Our Teachers

Sarah Cipolletti, Lead 3 Year Old Teacher


 

Mrs. Cipolletti is a parent of former St. Luke Preschool students and honored to be a part of the St. Luke’s Preschool family. She currently is the lead teacher of the three year old classroom. Prior to working at St. Luke’s, she was employed by the Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Saint Joseph’s University and a Masters Degree in Special Education from Kean University.

Mrs. Cipolletti and her family have lived in Long Valley for 5 years and are also members of St. Luke’s Parish.  Mrs. Cipolletti is an active volunteer in the Long Valley community with the Long Valley Girl Scouts and Cucinella Elementary PTO.

Mrs. Cipolletti is grateful and blessed to be part of St. Luke Preschool and loves seeing all of the excitement and happiness on the children’s faces every day.


Evelina Cochrane, Assistant Director, Assistant Teacher,  and Bookkeeper



Mrs. Cochrane has been a member of the St. Luke Catholic Preschool since its opening 14 years ago.  Mrs. Cochrane is an assistant teacher in the 4 year class.  She also holds the position of our preschool bookkeeper and Assistant Director.  Mrs. Cochrane and her husband, Steve, have lived in Long Valley for 27 years and have raised all 4 of their children in Long Valley.  Mrs. Cochrane and her family are very active members of the Long Valley Community and feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful and family orientated town. 

Mrs. Cochrane loves being a teacher assistant and seeing all of the children’s happy faces each day. It is truly a blessing to be part of such a loving and nurturing school program.  

Lindsey LaPlaca, Assistant Teacher

Mrs. LaPlaca is a parent of a former and current St. Luke Preschool student and is honored to join the St. Luke’s Preschool “teacher” family as an assistant in the 3 year old program.  She is a magma cum laude graduate of Kean University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Communications with a concentration in Public Relations. She began her professional career working in Admissions and Development in secondary Catholic education- including her alma mater. Given her love of hospitality and service, she also served as the Catering Manager for the Somerset Patriots Baseball Club which led to owning her own Italian deli/catering business with her now husband. Prior to starting her family, she most recently worked for Verizon as a corporate sales trainer for the Northeast area.

Mrs. LaPlaca and her husband, Joe reside here in Long Valley since 2016. Together they are raising their two boys and are proud parishioners of St Luke Parish. As a passionate parent advocate for this preschool program and Catholic education in general, Mrs. LaPlaca is grateful to join the school community in this capacity in hopes of serving others just as it continues to provide a strong academic and faith-filled foundation for her children. “As parents, we are our children’s first teachers and it is our responsibility to introduce them to the love and teachings of God. How blessed am I to have been given that opportunity. “

Alison Mercurio, Assistant Teacher

"Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together." Scott Hayden

Mrs. Mercurio is a mom of four, who is thoroughly enjoying her time back in the classroom, after taking time off to raise her own children. Mrs. Mercurio holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Saint Joseph's University and a Master's Degree in Teaching from Montclair State University. Prior to joining the St. Luke Preschool staff, Mrs. Mercurio taught at the elementary level for numerous years.

Mrs. Mercurio resides in Long Valley with her husband and four children, three of whom are St. Luke Preschool graduates. In her time off, Mrs. Mercurio loves watching her children on the sports fields, gardening, and traveling. She is a parishioner of St. Lukes and CCD teacher.

Jen Masterson, Assistant Teacher in 4 Year Old Classroom

Mrs. Masterson has been a member of the St. Luke Preschool family for more then 5 years where she is currently an assistant teacher in the 4 year old classroom. Prior to joining St. Luke Preschool Mrs. Masterson enjoyed working with children through her many volunteer positions in our community.  Being a member/leader of the Kids4Kindness, a non-profit service based organization here in Long Valley, coaching the boys youth track team, teaching CCD and leading two Girl Scout Troops were a few of her favorites.

Mrs. Masterson has been a resident of Long Valley for 20 years where she lives with her husband Jeff and their 3 children. In her free time* Mrs. Masterson loves spending time outdoors , exercising and going on long walks. You can catch Mrs. Masterson at the beach during the summer months where she and her family love to watch the sunrise.

Mrs. Masterson is grateful to share her days with children at St. Luke Preschool.  She feels blessed to be a part of the smiles, the love of learning, the adventure and the little friendships that are forming.

Jill Mezey, Assistant Teacher

Ms. Mezey joined the St. Luke’s Preschool family this summer of 2022 as a teacher’s assistant for the newest class in the Pre-K program. Ms. Mezey holds a bachelor’s degree in human services along with a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling, both from Assumption University in Massachusetts. Before, during and after obtaining her degrees, Ms. Mezey has worked as a full-time nanny for over 4 years. Just prior to her position at St. Luke’s Preschool she worked for the NJ Department of Labor for the Division of Vocational Services as a Vocational Counselor. She left this position due to the lack of interest and passion she had for the job. She knew moving forward she wanted to go back to working with children and luckily St. Luke’s was able to provide her with that opportunity.

Ms. Mezey was raised in Long Valley until her family moved just a town over to Chester, when she was just starting middle school. She has lived in this area her whole life, besides when attending college in Massachusetts. She is currently residing in Chester.  Ms. Mezey’s and her family have been active members of the St. Luke Parish since she was born. She’s fulfilled her sacraments at St. Luke’s, where she recalls St Luke’s always having such a close knit and comfortable community of parish members. Ms. Mezey to this day remains an active member of St. Luke’s Parish.

Ms. Mezey feels beyond blessed to have the opportunity of being a part of the St. Luke’s Preschool family and loves being able to see all the little faces with pure joy and excitement across them.

Jeannie Soltes, Director and Lead Teacher 4 Year Old Classroom



Mrs. Soltes is the current Director and 4 year old teacher at St. Luke Preschool. Prior to taking over as Director in 2019, Mrs. Soltes taught the 3 year class for six years. Mrs. Soltes has an undergraduate degree in Communication from the University of Delaware and a Masters Degree in Education from Wilmington College. Prior to teaching at St. Luke Preschool, Mrs. Soltes taught Kindergarten and 1 ^st Grade.

Mrs. Soltes has been a resident of Long Valley for 20 years where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is a member of St. Luke Parish and an avid volunteer in this community. She enjoys reading, trips to the beach and spending time iwht her busy family. Mrs. Soltes loves working the children and families of St. Luke Preschool and sharing her her love of children and passion for learning.