutoring company, and doing graphic design, Ms. Arguello relocated to Los Angeles to pursue graduate school. She holds a Pupil Personnel Services credential in Counseling in California and is a certified Arizona Guidance Counselor for Pre-K through 12th grade students. Ms. Arguello is a Chicago native, Mesa resident, and always seen with a coffee in hand.

Mr. Rick Alvarez graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and an minor in Education Studies from the University of California, San Diego. Mr. Alvarez has been with Arete since 2014. He has taught nearly every grade level of math during his tenure at Arete and he currently teaches 7th, 9th, and 11th grade. Mr. Alvarez also enjoys playing and coaching sports, most notably baseball, where he has been on the middle school and high school staff for five years.

Mrs. Jodi Folley joined Mesa/Arete Prep in our inaugural year of 2007 and has taught various levels of Math and Latin since then and even coached volleyball for 10 years. She grew up in Arizona and attended Cactus Shadows High School, where she was her class valedictorian. After graduating from the University of Arizona, she taught and coached at Paradise Valley High School until she moved to Mesa and started her family. Her two oldest sons graduated from Arete in 2016 and 2018 and her youngest son will graduate from Arete in 2019. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys spending time with her family and playing various sports, especially volleyball.

https://sites.google.com/view/folleymath

Dr. Brad Vaughn joined the Arete faculty in the fall 2024, teaching Humane Letters and Mathematics, having spent many years teaching at several colleges and universities. Originally from Texas, he spent 15 years in East Asia, where he helped found an accredited seminary for Chinese students. He has a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and an M.A. in Philosophy (both from Texas A&M), an M.Div (Gordon-Conwell), and a PhD in Theology from SEBTS.  He has published five books and various academic articles. He enjoys reading, movies, exercising, sports, and playing games with his wife and five children.

Mr. Joe Glascock worked as an emergency room technician in the mountain community of Show Low, Arizona before becoming a teacher in 2002. In 2007, Mr. Glascock and his wife lived on Catalina Island, California and directed a marine science program. Mr. Glascock began teaching science at Arete Preparatory Academy in February, 2009. Mr. Glascock taught various levels of science, was Dean of students, led the mentor program, coached middle school boys’ soccer, sponsored the robotics team and founded the Student Life Team. In 2014, Mr. Glascock left teaching to pursue a career in law enforcement and while he found the job as a police officer to be very exciting, he ultimately decided to return to teaching at Archway Arete as a fifth-grade teacher. He currently serves as the 11th grade physics teacher and Dean of Student Leadership.

Ms. Rebekah Kienenberger fell in love with geology as a high school student. She went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude and earned her Bachelor of Science in Geology at Missouri State University and followed that with a Master of Science in Geology from ASU while working within the School of Earth and Space Exploration. Ms. Kienenberger has worked with NASA in various capacities on the Mars Exploration Rovers project since 2003 and studied wind processes on the Red Planet through her management of a wind tunnel facility at ASU. She was also involved in numerous site investigation and groundwater remediation projects during her time as an environmental scientist. Ms. Kienenberger has been teaching Earth Science at Arete since 2011 and since that time has served as a mentor advisor, grant writer for Archway and Prep, science bowl leader for middle and high school, geology club leader, teacher coach, and field trip extraordinaire.

Mr. Adam Narish grew up in Wisconsin and earned a B.S. in Zoology and B.S. in Biological Aspects of Conservation from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Afterwards, he joined the Peace Corps and helped communities in Honduras establish projects to protect their natural resources and set up a national program to monitor populations of endangered birds throughout the country. Mr. Narish had been a professional wildlife biologist for 15 years prior to joining Arete Prep in 2015. He has been Arete Prep’s High School Soccer Coach since 2010, and currently teaches 6th grade P.E and 9th grade Biology.

Mr. Daniel Jordan realized during his first year at North Central College that a great injustice was being asked of him – despite his love of history, literature, philosophy, and theology, he would have to choose just one for his major in order to graduate. As a result of this impossible decision, he decided to avoid the problem altogether by studying East Asian Studies and Japanese, which allowed him to dig into all of these facets at once. Still not satisfied, he also received a minor in History of Ideas, which allowed him to seminar on the Great Books of the West, and he later went on to receive his Masters degree in the Eastern Classics at St. Johns and take a summer-long intensive program there on the Islamic Classics. In addition to his academic background, since 2008 Mr. Jordan has joyfully taught all of the courses in the Lit/Comp, History, and Humane Letters sequence at Arete Prep.

