Don-Tre Driving School Team
Don-Tre Driving School is very proud of our team of driving instructors which includes teachers, coaches, and educational administrators in local communities. All of our driving instructors are trained to meet the educational needs of all types of student learners.
Our instructors are all fully licensed by the state of NJ Motor Vehicle Commission (NJ MVC) as commercial driving instructors, and they have all been personally trained by the owners of Don-Tre Driving School. Further, every one of our driving instructors have been certified as New Jersey State Defensive Driving Instructors as well as being Drive Safer Certified™. All Don-Tre Driving School employees are insured and bonded as required by the State of New Jersey.
Meet The Don-Tre Team
Don Carpenter
Chief Instructor | Owner
A lifelong educator and educational administrator, Don worked in the New Providence school system for 46 years where he was a teacher, coach, and athletic director. He taught driver education in the high school for over 30 years and opened Don-Tre Driving School in 1988.
Don is certified through the New Jersey State Department of Education, NJ MVC and the National Safety Council as a driving instructor.
Peter Carpenter
Chief Instructor | Owner
Peter joined the Don-Tre Driving School business more than 15 years ago and currently instructs as well as manages the day-to-day operations of the school. Peter is certified through the New Jersey State Department of Education, NJ MVC, and the National Safety Council as a driving instructor.
Peter has personally trained and helped hundreds of students join the ranks of NJ teen safe drivers.
Carol
Office Manager
Carol has been with Don-Tre Driving School for over 20 years! Starting her career as the office manager when the office first opened in Springfield, to now being employed full-time at the Berkeley Heights office, Carol is a valued asset to the team. Carol is a resident of Berkeley Heights and when not working, enjoys being active by running and working out. Her other hobbies include watch both baseball and football.
A mother of 2, Carol’s son is a senior this year at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights and her daughter attends the College of Charleston, majoring in Communications and Hospitality Management.
Joe
Driving Instructor
Joe is one of Don-Tre Driving School’s most experienced driving instructors. He has been teaching behind the wheel on and off for over 15 years. Joe’s favorite sport is baseball, and he is the Head Coach at Belleville High School. Joe’s hobbies are watching sports, reading, and spending time with family and friends. He loves Italian food and has one daughter, who will be 7 this February.
Joe became a driving instructor because he thought he would like to help students learn to drive and help them gain confidence to be successful. Joe fondly remembers one student’s learning experience with him. She was afraid to drive on the highway, but with Joe’s help, she was able to confidently merge in and out of the highway several times during her lessons. Her smile and satisfaction are just some of the perks of the position.
Nancy
Driving Instructor
Nancy has been teaching students behind the wheel with Don-Tre for over 25 years. Other than being a phenomenal driving instructor, Nancy is also an adapted physical education teacher and coach at Westfield High School. When not teaching students in and out of the car, Nancy enjoys staying active with her sports and cooking, as well as spending time with her 6 your old twins.
Nancy feels fortunate to be able to work in a family-run business with Don-Tre and to get to work with High School age students in both of her occupations. One of Nancy’s most memorable moments as a driving school instructor came when she got a call from a student with learning disabilities after passing the NJ road test. This was the third attempt, and it was a proud moment for the student and for Nancy!
George
Driving Instructor
George is one of Don-Tre Driving School’s driving instructors. George is passionate about imparting his knowledge and experience to beginning drivers so that they can be safe and responsible. His driving experience is exemplified by his perfect driving record. George takes on every new student as an opportunity to show how rewarding it can be to take on the seemingly impossible challenge of learning to drive through to getting a license.
Outside of working with Don-Tre, George is also an Insurance and Real Estate producer. When not working, George enjoys spending time traveling, and playing tennis.
Basil
Driving Instructor
Basil, also known as “BK” or “Bas”, has been a driving instructor with Don-Tre for 25 years. Basil works full time and enjoys music, being an active member of the Knights of Columbus and coaching. Basil also is an AAU basketball coach and also a coach for Excell Basketball Camp located in New Providence.
