Thomas Carrenard

Head of School

Thomas Carrenard received a B.A. in International Studies from The College of Staten Island, NY, a Master of Social Work from Fordham University, NY and is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to ACCA, he worked for 13 years for several public schools in NYC and GA, particularly serving students with learning and behavioral difficulties. In addition, he has had significant experience doing multiethnic pastoral ministry in a variety of church contexts. In his last pastoral role, he served as a campus minister at Dartmouth College from 2002 to 2004.

Thomas first became involved with ACCA in 2005 as the father of two students, currently in grades 5th and 6th at the school. In 2007, he accepted the invitation to serve as head of school and sees his involvement to be a unique opportunity to fulfill his calling within Christ's kingdom. He longs to see ACCA's children acquire the tools as well as the joy of learning for the ultimate purpose of knowing, loving and treasuring God above all things. In addition to spending time with his family, Thomas enjoys preaching, listening to great music, reading, watching and playing various sports. He especially follows World Cup soccer and the NY Knicks.

Doug Young

Grammar School Principal

Doug Young earned his B.A. in Religion and Music from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg Virginia, and a Master of Divinity degree in Christian Education from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville Kentucky. Doug has been involved in Classical Christian education for ten years and has taught Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, and Sixth grade for a total of nine years. This will be Doug’s fourth year as principal and he is thrilled to be serving at ACCA. He is drawn to the ministry mindset of the school and appreciates the genuine desire for Christ-centered education for the glory of God. Raised in a military family, Doug has lived in Maryland, Virginia, Alaska, Hawaii, New York, Kansas, North Carolina, Belgium, Kentucky, and Minnesota. Doug loves spending time with his wife Alicia, and his children, Sadie, Andrew, Noel, and Providence. He enjoys biking, reading, playing guitar, and he loves hymns.

Annie Worrell

Pre-Kindergarten, P.E.

Annie Worrell is from Athens, Georgia and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Spanish. Throughout college she tutored bilingual students and taught adult ESOL classes. She also pursued her language skills through mission trips to Spain, Mexico and Belize. Her love of children led her to Camp Desoto in the summers, a Christian camp for girls where she taught various activities including soccer, team sports, horseback and backpacking. Annie's Christian education and upbringing gave her an early love for the Lord and helped her realize her passions for language, sports and children. After Annie got married to Eric in January of 2010, she felt God's call on her life to leave her job as a Recruiter in the staffing industry and serve at ACCA. She is honored to partner with ACCA parents this year as a Pre-K teacher.

Kathryn Byrne

Pre-Kindergarten, Art

Kathryn Byrne is a graduate of the University of Georgia where she received a Bachelor's of Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting and Printmaking. In college Kathryn served as a tutor for Kindergarten through 3rd grade Hispanic students in Athens' Oasis Catolico Santa Rafaela, an experience which spurred her interest in teaching. The Lord deepened her classroom experience immediately after graduation when He led Kathryn to work as a substitute teacher at Whitefield Academy's elementary school both as the lead teacher and assistant teacher in every elementary grade as well as Spanish and art classes. Kathryn believes that God equips the called and she desires for Him to use her as His servant to prayerfully instruct, guide and nurture her new Pre-K class. In her free time Kathryn enjoys painting, traveling, spending with her friends and family, volunteering with Buckhead Christian Ministries and exploring new culinary adventures. She is thrilled to be joining the ACCA family!

Laura Keesee

Kindergarten

Laura Keesee earned a BA in Psychology from King College in Bristol, TN, a Master of Education from GA State University, and a Certificate of Completion from Psychological Studies Institute in Atlanta. Laura has been married for 24 years and is the mother of three ages 19, 21, and 23. From 1994-1996 she and her family served as short term missionaries in Japan where her responsibilities included teaching English as a second language and leading a Bible study for English speaking Japanese women. This summer, along with her husband and daughter Lexi, she spent seven weeks in Albania, again teaching English as a second language and leading a Bible study for Albanian women. Laura is now in her 14th year of teaching kindergarten. When not teaching or spending time with her family, she enjoys reading the works of great theologians as well as historical fiction and mysteries.

