Registration Steps

Supplemental Forms

Supplemental Forms

Theresa Caponi

My name is Theresa Caponi and I am the owner and Director of Sunshine Academy, a preschool/daycare center located in Westhampton Beach, New York. I have six children, nine grandchildren and counting!!! I have had the privilege of being a stay at home mom while raising my six children. Prior to having a family, I taught at the Southampton Montessori School as a lead and co-teacher for five years. I was also the arts and crafts Director of The Brookhaven Country Day School. I directed the Westhampton Country Club Junior Sports program and opened Little Me Busy Bee, a group family daycare located in Speonk during 2008 when my youngest child entered Elementary school. In 2016 I opened Sunshine Academy in Westhampton Beach. As a certified Montessori Preschool and Kindergarten teacher and a HighScope Preschool teacher and trainer, I have combined these qualifications with my experience as a mother of six children to establish Sunshine Academy. I have a Child Development Associate and I am working toward completing my Children's Program Administrator Credential. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Magna Cum Laude Degree and an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education.

Silvia Ryan

I am currently the assistant director and art teacher at Sunshine Academy. I was also a teacher at Little Me Busy Bee and I moved over to Sunshine Academy to help establish our program. I am a mother of two children and I am bringing my knowledge and experience to our program. I am bi-lingual, hardworking, responsible and great with children. I am currently working on getting my CDA and I am CPR and First Aid certified. I am very happy to be a part of the team here at Sunshine Academy of Westhampton Beach.

Brittany Joy Renous

The education of a child is of utmost importance to me. I have my Bachelors and have worked with children since 2015 when I graduated college. I ran multiple Children’s ministries for five years that included children from newborn to twelve years old. I then enjoyed working at the previously known Little Me Busy Bee daycare where we cared for toddlers on a daily basis. Then when Little Me Busy Bee closed, I joined the team at Sunshine Academy and have been here ever since. I love being able to teach my preschool classes and seeing their progress from the beginning of the year to the end is truly one of the Greatest things to witness and makes my job so fulfilling. I also help with administrative responsibilities at Sunshine Academy such as posting on social media, editing videos and sending out our Dojo Parent communication system app and Sign up Genius invitations.

Sarah Cammarato

My name is Sarah Cammarato and I am the Biller at Sunshine Academy. I am a mom of 2 and I live in West Sayville, NY. After many years of working as a childcare provider and Director at Little Me Busy Bee I am excited to now be working on the business side of childcare while I take some time to focus on my family and work from home! In my free time I enjoy spending time in the kitchen, restoring antique furniture and playing with my kids!

Holly Bittner

I joined Sunshine Academy in the spring of 2022 while completing my certification in Early Childhood Education Birth through 2nd grade through Suffolk Community College. I earned a certification in TESOL K-12 through Long Island University and hold a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and a Bachelors in English from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. I taught in Florida, New York, Virginia and Washington, DC. My teaching experience ranges from preschool, kindergarten, 2nd, 5th and 6th grades, Reading for 6th through 10th grade, and middle school Speech and Debate.

Jenn Witham Bongiovi

Aside from being a preschool teacher, I am also a dance instructor and first and foremost a mother. I have been teaching dance for 26 years and besides having a background in all genres of dance I specialize in the dance education and creative movement for ages 2 thru 5. I studied Early Childhood Education at St Joseph’s College and in 2011 I owned my own preschool. I have a passion for early childhood education and fostering the needs of our little ones with love and compassion. I am currently working toward completing my Child Development Associate.

Xann Greenidge

I am a mother of 3 adult children. I have worked as a Nanny/childcare provider for over 35 years. The last few years I have worked as a teacher's assistant in a preschool setting, as well as during summers, as a lead counselor for the Toddler classroom for Future Stars in Southampton. I am currently working toward my Child Development Associate and I teach one of our toddler classes at Sunshine Academy.

