Real teachers.
Remarkable progress.

Mr. Freifelder has been teaching advanced math at Vernon High School for over 20 years. There, he started the AP BC Calculus program, consistently helping his students earn "5"s on those exams. While he holds a Master's degree, we sought out Mr. Freifelder mostly due to his teaching panache and decades of experience. In addition to being a father of three, Mr. Freifelder is also the current Elite Cyclocross Champion and a long-time champion cyclist. Needless to say, he's driven: a perfect addition to our team, where results matter.

Christine Ricca, M.S, M.A., holds advanced degrees in both literature and educational leadership. As an English teacher at Butler High School for over a decade, Ms. Ricca has honed her pedagogical deliveries - specializing in American Literature, British Literature and composition. As a student of Mr. Jackson's in 2002, she was an all around standout at Kinnelon High School. She continued that tradition at Marist, studying literature and writing, graduating magna cum laude in 2006. At Jackson Education, Ms. Ricca focuses her teaching on the verbal side of the ACT and SAT, teaching students how to master the expository essay, how to conduct effective research, and how to efficiently comprehend reading passages on standardized tests.

Mr. Driesse is a full-time English Teacher at Mendham High School where he teaches exclusively within Mendham's International Baccalaureate program. After receiving his B.A. from Rutgers University in 2012, Justin found a passion for teaching and has since become an expert in standardized test preparation, the didactics behind grammar, and expository writing. In 2017, He received his M.A. from Michigan State University, graduating magna cum lade.

Christiane Wessels, a native speaker of German, with near native fluency in French, was born and raised in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. She studied Intercultural Education, German and Romance Languages at the University of Wuppertal, Germany, where she received her M.A.Ed.

Mrs. Wessels holds teaching certifications for both, German and French, and inspires and pushes her students to succeed in language learning. Mrs. Wessels has been successfully teaching all levels of German, including Honors and AP, at Sparta HS since 2001. She has also spent many summers in France with her French husband’s family and friends, perfecting her French language skills and appreciation of francophone culture.

Mrs. Wessels previously taught German and French at County College of Morris. She offers a wealth of experience in regards to learning and teaching languages as well as to exploring and adapting to life in another country.

Mr. Smith has been teaching Chemistry and AP Chemistry at Kinnelon High School for almost two decades. There, he is widely known as one of the best teachers at the school, consistently enabling his AP students to score in the top ten percent of AP Chemistry test takers. Mr. Smith is a dedicated teacher and that spirit shows when he tutors at Jackson Education; his students often only need a few sessions and can then work on an “as needed” basis with Mr. Smith. A consummate renaissance man, Mr. Smith is also an adroit musician – often performing with the pit orchestras at Kinnelon High School musicals and at other venues statewide.

Mr. Brown has been teaching biology at Sparta High School for over 25 years. At Jackson Education, he focuses all of his one-on-one tutoring helping students raise their scores on the ACT Science section. We believe in specialized and expert instruction; towards these ends, Mr. Brown is a valuable asset in all of our offices.

Mrs. Montgomery comes to Jackson Education after forty straight years as the AP Statistics teacher at Morris Knolls high school. There, she honed her skills teaching all levels of mathematics and winning a reputation as a stalwart algebra, geometry, and pre-calc instructor. Mrs. Montgomery's students appreciate her warmth and depth of knowledge of the subjects she teaches; there is no secondary-level mathematic concept that she has not mastered. We are honored to have someone with experience as lengthy as her's on our team.

A math teacher at Morris Knolls High School with 25 years of experience, Lynn Lubrecht has experience teaching all levels of math courses including AP Calculus AB and BC. She has been an AP Reader for eight years grading AP Calculus exams for the Collegeboard. Her students would say that she is unusually upbeat, has a keen ability to explain difficult concepts, is kind and compassionate, and has a crazy collection of Pi t-shirts.

