Staff
STMA Staff
Leadership and Administration
B.A. Business, Saint Anselm College; M.A. Education, University of Notre Dame; M.A. Educational Leadership, DePaul University; M.B.A, University of Notre Dame
I have worked in Catholic education for over 17 years in various roles as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, and consultant, and I could not be more excited to be the Head of School at STMA. The deep faith and learning here are second to none. I am grateful to be at a school that is focused on both faith and reason.
B.A., Program of Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame; M.Ed., University of Notre Dame
Go STMA!
Ph. D., Old Testament, Emory University; M. Div., Princeton Theological Seminary; B.A., Religion, Northwestern College
As a parent, teacher, and convert to the Catholic faith, I am grateful to be a part of the STMA community, where the source and summit of each day is the offering of the Mass and where the culture is marked by the beauty of truth, freedom for excellence, and friendship in Christ. In my role as STMA’s Academic Dean, I am excited to serve Michiana families and the Church by advancing the school’s mission of helping students develop the intellectual, moral, and theological virtues through a rigorous education in the classical liberal arts, the fine arts, and the sciences that is rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition—a truly awesome task!
M.A., Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville, B.A., Philosophy and Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville
B.A., Political Science, University of Notre Dame
I am thrilled to be working at St. Thomas More Academy in the office where I get to know so many of the children at school. My family and I moved to South Bend in the summer of 2020. My husband, Jim, and I met at Notre Dame as undergraduates many, many years ago. When he was given the opportunity to return as a faculty member, we were very excited to be a part of the Notre Dame community again. We had no idea what a vibrant and welcoming Catholic community we would find when we moved back. I am blessed that my little “two day a week volunteer” position ended up turning into full time office work! It is a privilege to meet all the children and have a small part in their school day.
B.S., Business Management, Oral Robert’s University
I am humbled to be part of this classical Catholic community focused on developing young minds in preparation for the vocation that God has for each one of them. I have a background in sales and administrative support, but several years ago when I first learned of STMA I knew I wanted to use my time in support of its mission. I began working for STMA in the spring of 2022. Our family moved to South Bend 11 years ago. We have 6 children, 3 of them attend STMA.
Academic Teachers
B.A.,Liberal Studies, The Master’s University
I spent more than 15 years homeschooling my children following a classical model. This experience helped me to grow in humility and curiosity. It is important to me that students not only grasp skills, but also understand the process. I am grateful for the opportunity to join the STMA faculty.
B.A. Vocal Performance and Philosophy, University of Notre Dame, Spring 2027
B.S., Elementary Education, Purdue University Fort Wayne
I’m excited to work in a school that appreciates the beautiful traditions of our Faith and strives to do all for the Glory of God and the salvation of the young souls entrusted to our care. The Faith is seamlessly woven into the school activities, our school culture, and all subject areas. Having worked for over four years in Catholic Schools, I’ve found that teaching the Catholic Faith brings the most joy and fulfillment. I’m thrilled to be teaching Kindergarteners academic skills, instilling a joy of learning, encouraging growth in holiness, and doing so all through the lens of our Catholic Faith and Tradition.
B.A. Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville; J.D., Ave Maria School of Law
I love learning and have developed a deep interest in Catholic education which aims to lead the whole person on the pathways of truth, goodness, and beauty towards God. I hope to contribute to the mission of St. Thomas More Academy where I can help cultivate a sense of wonder, reverence, and joy in response to the love of Our Lord, who, as Gerard Manley Hopkins observed, “plays in ten thousand spaces.”
B.A., Liberal Arts, Wyoming Catholic College
M. Div., Duke Unviersity Divinity School; B.A., Bible and Theology, Malone University
When I think back upon my journey into the Catholic Church, I remember how God got my attention during my early high school years. This is a big part of why I love teaching high schoolers: I know that the decisions they make now about truth, goodness, and beauty may last for the rest of their lives.
