Cadence Academy Preschool

Jennifer Testanero

School Director

I love to watch the children grow as well as the ability to guide the teachers to go above and beyond in creativity and in creating an exceptional education program. Most of all, I enjoy building relationships with the families I serve to provide parents with a trusting place for them to leave their child(ren) each day. My school is my pride and joy, and I take my job very seriously. Developing little minds is the most impactful job we can have! I also love being a mom. I love watching my boys play hockey and baseball and cheering them on! I love going on trips with my family or cuddling up and watching a movie with them!

Alyssa Piccirillo

Assistant Director

In 2009 I started in the early childhood education field as an infant teacher. Shortly after I moved on to becoming the Pre-k teacher and this soon became my favorite age to work with. Eventually, I came to a point when I not only wanted to help the students but I wanted to help the teachers as well, so I took on the role as a mentor at my job as well. While being a mentor I got the feeling that my interest was more out of the classroom instead of in the classroom. I became a Curriculum Coordinator/Assistant Director because one of my favorite things in the field is creating lesson plans and working with the curriculum. Then I took all the skills that I learned from that job to become a Director at another school. I really enjoyed my job, but wanted to learn more by becoming an Assistant Director at a larger school like Cadence Academy. I have loved being here and can’t wait to grow and learn more with Cadence!

Mr. T.J.

Teacher of the Year

My Name is Mr. T.J. and I am the head Pre-K teacher here at Cadence Academy Preschool! I am so excited for you and your child to join my classroom! I have been working here for almost 10 years and love everything about teaching preschoolers! I obtained my Head Teachers Certification through the Office of Early Childhood in 2018. In addition, I have an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelor’s Degree in Child’s Studies, with a minor in Psychology from Goodwin University. During my schooling, I was the recipient for The Academic Excellence Award in both 2019 and 2021. Here at Cadence, I was recently honored to be chosen for the 2025 Regional Director Teacher of the Year pick for the Connecticut Region.

In my free time I enjoy taking my dog Charley for walks, playing basketball and volleyball and scrolling through Amazon to find the best deals! A fun fact about myself is that I collect flags from all over the world!