When not behind the wheel or on a basketball court, you can find Basil enjoying his favorite southern cuisine or listening to house music. Before joining Don-Tre Driving School, Basil worked for the NJ MVC in driver testing. Now he gets to enjoy the other side of driver testing. For that reason, seeing his students successfully pass a road test is one of Basil’s favorite things to experience!
Patrick
Driving Instructor
Patrick is one of Don-Tre Driving School’s most experienced driving instructors. He has been teaching people to drive for over 42 years! After 40 years of service, Patrick is now a retired teacher and is committed to taking struggling new drivers and turning them into confident and safe drivers. It is a challenge he truly loves.
When not instructing, Patrick enjoys hitting the green for a round of golf, as well as playing softball. His favorite food is Italian, and his preferred music genre is oldies. Patrick is a wealth of knowledge on everything driver training related, and is a great resource for our team!
John
Driving Instructor
John, aka Hutch, has been in the driving education industry for over 12 years and has been a Don-Tre Driving instructor for 3 years. Besides being a valued team member at Don-Tre, John is a Physical Education teacher and Coach at Hillside High School. John resides in Scotch Plains and has 3 children; 2 boys, and 1 girl.
Ashley
Driving Instructor
Ashley, or Ash, is one of the newest members of our Don-Tre Driving School Team. Ashley’s love for driving, enthusiastic personality and willingness to teach makes him a great instructor that students love to learn from. When Ashley is not behind the wheel he is making sure he is active playing tennis or soccer (he calls it football) and spending time with his two teenage children. When it’s time to refuel Ashley usually goes to Indian cuisine to the job.
Michael D.
Driving Instructor
Michael D., or Mike is one of Don-Tre Driving School’s driving instructors. Mike is a passionate and responsible instructor who is committed to turning struggling new drivers into confident and safe drivers. Seeing a student’s confidence increase in the 6 short hours of lessons is something that Mike sees as a big perk of the job. When Mike is not instructing at Don-Tre he is taking to his creative side as an artist. Outside of working Michael enjoys cooking, especially his favorite food Giambotta, and playing baseball.
Gerald
Driving Instructor
Gerald, aka Gerry, is one of our newest members of the Don-Tre Driving School Team. Gerry is a man of many traits, spending the last 40 years achieving his goal of being a professional musician and music educator, as well as owning a retail business. His hobbies include cooking, skiing, playing in adult baseball leagues, and spending time with his two children Christopher and Emily. Gerry’s experience teaching his daughter how to drive is what sparked his willingness to help other teens as well. Gerry puts a great deal of emphasis on defensive and safe driving skills. He loves seeing new driver’s confidence grow and develop new skills to keep them safe on the road.
Firoz
Driving Instructor
Firoz, otherwise known as Joe, is one of Don-Tre Driving School’s most experienced driving instructors. Joe has a true passion for driving. When he is not teaching students safe driving skills, he is a professional limo driver, allowing him to constantly practice what he teaches. During his downtime, Joe enjoys gardening, watching movies, and going to the gym. Although, his three kids, ranging from 4 years old to 16 years old, always keep him on his toes. Joe will continue to use his passion to teach kids how to be safe and smart drivers.
Michael I.
Driving Instructor
Michael I., aka Coach I, is a veteran driving instructor, teaching for over 30 years. Michael is a retired Adaptive Health and PE teacher. When he is not behind the wheel at Don-Tre, Michael is the Supervisor for Student Teaching at Kean University and part of the Phillies Harmony Club. Michael is a man of many passions, music, baseball, Italian cuisine, and oldies music, just to name a few. When asked why he became a driving instructor, Michael said it was due to his major interest and concern for safety. He truly loves to develop his students driving skills and make them more knowledgeable of the road rules. Michael gets pure satisfaction from observing his students stages of improvement and watching them succeed.
