Faculty Directory

Born a Roman Catholic in Clifton, Virginia and living most his life in the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Kieran O’Donnell is a lifelong learner. He is very passionate about language studies, having learned and consistently speaking 7 of them. Learning music on the piano, guitar and saxophone as a means to praise the Lord is also a primary passion. He enjoys sports, history, a good book and a bowtie. Mr. O’Donnell wishes for his students to love God and appreciate His beautiful world through their courses more fully at Chesterton Academy.

Karen Schindler is a native of the Pacific Northwest and of Traditional Catholicism. She has taught in Catholic Classical academies since the age of 21, initially as a member of a religious congregation where she received the bulk of her experience and training, and brings 20 years of experience in both teaching and parish/youth ministry to the table. After earning a B.A. in philosophy at Cal State Long Beach, she went on to get her Master’s in Theological Studies at the Pontifical Institute of John Paul II in Washington D.C. Second only to her devotion to Theology and Philosophy is her love of sharing great ideas with young minds in a classroom setting. In her free time, Karen loves to read, hike, play her flute, and do some ballroom dancing from time to time.

Melissa Hart is a singer and multi-instrumentalist music teacher from San Francisco, California. She received a Bachelors of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, where she studied songwriting, music production, and vocal performance. Miss Hart had a long journey to make to find her home in the Catholic Church after a secular upbringing. She is now full of the zeal of a fresh convert, and could not imagine a more wonderful way to use her musical training than to sing Our Lord’s praise for the rest of her life. She is a cantor at St. Patrick's Church and a member of Cantores in Ecclesia.

Monica Harrison is overjoyed to be the Math and Science teacher at Chesterton Academy of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. She is a devout Catholic, and believes firmly in truth and beauty, and that both of these aspects of God are found in Math and Science, and that by learning we grow closer to Him. Ms. Harrison has a background in aerospace and robotics, and she has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Gonzaga University. Horseback riding is her other passion, and she has ridden since the age of 8 and taught since the age of 13. When not riding or researching, Ms. Harrison enjoys reading and writing fantasy and poetry, sketching and inking, hiking with her dog and arguing truth and morals with interested bystanders.