Brian Muth’s roots at KolbeAcademy go deep. His parents are one of the founding couples of Kolbe. They helped start Kolbe in 1980 because of the moral and educational degradation at the public schools and, yes, even the parochial schools. Over his vigorous protests (but with his eventual acceptance), he attended Grades 7-12 at Kolbe. In the first year at Kolbe, there were a whopping eight students. There were two students in his graduating class—prom was really boring. It was great telling people that he graduated first in his class, though, until they inevitably asked “Out of how many?”
Brian graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Dallas with a B.A. in Politics. He also met and married his wife, Deana, at UD. After college, he dabbled with law school and then got down to the business of supporting his family. He and his wife (and the ever-growing ranks of their children—they’re up to eight now) lived in Southern California and in the Dallas area. While in Southern California, Brian received his M.B.A. with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of Southern California. He has held a variety of positions over time, from Paralegal with a leading pharmaceutical company to Director of Marketing for the premier legal publisher in the country.
With a variety of experiences that would prove helpful and feeling God’s call, Brian and his family relocated to Napa in 2003 to direct the efforts at Kolbe, both the day school and the home school program. Currently, his efforts are mainly involved with the newly merged Kolbe Academy & Trinity Prep Day School.
Director
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Position: Director
Responsibilities: Director of the Home School
Mary Rowles has been with KolbeAcademyHomeSchool since the program’s inception. She has contributed to the growth and development of the home school program over the years as home school manager (2002 – 2004), head of academic advising (2004 – 2007) and as registrar (1996 – 1999, 2005 - present). Mary’s creativity and artistic capabilities have distinguished her as the official graphic designer for most of KolbeAcademy’s Study Guides, Answer Keys, Catalogs, and Newsletters. Mary’s current responsibilities include day-to-day management of Kolbe's operations, graphic design, and academic advising.
Mary and her husband, Chuck, have been married for 25 years. They have ten children, 6 boys and 4 girls, and so far, are the proud grandparents of two, soon to be three, grandchildren. Mary has home schooled several of her children off and on over the last 20 years, three of whom have mild to moderate learning disabilities. All of her children have attended Kolbe Academy’s Day School during years that she was not home schooling, and her five oldest have graduated thus far, each going on to attend college.
Advisor Manager
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Position: Manager of Academic Advising Responsibilities: Academic Advising, Curriculum Development, Enhanced Evaluation Service
Everett was born and raised in Southeast Alaska, aka “God’s Country.” He studied Philosophy at GonzagaUniversity (Go Zags!), and spent two years in the seminary before discerning he wasn’t called to the priesthood. He is married to his beautiful wife Melissa, also a KolbeHomeSchool employee, and has a 1 year old son, Nathaniel Paul. Before joining KolbeAcademyHomeSchool, Everett worked as a high school teacher in math, science and computer literacy at a small private Catholic school in Cottonwood, Idaho, and also spent time in the insurance industry working for Aflac.
Everett is known for being long-winded related to subjects he loves, including baseball, ultimate frisbee (which he played competitively in college), philosophy, theology, poker and anything involving Alaska.
Academic Advising Department
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Dianne Muth and her husband, Jerry, are one of the three founding couples of KolbeAcademy. Dianne taught grades 1 through 4 for many years at Kolbe Academy’s Day school and could always humbly assert that most of her students read, comprehended, wrote and did math at least one full level above their grade. After 20 years of teaching, she served as principal of KolbeAcademy’s Day School until 2003 when she “retired” to become a full time volunteer academic advisor for the HomeSchool program.
As an early proponent of the need to focus on phonics, Mrs. Muth wrote the Ignatius Speaks and Writes English program used in KolbeAcademyHomeSchool’s program for first and second grade, and is currently working on the third grade edition. She has also authored the KolbeAcademy guides to the Catholic National Reader and was instrumental in preparing the daily lesson plans for the majority of subjects in Kolbe’s grade school program.
Dianne and Jerry enjoy traveling in their spare time, and use this passion to help Kolbe out by representing at many home school conferences in the spring. She and her husband have successfully reared 10 children, the youngest three of whom all graduated from Kolbe’s Day school. They have 40 grandchildren, with another on the way, and 3 great grandchildren.