B.A., Liberal Arts, Wyoming Catholic College
I was drawn to STMA because I wanted to share the invaluable gift that my education has given to me: an appreciation for God and His beauty in spirit, mind, and body. STMA‘s education inspires students to pursue our Lord in all that is Good and True. I believe that there is no profession more important than helping young students to recognize and love what is beautiful, encouraging them in the joy of learning, and challenging their minds and imaginations. I am thrilled to be a part of STMA‘s team and to provide children with this gift.
BA in Liberal Arts from Wyoming Catholic College. STM (Sacred Theology Masters) from the International Theological Institute
I see education as an adventure into unknown places, and like any good adventure, it takes hard work and diligence. Yet when all is said and done, the traveler returns with a love for this foreign land that delights in everything from the commas and apostrophes to the lofty mountains of Philosophy and Literature. This is my encounter with education, and I am excited to share this with my students at St Thomas More Academy.
B.A. Hillsdale College, M.E. University of Dallas
B.A., Political Science, Eastern Michigan University; Teaching Certificate, Indiana University South Bend
I am very excited and grateful for this opportunity to teach at STMA because it is an opportunity to share in wonder and joy with others. No education is a true and complete education if it does not get at the nature of things and their relationship with eternity. As students spend time at STMA, they will be habituated in heart, soul, and mind to see the beauty, truth, and goodness in all things. As they grow in wonder and virtue, they, like St. Thomas More and all the other saints, will understand who they are, what things are, and why they matter in the context of all eternity. It is an honor to be a part of this adventure, and I look forward to all the good that will come!
B.A., Music, Physics, and Philosophy, University of Notre Dame
God created the world in beauty, order, and wisdom, and mathematics is a very powerful way of understanding and appreciating this reality. Not only can mathematics be used to describe the order in the physical universe, but there is beauty and order to the workings of mathematics itself. Ironically, there often seems to be a fear that adherence to faith in a higher reason or Creator threatens a rigorous understanding of the maths and sciences. Much to the contrary, mathematics makes it quite evident that our minds and our universe operate in a reality characterized by a deep order and wisdom. I am excited to teach mathematics at St. Thomas More Academy so that, by helping students to understand the order and beauty of mathematics, they may more readily perceive and appreciate the order and beauty in the world around them.
“Let the children come to me and do not hinder them” (Mt 9:14). What a blessing it is to work at STMA where each child is loved and respected and the Eucharist is the sun our school revolves around. I joined STMA in 2023 as a kindergarten aide. This year I’m teaching third grade Latin as well.
B.A., History, Hillsdale College; MTS, History of Christianity, University of Notre DameTo a world which fears that ephemerality and meaninglessness lie at the root of all things, the Catholic Church proposes an alternative: that God sustains created reality, has entered into it in the person of Jesus Christ, and now works through it to bring us into relationship with Him. Catholic education does young people a disservice if it offers them anything less than a vision of this alternative in all its glory and challenge. This requires not only thoughtful and compassionate intellectual work but also the personal witness of a community and a culture that draws their strength from the graced rhythms of the Church’s sacramental and liturgical life. I am excited to participate in this life alongside my students and colleagues at St. Thomas More, sharpening our vision to more fully see that “all the world is shining around us, and love is smiling through all things” and equipping us together to witness to our hope to those who know it not.
After volunteering at STMA in its first year and working here in its second year, I am thrilled to return to STMA again! It has been clear to me that God is working wonderful things in and through this school, and I am so excited to be a part of His beautiful work. I look forward to running towards Heaven with each of my students and helping care for their beautiful souls while learning and growing myself.
BA., Political Science and Theology, University of Notre Dame
I had the opportunity to spend the better part of last school year interning at STMA in 1st grade. You might find me singing or playing an instrument, diving into a good book, or taking advantage of any sunlight South Bend decides to offer!