Susan Laiche

Kindergarten

Susan Laiche earned a BA in Elementary Education from Berry College in Rome, GA and a Master of Reading Education from the University of Georgia. Susan married Jason, the love of her life, last summer, which brought her to Cobb County, and she immensely enjoyed her first year last year at ACCA. She previously taught Kindergarten for eleven years in a public elementary school in Conyers, (a suburb east of Atlanta), where she served as grade-level chairman for three years and founded and directed both the "Christian Community Club" and "Workplace Ministry" in her school. She has had the opportunity to take many short term mission trips, where she served as a Bible School Bible story teacher in Haiti, Belize, and Ireland. She was involved in community development and served as a rebuilding volunteer in a suburb of London. She also served as a tsunami disaster relief volunteer in Aceh, Indonesia. Susan is enjoying spending time helping her husband Jason remodel their "new" 1940's home and having fun with their two miniature dachshunds, Sebastian and Solomon.

Stefanie Litton

1st Grade

Stefanie Litton received her B.A. (cum laude) in Early Childhood Education in 2010 from Covenant College on Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Stefanie just got married in May to her husband, Adam. This is her first year at ACCA as well as her first year teaching. She has enjoyed spending time with children for as long as she can remember through babysitting, tutoring, teaching, mission trips, and Vacation Bible School. She is so excited to teach and train young children to become disciples of Christ by serving Him daily through learning and interacting with others. Her interests outside of teaching and being with children are reading, traveling, basketball, swimming, and playing games.

Christina Barbulescu

1st Grade

Christina comes to ACCA with a tremendous enthusiasm for learning and a particular love of classical Christian education. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from Auburn University. Auburn Alabama is also Christina's hometown. There, she met her husband Horatiu. Because of Horatiu, half of Christina’s family is in Romania. Christina speaks the language and has a great love for that culture. In 2005, God blessed the Barbulescus with Claudia (now an ACCA Kindergarten student). In 2009, they were blessed again with a boy named Patrick. Christina feels blessed to have a job she loves, in which she can minister to others and lean on God as her daily teacher. Her family loves museums of all kinds, art, spending time in state parks, and Classical music.

Sarah-Kate Bozza

2nd Grade

Sarah-Kate Bozza graduated magna cum laude from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She taught in a public school system in Ohio before she and her husband, Chad, relocated to Atlanta in 2000. After moving to Atlanta, Sarah-Kate made a career move to event planning. She worked for Mellon Bank as their conference and seminar coordinator until the birth of their first daughter. After the birth of their second daughter, she started an event-planning firm with another colleague and coordinated events for several non-profit organizations in Atlanta. Sarah-Kate was first introduced to Classical Christian Education through their church in Ohio and was convinced of its time-tested methods as well as its depth and purpose. When it came time for their eldest daughter to start school, the Lord led the Bozzas to ACCA. Now, both of their daughters attend ACCA and Chad serves on the Board.

Pam Grote

3rd Grade

Pam Grote is a 1977 graduate of Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, with a B.A. in Modern Foreign Languages. She has taught in Christian schools in five states, beginning her career in NJ. After taking time out to raise a family and homeschool the children for two years, Pam returned to the classroom. Over the last 14 years, she has taught at every K-12 grade level. In 1997, Pam and Rich, her husband of 30 years, started a classical Christian school in Houston, where she chose and coordinated the curriculum and taught Latin, HS Language Arts, and K-1. Pam is excited to be at ACCA helping parents raise their children for God's glory so they may grow in the knowledge of His Word and His world. Pam and Rich have four children and three wonderful grandchildren.

Shaney Mims

4th Grade

Shaney Mims recently earned her Masters of Arts in Religion from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary on the North Shore of Boston. Though she enjoyed her time in beautiful New England, she is excited to be back in the South. Shaney graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Georgia with her B.A. in Religion where she fell in love with the town of Athens. This past summer she worked as a Faculty Advisor for the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington D.C. where she taught middle school students about the importance of leadership and American History. She enjoys reading, painting, playing golf...and she loves her Georgia Bulldogs!