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Position: Academic Advisor for Math and Science
Responsibilities: Curriculum Development, Academic Advising, Forum Administration
Megan Lengyel is a mid-westerner at heart. Although she was born in Chicago, she grew up in St. Louis most of her life where she attended St. Peter’s Catholic School in Kirkwood, MO, and Cor Jesu Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in St. Louis, MO. She is the eldest of 4 girls and 1 boy.
Megan continued her education at the University of Dallas in Irving, TX, where she graduated cum laude with her B.S. in Physics in 2001. While in school, she spent a semester in Italy where she began to learn the Italian language as a hobby. Megan took a year off between undergraduate and graduate school to work for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Physics Lab Demonstration Group in Cambridge, MA. The following year, she resumed her studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK, where she received her M.S. in Meteorology in 2004, doing her thesis research on lightning. She also assisted in the development of a Meteorological Measurements Lab course, giving her unique experience in curriculum development at the collegiate level.
Megan met her husband while storm chasing in the summer of 2000. They were married in January of 2004 and moved to California where Megan began her work with KolbeAcademy in June of 2004. Since then, she and her husband have relocated to Atlanta, GA, where Megan continues to work remotely for Kolbe primarily as their math and science advisor.
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Position: Academic Advisor for Middle School and High School
Marita Vargas has taught English at the Junior and Senior High levels as well as ESL (English as a Second Language). She has a B.A. in English from BiolaUniversity and is a certified High School teacher. She also holds a certificate in Story Development from the University of Washington as her great love is writing instruction. A convert to the Catholic Faith, she credits the writings of G.K. Chesterton with her conversion. She has worked part time as a book and drama reviewer and columnist. She would remind people to never discount the power of the written word to effect conversion, and hopes that Kolbe students will become great communicators of the Catholic faith.
Mike Pace joined the home school staff as a full time advisor in the summer of 2008. He is a graduate of San FranciscoState, class of 1980. Mike taught at KolbeAcademy’s Day school for 6 years including its combined 5th/6th grade class, 7th, 8th, and high school math, and high school biology. He took a 2 year hiatus when teaching at KolbeAcademy to home school one of his three children. Mike is a convert to Catholicism who credits his love of reading Chesterton and Belloc for his conversion.
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Position: Head of Special Needs Department, Academic Advisor for Elementary Education Responsibilities: Academic Advising, Curriculum Development
Melissa is the oldest of three children. Her family currently lives in Denver, CO, where she attended MullenHigh School. She graduated cum laude from Gonzaga with her B.Ed. in Special Education, and has worked toward a Masters degree in Behavioral Analysis and a Reading endorsement. She is certified to teach Elementary Education, Early Childhood Education and Special Education.
Melissa is a full-time stay at home mother for Nathaniel Paul, and part-time Academic Advisor. Before coming to Kolbe, she taught a 1st/2nd combo class at a small private Catholic school in Cottonwood, Idaho.
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Position: Academic Advisor for High School Responsibilities: Academic Advising, Enhanced Evaluation Service
Jacinta grew up in the beautiful state of Colorado where her parents homeschooled her along with her three siblings. After high school, she attended Christendom College, graduating in 2004 with a B.A. in history. She spent the following three years working for Seton Home Study as a grader in Virginia. There she developed a love and passion for Catholic education. Having a bit of a pioneer spirit, she decided to try something she had never done in a place she had never been, so she moved to the West Coast and taught for two years at Kolbe Academy's day school. Now she is back to the homeschooling realm and is enjoying helping Kolbe's homeschooling families.
Curriculum Development Support
The following people have been, and continue to be, instrumental in developing the KolbeAcademyHomeSchool curriculum. From literature to history to science, all continue to be a blessing to the growth of our program.
Abigail Palmer
Abigail Palmer was born in Denver, CO and raised in both Colorado and Billings, Montana. Out of a deep desire to go to Rome and to explore the big world outside of the BigSkyState, she decided to attend University of Dallas. After four years and a very rewarding semester in Rome, Abigail graduated with a B.A. in Classics in 2001, concentrating in Greek. She is a member of Eta Sigma Phi, the American Classical League, and Phi Beta Kappa.