Mrs. Lubrecht graduated valedictorian of her high school class and holds a BA in Mathematics from Douglass College of Rutgers University and an MS in Mathematics from Montclair State University. At Jackson Education, Mrs. Lubrecht is one of our most highly sought after tutors, her students thrive under her tutelage.

As the Department Chair of Newark Academy’s Foreign Language Department, Debra Ronan brings a wealth of experience to the Jackson Education team. Mrs. Ronan is our go to teacher for all things French: homework help, test and quiz preparation, and standardized test prep for the French AP test. Mrs. Ronan has lived in France for extended periods of time and she uses those experiences to help her students with not only the language pronunciations but also the nuances of culture that so often manifest in difficult French classes.

As the AP Calculus teacher at Kinnelon High School, Mr. Petrucelli is known as the ace in one of the most difficult subjects in all of mathematics. Nevertheless, Mr. Petrucelli has become an expert in all of the mathematics that lead up to calculus: algebra, geometry, and pre-calculus. Well into his second decade of teaching, Mr. Petrucelli has hit his “10,000” and can easily solve even the most difficult of problems with his tutors. As a result, he is one of our most popular tutors, often employing his expertise in teaching the SAT and ACT.

“Mrs. T” has been teaching Chemistry at Sparta High School for 25 years. As a teacher of both Honors and AP levels, she exemplifies a true mastery of the subject. Mrs. T holds both a B.S. and a Master’s Degree in Chemistry from Montclair State University. Few people can take the esoteric methodologies behind the subject and make them as understandable as she can. We are happy to have her on board.

Mr. Wessels is currently teaching French at Sparta High School and is experienced with all levels of the language classes, including AP.

Previously, Mr. Wessels taught French in Europe in private schools settings for students all ages as well as in the US at the County College of Morris (CCM) and for the Parsippany Troy Hills Schools District. Before teaching, he worked for a translation software company in the US, which makes him particularly knowledgeable in the advantages and shortcomings of translation systems.

Mr. Wessels strives to get the best of his students in a challenging and nurturing environment where students should feel welcomed and comfortable to learn and to improve. His longtime experience at teaching all levels of French in various settings enables him to recognize and understand the challenges his students face and to help them improve their skills and enhance their knowledge of the language.

Charlene Buser comes to Jackson Education after a distinguished career at Kinnelon High School where she taught all levels of biology, specializing in AP Biology. Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Buser worked together for years as advisors of National Honor's Society and in sharing the school's cohort of AP students. At that school, her sophomore AP Biology students consistently scored perfect scores on the AP Bio exam.

As an instructor, Ms. Buser is - like all of us here at JE - "old school": she shares the belief that technology has hampered students' abilities to pay attention and to study correctly. Consequently, when a student works with Ms. Buser, the focus is on fully understanding the complexities of her expertise subject as opposed to learning tricks or shortcuts. There are few in her field who can handle that material with the panache that she does.

Mr. Mark Philhower spent over thirty years teaching all levels of math, including AP Calculus, at Montville High School. While there, he also served as the school's head track coach where he took his team to multiple sectional and state championships.

At Jackson Education, Mr. Philhower focuses his energy in both the Basking Ridge and Denville locations, tutoring SAT & ACT, all subjects of math, and calculus.

Doreen Ladinski joins Jackson Education after teaching AP Literature and Honors English at Governor Livingston High School for nearly two decades. Doreen has also taught writing and literature classes for many years at Montclair State University, where she received her MA in English. Her passion for literature eventually led her to Fordham University, where she completed advanced coursework in British literature. Doreen has a reputation for developing a deep appreciation for literature in her students and for challenging them to become strong writers and close readers. With these skills in place, Doreen's AP students have consistently achieved high scores on the AP Literature exam every year. In addition to teaching core English classes, Doreen has also taught a variety of electives, including journalism and creative writing. Doreen most enjoys the individual approach to tutoring, where she can take the time to help students read, write, and think critically, believing that higher order thinking skills are best developed through one on one instruction.