Welcome to Bellevue Heights Nursery School Child Care

Kathy Tornatore has been the Program Director at BHNS since 2015. She has a Masters in Educational Policy and School Leadership from SUNY Albany and a BA in Sociology with a minor in Psychology from SUNY Oswego. Before joining the team at Bellevue Heights,  she spent close to 20 years in various educational roles.  Kathy worked as a School Social Worker, Library Assistant, Teaching Assistant and owned and operated a private PreK Program in Tully, NY. Kathy and her husband have been married  for 33 years and live on a quiet farm south of Syracuse. 

 Sabrina Drake is one of  Lead Teacher at BHNS, a position she has held for three years. Sabrina joined the team possessing a Preschool CDA (Child Development Associate) along with a genuine talent for working with children. She is currently working on her degree in Early Childhood Education through SUNY Canton which she plans to  complete in May of 2026. She began working as a School Age teacher at The Brewerton Community Child Care shortly after high school. where she also had the opportunity to work in both the Toddler and Preschool Classrooms.

 Jacquie Strecansky is one of our UPK Lead Teachers. Jacquie joined our team after retiring from the Syracuse City School District  with more than 40 years of classroom experience in Early Childhood Education.

Jacquie holds a BS in Special Education and a Masters in Early Elementary Education/Literacy from Syracuse University and is certified in both Special and Elementary Education.  In addition to her experience in early childhood education Ms. Jacquie finished her career in the district as a Master Teacher and Peer Evaluator training new teachers.  When not at BHNS, she enjoys time with her husband John and two Maine Coons , Lionel and Teddy.

 Laura Konefal is one of our UPK Lead Teachers. She joins BHNS after 12 years of teaching elementary special education at various schools, such as Jowonio, Ithaca CSD and Tully CSD.  A proud Westhill alum herself (class of 2008) Laura is thrilled to be part of the Westhill community as an educator. Laura earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary/Special Education from Mount Saint Mary College (2012) and her Masters in Literacy Education from SUNY Cortland (2014). 

She lives  in Taunton with her husband, John and their two daughters. When she is not hard at work at BHNS, Laura loves spending time with her family, enjoying  the outdoors and reading a great book. 

 Brittany Westall is  one of the Teaching Assistants at BHNS. Prior to beginning at BHNS  as a full-time member of the staff, she was a substitute teacher for Bellevue Heights and worked as a private childcare provider.  She enjoys the world of early childhood education and finds working with preschoolers to be very rewarding.  In addition to providing  loving guidance to the children in her care, she is a devoted full-time mom of two BHNS Alumni- Sydney and Sophia.