Heather Crane

I have always had a love for working with children. I started working in a childcare setting in 1996, as a summer helper at Just Kids Learning Center. I attended SUNY Cortland, where I studied Business Administration. Happily married, I was a stay at home Mom for many years. During that time, I was the treasurer of the executive board for my children’s school. I worked hand in hand with the teachers and administrators and ran book fairs, dances, school events, and I was able to make a difference in the lives of many children, something I was so passionate about. I have been continuously enrolled in Child Development courses. With my children, all teenagers and young adults, I was ecstatic to get back in a classroom at Sunshine Academy. I pride myself in my patience and warmth, and my first priority is making sure our children have a place to make them feel at home and comfortable while learning and growing.

Keyla Arriola

My name is Keyla, and during high school, I had my mind set on pursuing a career in the medical field. I became a licensed medical and nursing assistant and phlebotomist through BOCES. In my first year of college, I majored in health science at NYIT and continued down the medical path. But after my first year of college and with the pandemic, I took a year off. Within that year, I started working at Sunshine Academy and fell in love with working with young kids. Getting to teach them valuable skills and knowledge is truly rewarding, but the addition of spending time and creating a special bond with them is equally as special. It’s been roughly three years since I started working here, and I saw many children enter as toddlers and leave as soon-to-be kindergarteners. Being alongside their journey of growing and learning taught me valuable lessons and reevaluated what I truly wanted to do. Teaching and supporting children through their learning journey is now my new passion. Though working with children has its challenges, there is nothing else I would rather do! I'm now continuing my education at Suffolk and will be transferring to St, Joseph’s to become an elementary school teacher or, more specifically, an ESL teacher.

Michel Payton

My name is Michel and I am a preschool teacher at Sunshine Academy and I co teach with Miss Brittany. I am 24 years old and I attended Suffolk Community College and Stonybrook University. I am passionate about working with children. It is so rewarding to watch them grow and learn and I feel so blessed to have a job as fulfilling as this one. I also enjoy reading and cooking as well as spending time with my family and God.

Melissa Tiedemann

I am a mother of four children. I studied Early Childhood at Suffolk and St Joseph’s. I had the opportunity to be a parent member of many CSE meetings and I am familiar with IEP goals. I was an active member of the PTO and have worked in the school system for the past 8 years. I have many years experience with multi-modality instruction.

Jeannie Demarest

Hello. Let me introduce myself. I am Miss Jeannie. I am one of the preschool teachers at Sunshine Academy. I went to SUNY Cobleskill for Early Childhood Education where I obtained my Associates Degree. I then wanted to further my education so I went to SUNY Oneonta where I obtained my Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. I also went to Dowling College and Southampton College where I took several Masters Classes. While working on my Masters classes I wrote and published two children’s Books, ‘ My Best Friends Troubles’ and “Star’.However, Sunshine Academy is not my first job working with children. I started at Riverhead Central School working as an aide for 4-5 summers. I then moved on to working as an aide becoming a teacher assistant for 5-6 years. I left this position to have my daughter Haley. I worked at Kiddie Academy for a short time over a summer moving onto Pine Tree Nursery School. I also took a job as a leave replacement teacher at Headstart for 6 months. Once my time was done there I moved onto Bright and Early Discoveries where I worked for 2 years. However this did not satisfy me. I continued to look at different daycares and I found Sunshine Academy. I immediately fell in love. I have been working at Sunshine Academy for about three years now and I am very happy not only with my boss, but with my co-workers, the children and the parents. I absolutely Love working with children and working at Sunshine Academy.

Juliana Crane

I love working with children and this is my second year as a teaching assistant at Sunshine Academy. I am finishing up at Suffolk County Community College and I am transferring to Stony Brook University soon to complete my degree in Adolescent English Education. I have a background in competitive dance, and love to bring music and movement into the classroom. I was on my high school dance team and was a camp counselor at the annual summer camp my dance team hosted. I worked with children ages 5-12 throughout all 4 years of high school. My main priority is to provide a safe, fun, and caring environment for all of the children.