Mr. Kanishka Marasinghe was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and grew up in Fargo, ND. He attended Carleton College in Northfield, MN, where he studied chemistry, religion, and philosophy before finally completing his BA in political science. Next, he spent two years studying creative writing in both poetry and fiction while managing an Indian restaurant and one year working as a product development consultant in Dongguan, China. Mr. Marasinghe earned an M.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM. He was also a doctoral student in the department of government at the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied public law and the history of political philosophy. Mr. Marasinghe has been at Arete Prep since 2013. He is currently teaching 10th and 12th grade humane letters and acting as the lead humane letters teacher. He loves spending time with his wife, reading, writing, hiking, storytelling, basketball, all kinds of music, and working on his house.

Mr. Jon Downing grew up in Arizona, California, and Nevada. He earned his Bachelor’s in English from Northern Arizona University, a post-baccalaureate certification in Teaching from The University of Arizona, and a Master’s in English, again from NAU. He has taught for about 10 years and joined the Arete factuality in 2014. As a member of the faculty, he has taught 6th and 8th grade Literature and Composition, taught 9th Grade Humane Letters, worked with the Mentor Program, and is currently serves as a 12th Grade Humane Letters teacher and a 6th grade Lit/Comp Teacher.

Nathaniel Smauley hails from Northern California originally, before gaining a liberal arts education at Whittier College.  There he earned a degree in Political Science as well as competing in the school’s Cross Country and Track teams, earning All Regional Honors.  After graduation he spent two years in sales, before coming out to Arizona and working for Great Hearts where he has been teaching at Archway Veritas for the last three years.  Nathaniel enjoys hiking, reading and collecting old books and making memories with his fiance.

Ms. Ashley Pereira will be celebrating her fifth year with Great Hearts. Ashley went to Arizona State University where she earned her dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in European History and Classical Studies, along with a corresponding certificate in Latin. She is a proud member of the ETA Sigma Phi National Honors Society and wrote her capstone thesis on the translating and transmuting of meaning within the works of Aeschylus and Euripides. Ashley was born and raised in Hawaii, but attended a private high school in Tacoma, Washington where she gained a love for rainy days and in her free time she can be most often found curled up with a book.

Dr. Brad Vaughn joined the Arete faculty in the fall 2024, teaching Humane Letters and Mathematics, having spent many years teaching at several colleges and universities. Originally from Texas, he spent 15 years in East Asia, where he helped found an accredited seminary for Chinese students. He has a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and an M.A. in Philosophy (both from Texas A&M), an M.Div (Gordon-Conwell), and a PhD in Theology from SEBTS.  He has published five books and various academic articles. He enjoys reading, movies, exercising, sports, and playing games with his wife and five children.

Ms. Jamie Kronwald is an Arizona native and graduate from Tempe Prep. She studied Spanish and Kinesiology at Arizona State University, where she was able to spend three semesters abroad in Costa Rica and Mexico. While teaching Spanish at Arete/Mesa Prep, she earned a masters degree in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language from the International Iberian-American University.

Mr. Lerner grew up in an Air Force family, living for a time in places such as Woodland, California to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. However, he spent the majority of his time in Virginia, where he earned his BA in Classics (with a concentration in Latin) from the University of Virginia. Following graduation, he moved to Gilbert, Arizona to serve as an assistant teacher for a 5th grade classroom. Since 2015, he has been teaching Latin at Arete Prep. In addition, he also coach MS Cross Country and MS Track and Field. In his spare time, Mr. Lerner enjoys cheering on the Virginia Cavaliers, reading books, and hiking trails.

Ms. Jaedi Marali Bancesfuerte (Ms. Marali) joins the Arete faculty teaching Spanish. Originally from Peru, she has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the National University of Piura, Peru, and a Bachelor of Art in Artistic Education from the School of Music Jose Maria Valle Riestra. With postgraduate studies in Educational Psychology: Psycho-pedagogy Strategies in Educational Practices and a Diploma as a Specialty Professor of Artistic Education: Music – Flute and Dance as well.

Ms. Marali has a great professional career in different areas of educational training, which includes a commitment to the comprehensive development of children and young people. In Peru, she worked as a Mathematics teacher in High Schools and tutored high school and college preparatory students, both in the mathematics course and in other science-related topics. As an Art Teacher, she taught music and dance courses in private schools, both at the elementary and high school levels.