Mary
Driving Instructor
Mary, also known as Ms. M, is one of Don-Tre Driving School’s driving instructors, specializing in new driver training. Mary has been a driving instructor for over 5 years. When she is not teaching she is working diligently selling homes as a real estate agent. During her off time, Mary enjoys being active with horseback riding, and volleyball. If Mary could pick one food to indulge in it would be definitely be her favorite…pizza. Mary thrives on teaching students the safe and correct way to drive. She is passionate about implementing new driving skills and giving her students the best possible lesson, having them leave with a smile on their face.
Eric
Driving Instructor
Eric, also known as Hazel or Haze, has been teaching behind the wheel for over 3 years. Eric’s love for teaching children has carried into his professional life as an Elementary School teacher.
When Eric’s not in the classroom or behind the wheel, he enjoys staying up to date with all the latest movies and music. He also enjoys Baseball on those warmer days. Eric became a driving instructor because he wanted to help teenagers understand the importance of focus and attention to detail needed to be successful drivers. He gets true joy in seeing a student’s nervousness and uncertainty into confidence and comfort-ability!
Jose
Driving Instructor
Jose is an experienced driving instructor, working for over 3 years. Being bilingual, fluent in English and Spanish, has helped Jose become one of our top driving instructors for international drivers and au pairs.
Jose first took to his love of driving when he became a UPS driver over 26 years ago. He has since retired and taken on some of his favorite hobbies including photography and soccer. On his day off, you’ll find Jose spending time with his two children, 18 and 21 years old. Jose’s hard work and dedication has helped his students best just as successful. His favorite moment is when his students finally acquire their driver license.
Beverly
Driving Theory Instructor
Beverly, or Bev, teaches the Driver Theory Course for Don-Tre Driving School. She is a full time Physical Educator and Coach at Westfield High School. When not teaching or coaching, Beverly lives a very active life through her many hobbies and interests. Whether it’s horseback riding, gardening, cooking, or going to auctions, she is constantly on the move. Bev is also the proud owner of 2 horses and 3 cats.
Beverly’s most memorable moment as a driving educator involved one of her former players on the freshmen softball team, Zoe. After losing her cousin to a motor vehicle crash, Zoe was moved by her Aunt and Uncle’s decision to donate their child’s organs to the NJ Sharing Network. Zoe organized a program, which is being used until this day, for our students to learn more about being an organ donor.
Ashley
Driving Theory Instructor
Ashley has been teaching the 30 hour driver theory course for Don-Tre Driving School for 4 years. Fitness is her thing. Besides forming part of the Westfield High School faculty as a Health and Physical Education teacher, Ashley enjoys exercising as her main past time.
Ashley’s most memorable moment as a driving educator happened when her students went through a distracted driving simulation on scooters. While riding scooters, each student was able to experience the effects of driving while impaired through texting, “drunk goggles”, and being distracted by a friend as they maneuvered around an elaborate obstacle course. The exercise brought up great conversations about safe driving!
Lindsey
Driving Theory Instructor
Along with being a Health and Physical Education teacher of 11 years, Lindsey has been teaching the 30 hour driver theory course for Don-Tre Driving School for 7 years. When not working on educating our youth, you can find Lindsey reading, hanging out with friends and family, and being active. Lindsey comes home to her daughter, Molly, and dog, Buca.
Employment Opportunities with Don-Tre
Do you think you have what it takes to be one of our certified driving instructors? We’d love to hear from you!
Don-Tre Driving School is always looking for expert driving instructors to join our team. If you possess the following qualities, please get in touch!
REQUIREMENTS FOR DON-TRE DRIVING SCHOOL DRIVING INSTRUCTORS
- A patient and positive attitude
- Dedication to teaching and training
- English language proficiency
- Exceptional communication skills
- A clean driving record
- A thorough understanding of the NJ Motor Vehicle Laws
If you feel that you meet the above requirements to join the Don-Tre Driving School team of expert driving instructors, please send us an email at [email protected].
TESTIMONIALS
At Don-Tre Driving School, we take pride in the success of our students. We do our best to provide quality driver education and keep the entire process as simple and pleasant as we can. We’ve had so many successful and happy students and we are blessed to be teaching the children of many of the parents we taught years ago! Here’s what some of our customers have to say:
