Meet Our Staff!
Stacy Reese
Owner
12 years ago Miss Stacy went on a hunt for a dance studio for her then 3 year old daughter. She wanted a fun dance class where her daughter could learn to love dance, gain balance and coordination skills and where she could watch the class. What she found was that classes were to strict for younger dancers and that she was not allowed to stay and enjoy her daughters experience in class. She could not find a place that offer this type of class and with her daughter being shy she ultimately did not want to go back which was heartbreaking. A few years passed and Miss Stacy knew there was a need for this type of program so her and her Mom Miss Carol started the Freckled Frog and the rest is history.
Miss Stacy grew up from the age of 4 an artistic roller skater skating 4 hours a day 6 days a week and dancer. After graduating high school she attended Fullerton College where she got her degree in paralegal studies and worked thereafter for The Irvine Company.
Although dance may not be every child's path as they grow the benefits will help them in many aspects of there life. Miss Stacy's hope is that the Freckled Frog program brings many memories for children and there parents.
Josh Reese
Owner
Josh is the co-owner of The Freckled Frog. In his role, he looks after all aspects of the finances, maintenance, cleaning and so much more. He has been around the studio since the beginning, but only as a part time helper and advisor as he had been pursuing a career in property management. He had worked with The Irvine Company for 12 years which is where he met his wife Stacy. While working at The Irvine Company, he learned quite a bit about customer service and having high standards.
During his time there he had been honored three times with the “People Service People” award which is the highest customer service award. Helping people is something that Stacy and Josh are always passionate about. In 2016 he left The Irvine Company to help Stacy with the studio as it was growing so fast.
He is passionate about supporting Stacy and the incredible dance instructors. Although he is rarely seen at the studios, he visits them all the time fixing this or painting that in the early and late hours. He is passionate about maintaining the integrity of the studios. His hopes are for the dancers, parents, and instructors to always feel comfortable in the studios as if it was their second home.
Sarah Birnbaum
Office Manager
Miss Sara has been with the Freckled Frog for six years. She danced all through high school through being involved in her school's dance academy and colorguard. Right after graduating high school she got a job coaching colorguard at La Habra High School and worked there for seven years. Through that job she met Miss Stephanie who brought her into the Freckled Frog family. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a B.A. in Communications and a Specialization in Public Relations in 2017. In early 2019 she was promoted from dance teacher to office manager and is super excited to start the next leg of her Freckled Frog journey!
Briana Hare
Teacher
Bri Hare started working for Freckled Frog Dance Studio a little over 3 years ago. She studied dance and choreography at Humboldt State University, as well as many dance studios throughout her childhood. Passionate about dance, the transition from working at a traveling dance company to Freckled Frog was easy and fitting.
In her free time, Bri likes to gallivant through various theme parks with her best friend, Justin (it inspires creativity!). She also likes to attend the theater to see musicals, mostly the ones that star her friends, and loves promoting live, on-stage performances. Grateful for the opportunity to work for such an amazing establishment, Bri makes sure to do her best to inspire these young dancers and improve their technique. Always remember "dance is magic!"
Maxine Weidner
Teacher
Maxine Weidner brings the experience of 20 years as a professional dancer, and 20 years as a teacher, to her classes at Freckled Frog-Leap Academy. She began dancing at age 3 in Houston, Texas, and has studied ballet, tap, acrobatics, and jazz. At an early age, Maxine moved to New York City to further her dance career. There she was on scholarship with Madame Maria Nevelska at Carnegie Hall Studio. Maxine danced in the ballet company at Radio City Music Hall, then toured with Disney On Parade-Alice Unit,understudying the lead dancer. Then began her career at Disneyland as dancer and line captain at the Golden Horseshoe Revue. This led to a solo as Mary Poppins on TV's Academy Awards, and 6 months in Japan for the opening of Tokyo Disneyland. After marrying and having her 2 children, Maxine began teaching, and today enjoys teaching ballet at Freckled Frog-Leap Academy.
Kylie Harris
Teacher
Miss Kylie was born in Long Beach, California where she began dancing at the age of 2! Since the beginning she had a love for tap dance. By the age of 8 she was asked to join the world-renowned Kennedy Tap Company at Universal Dance Design in Los Angeles, California where she studied under Paul and Arlene Kennedy and Master teacher Savion Glover. During her time with the company she also performed at the Harriet Tubman Awards. In 2010, she was accepted into the Orange County School of the Arts where for 4 years she studied Commercial Dance. While attending OCSA, she performed with Matthew Morrison from GLEE in the annual Gala events and studied many different dance styles as well. After graduating from OCSA, Kylie attended Mt. San Antonio College as a Dance Major under directorship of Michelle Shear, Amy Nakamura, and Lee Martino. After 3 years, she received her Dance Teaching Certifications. Miss Kylie transfered to Cal State Fullerton and graduated in Spring 2020 with her B.A. in Dance with a focus in teaching. Miss Kylie loves exploring all styles of dance but really has a love for TAP! She belives that anything is possible if you put your heart into it. All of her students hold such a special place in her heart.
Jessica Morton
Teacher
Miss Jessica started dancing when she was only a year old and hasn’t stopped since. Miss Jessica learned a majority of her dance skills with the studio The Dance Place, where she performed, competed, and choreographed for 23 years of her life. After The Dance Place had retired, she continued to improve her dance skills and teaching strategies by completing her Bachelors of Science Degree in Child and Adolescent Studies at California State Fullerton with a Minor in Dance Teaching Strategies.
Miss Jessica has been helping teach beginning dance to children 2 years old and older since she was 12 years old and thoroughly enjoys spending time watching her students continually grow as dancers and people. Even though Miss Jessica loves all types of dance her two favorite styles are Tap and Musical Theater! She has won many awards and accolades for her tap and musical theater solos when she was competing and is always excited to incorporate both Tap and Musical Theater dance styles in her choreography. Miss Jessica loves helping to push her students to become the best dancers and people they could be and will always put them first.