In 2006 Ms. Marali moved to Arizona and during these years she worked as a bilingual assistant teacher (Spanish-English) at Mesa-Gilbert Montessori Schools, supporting middle school students, preschoolers, and kindergarteners in mathematics, Spanish, and grammar. She has also worked as a flute and clarinet teacher for children ages 3 to 6 and elementary school children, in Phoenix. Likewise, Ms. Marali has spread Peruvian dances among young people, teaching folk dances to middle school students in Scottsdale. She has provided support as an interpreter to children and young people between 10 and 17 years old in Spanish and French.  During recent years she has developed specialization courses in Spanish and French to teach as a second language.
Eight years ago she founded the Sundance-Peru Folkloric Ballet in our country, of which she is also the director.  Boys, girls, young people, and adults are part of this academy, whose objective is to develop and disseminate art in Spanish through folk dance and music from Peru and other Latin American countries to rescue cultural and customary values of the Latin American peoples, promoting in turn an intergenerational relationship. The cast of their organization enjoys local recognition and since 2016 they have participated in different events of charitable organizations and institutions, as well as in embassies, municipalities, schools, universities, and institutes in Arizona.
Ms. Marali is a creative, proactive, empathetic, responsible, persevering, and sensitive person committed to the comprehensive development of children and young people through teaching the Spanish language, mathematics, music, and dance. Her charisma, discipline, love of science and art characterize Ms. Marali which has earned her the respect and admiration of her students and co-workers. We are proud to have her as part of the Arete family

Dr. Jana Minov was born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia in the family of professional musicians. Ms. Minov holds a Doctorate in Orchestral and Opera Conducting from Arizona State University and a Master’s degree in conducting from the Conservatory of Music in Belgrade-Serbia. Before coming to Arizona, Ms. Minov worked as a professor at the school of music and assistant conductor in National Opera Theater in Belgrade. Ms. Minov was also a founder and artistic director of the chamber choir and due to her great contribution to Serbian music and culture, in 2011 Dr. Minov was inaugurated a cultural ambassador for Serbia for the North America. Ms. Minov was on staff of The Phoenix Symphony for 2010/11 serving as the Assistant Chorus Master. Ms. Minov is accomplished music educator, pianist and vocalist and she has been teaching music at Arete since 2009. Dr. Minov lives in Gilbert with her husband and two sons.

Dr. Nenad Savic began playing guitar at the age of eight. He graduated from the prestigious European Conservatory of Music in Belgrade, after which he received his master’s degree in guitar performance from the University of Idaho, and his doctorate at Arizona State University. Dr. Savic is a laureate of many national and international competitions, and has performed throughout Europe and the US. He is an active performer and dynamic participant at many prominent guitar competitions. He now adds to his illustrious music experience the teaching of 7th and 8th grade music and the leading of guitar club at Arete Prep Academy.

Mr. Grajeda joins the Arete faculty teaching Art this year. Mr. Grajeda has spent his entire life in Arizona, a proud son of two hard working Mexican immigrants. Mr. Grajeda is bilingual, speaking English and Spanish and graduated from Arizona State University in 2017 with a bachelor’s in fine arts education and has been teaching since. He has taught every single age range from Kindergarten to Twelfth grade in this time and is excited to join the Arete team this time from the beginning of the school year. He enjoys art, art history, drawing and painting, and most of all, spending time with his small family with a new addition of a baby girl arriving last week!

Jennifer Smedegaard has been teaching with Great Hearts for approximately six years. She started as a 2^nd grade lead teacher at Archway Anthem, 1^st great lead at Archway Lincoln and now an ESS Coordinator with Arete Prep. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development and Family Studies from Arizona State University and a Master’s Degree in Education; emphasis on Special Education, from Ottawa University. Aside from Great Hearts she has taught in public and charter schools in the valley. She has four boys all whom are current or graduated Arete students. She loves working at Arete; Great Hearts always feels like family. She enjoys spending free time with her husband and family.

Mr. Patrick Vaughan joined Arete Preparatory Academy in 2013, and has been the lead history teacher and is currently the lead humane letters teacher. He has also been involved with the Creative Writing Club, Heart for Others Club, Book Club, has been a Mentor Advisor for three years, and is currently an ESS teacher. He earned his BA in Humanities/Theology at Criswell College in Dallas, TX, and his Masters of Humanities with an emphasis in Medieval History at the University of Dallas. He loves to read a wide variety of literature, history, and philosophy, and enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters hiking and generally enjoying the outdoors.