Director of Education.
Our Director of Education, Suzy Gregory, teaches classes, supervises our other teachers, and counsels all our families about their homeschooling.Suzy has degrees in Education and in British and American Literature from Cambridge and Emory. She has served as Head of School at three private academies, and has taught at Austin Community College where she received a Master Teacher Award.
Over time, Suzy has become convinced that the very best way to educate children is at home, with a curriculum steeped in Catholic theology.
Teachers and Classes.
Our classes are taught by a combination of paid, credentialed professionals and homeschooling parents. In most cases, those descriptions overlap. Our faculty includes:Fr. Christian Christensen co-teaches middle- and high-school Theology.
Fr. Christian is the Schoenstatt Fathers’ superior in Austin. He was born and raised in Chile, received his degree in Catholic theology in Münster, Germany, and was ordained in 1970. He works with the Schoenstatt Movement in Texas and in Florida.
Karen Ferneding proctors and teaches high-school Science and World History, and teaches middle-school Latin.
Suzy Gregory teaches middle- and high-school English and high-school French.Karen has a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of Texas at Austin, and an M.A. in Media and Cultural Studies from San Francisco State University. Over the last eight years, Karen has taught college courses and conducted research projects in Education. In her published work, Karen has explored the effects of electronic media and consumerism on the socialization of children. As an educator, she believes that Christian values and virtue should form the bedrock of pedagogy and curriculum.
Suzy’s biographical information appears above under “Director of Education.”
Jill Hebda teaches Class II (grades 2-5).
Jill has a degree in Education from the University of Arizona. She has been tutoring since 1996, and has worked with learning-disabled college students, taught at a Sylvan Learning Center, and worked in an after-school program for latch-key kids. She has been homeschooling for four years.
Adrienne Kennedy-Puthoff teaches middle-school History, co-teaches middle- and high-school Theology, and proctors independent study in foreign languages.
Adrienne has a Masters degree from San Jose State University’s College of Education and has done advanced work in curriculum studies at the University of Texas. Her specializations include child development, teacher education, and curriculum design. She has worked in, founded, and led a variety of public and private schools; and she homeschooled her youngest son for six years prior to college. She has also established and led several Schoenstatt Mothers’ Groups and Annunciation–Austin’s Children’s Garden.
Jeanette Meditz teaches and supervises middle- and high-school classes in Science and Math.
Jeanette grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), then lived with her family in Australia for four years, where she met and married her beloved husband John. They have seven children, and Jeanette has been homeschooling for more than fifteen years. Jeanette teaches with a unique blend of hard work, keen intellect, and loving appreciation of each child’s strengths.
Angie Orozco teaches Class I (Grades K-1).
Angie and her family moved to Austin from Anaheim, California, a year ago. There she taught first grade for ten years and was a bilingual assistant in grades K-3 for six years before that. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from Chapman University and a Master’s in Education from Grand Canyon University. She and her husband Richard have two children ages 7 and 10.
Bob Sweeney teaches high-school social studies and, together with Suzy Gregory, offers monthly writing clinics for high school students.
Bob has degrees in Philosophy, Psychology, and Interdisciplinary Humanities from the University of Texas and San Francisco State University, and eight years of experience as an editor.
Schoenstatt advisor.
Fr. Jonathan Niehaus leads our monthly Symposia and is the Schoenstatt advisor to our parent-teacher committee.Fr. Jonathan is a member of the Schoenstatt Fathers. He received his degree in Catholic theology in Münster, Germany, and was ordained a priest in 1994. He is currently director of campus ministry at the H.L. Grant Catholic Student Center at Texas State University in San Marcos. He has written several books about the history and spirituality of the Schoenstatt Movement.