After two years of teaching in Kolbe’s Day School from 2001-2003, Abigail decided to go back to graduate school at the same time as meeting her future husband, John. In the summer of 2003 she and John married, and in the fall of 2005, Abigail received her M.A. in Classics from FordhamUniversity. The couple then returned to St. Helena, where they live now, and Abigail then continued her work with KolbeAcademy as a full time academic advisor. Abigail now continues to aid KolbeAcademy with curriculum development on occasion while caring for their son.
Stacy Fileccia
Stacy Fileccia is a Catholic home schooling mother (since 1998) of six children, ages infant to 16. She holds a B.A. in English with University and Departmental Honors and the Professional Writing Certificate from WrightStateUniversity in Dayton, OH. Before home schooling, Mrs. Fileccia worked as a technical writer and editor. Since she began home schooling, she has done various volunteer writing projects and enjoys writing for pleasure. She lives with her husband and family in Sugar Hill, GA. Stacy has primarily been helping KolbeAcademy in the development of their Elementary Literature program, though she began her work with Kolbe through the Junior High Literature program.
Amy Ettawageshik
Amy hails from Traverse City, a tourist haven in northern Michigan. Amy was home schooled until eighth grade, and then attended St. Francis and Traverse City Central High Schools, before returning home for her senior year to home school. Interested in pursuing a liberal arts degree, Amy attended The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Nashua, NH, and Franciscan University of Steubenville before completing her A.A. in Liberal Arts at NorthwesternMichiganCollege in Traverse City. In 1999, Amy completed her B.A. in English Language & Literature at the University of Dallas in Irving, TX. Amy met her husband over the Christmas break of 1997, and they married in January of 2003. They are settled in Traverse City where they are raising their four children. Since graduating from college, Amy has worked on obtaining her teaching degree, and worked as a tutor both for home and at school students, until beginning her work with KolbeAcademy in December of 2005.
Kathryn Landreneau
Kathryn grew up in Maine where she was home schooled for the majority of her childhood. She graduated from KolbeAcademyHomeSchool in 2001 and was a National Merit Finalist. She went onto the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, where she graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English. Kathryn met her husband while in college, and later moved to Thousand Oaks, California, where he currently is pursuing his Law degree at PepperdineLawSchool. They have three children. Katherine has been helping KolbeAcademy with developing literature curriculum since the Fall of 2005.
Helen Valois
Helen M. Valois, MI, is a free-lance writer, editor, and indexer whose articles have appeared in Lay Witness, National Catholic Register,Miniature Horse Voice, and other publications. She has taught school and home school, and has developed textbooks and teacher's materials for secular as well as Catholic publishers. She resides with her husband, Jim, and children Don Paul and Maryann, in Wisconsin. Helen has been helping KolbeAcademy with developing literature curriculum since the Spring of 2006.
Jennifer Alba
Jennifer is a registered nurse at UCSF Children's Hospital and works in pediatric cardiology. She graduated from Kolbe Academy's Day school and went onto receive her B.S. in nursing from the University of San Francisco in 2006. She has been instrumental in developing Kolbe's Biology and Anatomy & Physiology courses. Her and her husband, Vince, are expecting their first child in November.
Sofia Livorsi
Sofia Livorsi earned her M.Ed. in elementary education from LoyolaUniversity in Chicago. She spent four years teaching fourth grade in Catholic schools in both Chicago and Houston. As a teacher she particularly emphasized skill development in writing, public speaking, and conflict resolution. She also implemented a classroom economic system that rewarded students for good behavior and academic success. Her son Nathan was born in July 2008, and she now stays home to take care of him. Sofia, her husband, and Nathan live in Decatur, Georgia.
Patricia Knickmeyer
Patricia Knickmeyer earned her M.A.T., with high honors, from WebsterUniversity. In her home state of Missouri/Archdiocese of St. Louis, she is certified to teach Religion, Developmental Reading, Social Studies—grades four though nine, and English—grades four through twelve. Throughout her twelve-year teaching career, she variously taught religion, social studies, English, and Reading to seventh and eighth graders at Catholic elementary schools. Accustomed to developing her own units for these subjects, Patricia is delighted to continue this work as she develops study guides for KolbeAcademy’s junior high-level novels.
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Abigail Palmer
Stacy Fileccia
Amy Ettawageshik
Kathryn Landreneau
Helen Valois
Jennifer Alba
Sofia Livorsi
atricia Knickmeyer earned her M.A.T., with high honors, from 