Specialist Faculty

Bachelors degree in Cultural Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Masters degree in Education & Teaching Credential, Pepperdine University

Ms. Chong grew up in the Newbury Park area.  Upon graduating from Newbury Park High School, she went on to earn her Bachelors degree, Masters degree, and teaching credential.  She began her teaching career in 2002 at a private school in Simi Valley.  There, she taught 2nd through 5th grades in all subject areas, as well as 5th through 8th grades in math, English and history.

Outside of teaching, Ms. Chong has spent numerous summers working at camps in the local area, starting as a counselor and working up to director.  When she’s not teaching, Ms. Chong can often be found cheering on her favorite team, the LA Kings.

Ms. Chong is a childhood cancer survivor and participates in the annual Relay For Life event.  She is the Youth Game Team Leader and very much enjoys being involved in  the cause to find a cure.

Website: mschongsclassroom.weebly.com

Bachelors Degree, California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo

Masters Degree, National University

Deans List – School of Professional Studies and Education, Appointed 2008

A graduate of Agoura High School, Mrs. Stone attended Humboldt State University, where she played intercollegiate volleyball. In 1990, she transferred to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo to finish her Bachelor’s degree in Education and earn her Preliminary Teaching Credential. In 1995, Mrs. Stone took her first teaching position at Hazeltine Avenue Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She planned and taught first grade in all the curriculum areas, performed duties as grade level chair and served as co-leader on a strategic planning team in Language arts. She also attended and presented at many teacher conferences in the areas of Language Arts and English Language Development. While teaching at Hazeltine Avenue, Amy earned her Master of Arts degree in Instructional Leadership at National University.

In 2000, she obtained a first grade teaching position at Oak Hills Elementary School in the Oak Park Unified School District. It was in this year that they received recognition as a California Distinguished School. Then in 2001, Mrs. Stone decided to focus on teaching a single subject, Science. She worked as a Science Specialist for an educational consulting firm called, Quest in Science. Her love for science blossomed. She instructed students in kindergarten through third grade at several private and public schools. All of the curriculum planned and taught included hands-on instruction. After six years of teaching as a traveling science specialist at many schools, Amy joined Carden Conejo School to become the kindergarten through third grade Science Specialist. She implements FOSS (Full Option Science System) modules developed at UC Berkeley along with a variety of supplemental materials such as Engineering is Elementary, Scholastic Super Science and Smart Board Technology.

Bachelor Degree in Animation – Loyola Marymount University

Early Childhood Education – Moorpark College

After graduating from Louisville High School, Mrs. O’Neill studied at Santa Clara University. She transferred to Loyola Marymount University after a couple of years to take advantage of their brand new animation program and to focus more on the arts, majoring in Animation with a minor in Studio Arts. She earned her degree and began working in the studios (Rough Draft and DreamWorks Animation) but eventually followed her passion of teaching children and combined that with her love for art. She joined the Carden team in 2017. Mrs. O’Neill loves to watch her students create and imagine new things and to introduce them to different artists and new styles of art.

If Mrs. O’Neill is not creating art in the studio, she is busy with her two sons and watching them play high school football and middle school sports. She also loves going to art museums and concerts, a good jigsaw puzzle, and watching her favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mme. Renslow has a Master’s Degree in German Language, Literature and Civilization, from Côte d’Opale University in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.  She also has earned a Master’s Degree in French as a Foreign Language from Stendhal Univeristy in Grenoble, France.

Mme. Renslow is fluent in French, German, and English.  She was an elementary school teacher at the ABCM Beausoleil French-German Bilingual School in Sarreguemines, France.  More recently she has been teaching French in the Conejo Valley for children of all ages.

Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University.

Mrs. Bautista’s first job out of college was working for an investment firm as a marketing assistant. She also became the company’s tech support when local and wide area network systems were introduced to the company.

She became a stay at home mom after the birth of her first child and owned and operated a child day care facility in her home for several years until she went back to the corporate world.

Mrs. Bautista worked for an engineering firm and started out as an Assistant Information Systems Administrator where she provided technical assistance and support for the company’s software, hardware, network systems, and all computer related equipment. She then moved to the engineering area where she was an Electrical Designer and designed lighting, communicating systems, fire alarm systems, and power for various schools in Los Angeles.

Mrs.Bautista was a Computer Site Technician at Peach Hill School in Moorpark where she  maintained and fixed technology equipment and taught technology curriculum for students PreK – 5th.

Ms. Gina DiPalermo is a passionate singer and dedicated music educator. With over 8 years of experience, her expertise extends across various facets of musical instruction, including general music, choir, and instrumental training, catering to the musical growth of children ages Preschool through Grade 5.

A native to the East Coast, Ms. DiPalermo earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Education and completed her Kodaly Method training at the prestigious Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ. Ms. DiPalermo began her career as a general music and orchestra teacher in Edison, NJ in 2014. After 4 years of teaching Ms. DiPalermo explored the arts administration world and served as the Operations Manager for Westrick Music Academy. Ms. DiPalermo returned to her love of teaching and joined the Carden Family in 2021. 

Beyond the classroom, Ms. DiPalermo has graced the stage as a chorister for major orchestras, including the renowned NY Philharmonic and the illustrious Philadelphia Orchestra. Her musical journey has seen her collaborate with some of the most celebrated conductors of our time, such as Gustavo Dudamel and Yanick Nezet Seguin. In more recent years, Ms. DiPalermo was a Soprano for the Ewing-based professional choir, Glassbrook Vocal Ensemble under the direction of her brilliant colleague and friend Chaequan Anderson. 

Ms. DiPalermo’s teaching philosophy is rooted in creating a nurturing and engaging environment where every child can explore, express, and excel in a variety of musical experiences. With a harmonious blend of passion, experience, and a deep understanding of pedagogical techniques, Ms. DiPalermo strives to instill a lifelong love for music in her students.

When she is not teaching, Ms. DiPalermo enjoys time outside with her two cats, hiking, beach-side, or cooking. 

Ms. Geneslaw grew up in Oak Park and attended Oak Park High School. After graduating she went to Moorpark College and earned her Associates degree in education. Ms. Geneslaw just completed her Bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Arizona Global Campus. She began her career working with students at a private school in Simi Valley as an after-school counselor and summer camp counselor. She also worked at another private school where she worked in Kindergarten, science, and 2^nd grade as a teaching assistant.

Outside of teaching, Ms. Geneslaw has worked at many camps over the years. She has worked her way up to being a camp director at the YMCA.

Ms. Geneslaw can often be found at Los Angeles Chargers games, rooting for her favorite team. She has participated in Relay for the past 8 years and loves contributing to the cause for the cure for cancer.

Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies at California State University of Channel Islands, with a concentration in Psychology.

Graduated with Cum Laude and was placed on Dean’s List with a perfect GPA for multiple semesters.

Mr. Tucker currently worked with Junior Kindergarten for the past 1.5 years. After seeing that he loved working with the children of all grades from summer camp, he decided to apply for the Sports Aide position. He loves sports, he played basketball, baseball, and soccer in local organizations growing up. Mr. Tucker grew up in Oak Park and graduated from Oak Park High School, and then went on to pursue his Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies at CSUCI.

Mr. Tucker loves children and loves it when he sees students having fun participating in sports with a smile on their faces. He is passionate about exercise and how it can greatly improve mental health from experience. He hopes to pursue his Master’s Degree in Education and teaching credential next year, and hopefully have a class of his own one day.