B.A., Psychology, Ave Maria University
I am choosing STMA because I want to form students in the richness and beauty of the Catholic faith and the Classical Liberal Arts. Students and faculty will encounter God in everything we do at STMA: academics, relationships, lunch, recess, and all aspects of the school community. I am excited to be a part of something far greater than myself and have the privilege of giving young minds the tools to think well and love God in their ordinary lives.
B.A., Music & Program of Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame
I’m thrilled to be a part of an educational community that deeply understands the whole human person – heart, mind, body, and soul – and is committed to forming today’s saints. STMA’s classical curriculum fosters children’s innate curiosity and appreciation of the beautiful, which I believe is the most powerful way of coming to love the Truth and will inspire them to pursue Christ in every endeavor, even after their time here.
B.A., Theology, Benedictine College
Before moving to South Bend, I spent a few years as a FOCUS missionary at the United States Air Force Academy. I love to sing, I am especially passionate about liturgical chant and polyphony, and I love to travel, cook, and bake. She is attracted to the faithfulness of the STMA community; it is a place in the serious business of forming saints, something our world sorely needs!
B.A., University of Notre Dame; Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles.
B.A.Philosophy, Antioch College 1991; Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Iowa 2003
I’ve chosen to teach at Saint Thomas More Academy because I’m always going to be a teacher one way or another and because I’m convinced of the primacy of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, of the world’s enchantment by God’s presence, of classical Christian education and the Catholic intellectual tradition, and the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. I’m also convinced a vibrant Catholic community belongs at the center of our children’s moral and spiritual development, so I mean to give what I can to that.
B.A., St. Mary’s College of Maryland; M.A. in Secondary Teaching with Concentrations in Visual Arts and credits towards Curriculum and Instruction in Unified Arts.
In recent years, I became an Art Teacher/Forensics Speech Coach/Dance teacher for St. Jude Catholic School in the Diocese; and before that, I was a Unified Arts Teacher in a Catholic school in Vermont. Some examples of my teaching environments, in addition to traditional classrooms of Catholic schools, have been in pine forests and mountains of Vermont, the slums and rural fields of the Philippines, and box theatres in Washington DC. My theatre arts background includes storytelling theatre, performance art, puppetry, and some classical traditional plays. My educational theatre background consists of teaching workshops that integrate cross-curricular with any subject matter – including social studies and history, classic literature, and biblical stories.
(Spring 2025)
BA, English and Vocal Performance, University of Notre Dame
MEd, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The authentically Catholic curriculum is what brings me to St. Thomas
More Academy. And, as a music teacher, one of my singular joys is
teaching the tenets of our faith through the rich musical tradition of
our Church. What better way to do that than at daily mass and almost
daily music classes at a truly Catholic school? As an added benefit,
STMA is a classical school, a method I firmly believe in. I am
excited to once again teach in a Catholic classical setting!
B.A. University of Notre Dame, Architecture
I am excited to join the mission of STMA in teaching our children to appreciate the beauty of God’s artful creation. I come from a classical background in architecture and art, with a B Arch from the University of Notre Dame. Paired with my love for art and history, I will strive to help the Upper School students form an understanding and appreciation for classical art and studio collaboration.
B.A., Great Books, Wyoming Catholic College.
I believe that an authentic Catholic education that forms students’ souls and minds serves as a beacon of truth for society. Teachers must understand and encourage children’s sense of wonder, and I am excited to work with St. Thomas More Academy to foster students’ love of learning. Outside the classroom, I enjoy playing the violin and hiking!
B.A. History, University of Central Arkansas; Master of Arts in Teaching, University of Central Arkansas; Master of Classics ,University of Dallas (anticipated)I am very thankful for the opportunity to teach at STMA where I get to daily seek Christ, who lies hidden in all of the good, true and beautiful things that are studied at STMA, who animates the students and faculty of STMA, and who is substantially present in the Eucharist, the pinnacle of STMA’s day. I look forward to sharing my gifts and talents as a teacher to help further the mission of STMA for years to come!