Michelle Williams

5th/6th Grade

Michelle is a graduate of Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History. After graduation, she worked at Dun and Bradstreet Software and ExecuTrain Corporation where she wrote curriculum used to teach adults how to use various software. From 1994 - 2000 Michelle was a stay at home mom. During this time, concerned with making the right choice of education for her children, she began to research teaching methodologies and discovered the classical Christian model. At this time God was preparing her to teach, and He called her into teaching soon after. She began teaching in 2000, and she has been a passionate member of the classical Christian movement ever since. She believes that learning is a lifelong pursuit, and teaching a different grade and curriculum every year has truly given her an opportunity to learn and stretch. She has taught 2nd-6th grade, secondary school art and art history, and Omnibus II. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Mitch, her children, Ethan (16), and Erin (14), and their Lab-Australian Shepherd mix, Bella, and their cat, Spartan. She also loves reading, walking in the woods, knitting and cooking.

Chuck Rickman

Math

Chuck Rickman earned a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in English Literature from Georgia State University. He has been married to Susan for 13 years and they have two children, Katie (7) and Alex (5). The family attends Buckhead Church where Chuck and Susan are both active members of a small group. Last year was Chuck's first year teaching math when he took over the 6th grade math class mid-year. For the 6 years before that, Chuck was a stay at home dad and spent his free time working on his hobbies, building furniture and remodeling their house. Chuck became very excited about the ideas of classical Christian education when Katie began Kindergarten at ACCA and began to look for ways to serve. He is quite grateful for the opportunity to serve as Saxon Math 8/7 and Algebra I teacher for this school year. Chuck enjoys camping, running, reading, movies, history and trivia.

Brett Edwards

Math, Spanish, P.E.

Brett Edwards is in his third year at ACCA and is teaching Mathematics, Spanish and Physical Education. He received a B.S. in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Religion at Reformed Theological Seminary. Before teaching at ACCA he taught Geometry, Spanish (all levels), and Computer classes at Dominion Christian High School in Marietta for 7 years. He lives in Marietta with his wife Katie and 5 month old baby girl Lydia. Brett was attracted to the philosophy and methodology of education offered at ACCA and its emphasis on a classical Christian education. He currently attends Midway Presbyterian Church in Powder Springs where he teaches Sunday school. In his free time he enjoys reading, playing cornhole, and mentoring young men.

Rich Grote

Omnibus*, New Testament, Geography, P.E.

Richard Grote earned a B.A. degree in History from The King's College in Briarcliff, NY. Over the last 16 years Rich's teaching odyssey has led him from New Jersey to Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Georgia. He has taught Philosophy, Ethics, Apologetics, Church History, New Testament, AP U.S. History, World History, and Physical Education. In addition to his teaching duties, he has also served as a headmaster and athletics director and has coached basketball, baseball, softball, football, golf and soccer. He resides in Kennesaw with his wife, Pam, who also teaches at ACCA. They have four children, three of whom are married, and three grandchildren. In addition to enjoying the classroom, Rich competes in amateur golf events and loves listening to jazz and classical music.

Melissa Hobson

Rhetoric

Melissa Hobson earned her BA in Communication Studies from Mississippi State University in Starkville, MS and her MA in Communication and Culture from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Undergraduate and graduate research topics included animal rights messages in family entertainment and the problem of scapegoating in anti-sweatshop rhetoric. While at IU, Melissa taught undergraduate courses in Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication. Melissa and husband David have been married for 12 years and have lived in Atlanta for 9. She is thrilled about the prospect of providing a classical Christian education for her own children, Avery (4) and Liam (2), some day very soon. In the meantime, she looks forward to introducing ACCA students to the process, products, and possibilities of the "available means of persuasion." David and Melissa are members of Smyrna Presbyterian Church (PCA) where Melissa serves the Women in the Church ministry in a number of capacities. Melissa is an active member of her local YMCA, loves to garden, and "bleeds maroon and white" for her Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Eve Marks

Science

Eve Marks obtained her Bachelors of Science in Education, summa cum laude, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Further studies in education were pursued at the Nashville UT campus and Trevecca Nazarene University, also in Nashville, TN. She has been teaching for 37 years and, in addition to home schooling her four children, has taught in both private and public schools. Christian classical education has been the focus of Eve's teaching and curriculum development for the past 14 years. She previously taught at Christian classical schools in Tennessee and Georgia. Having served at ACCA from its beginnings in 2004, Eve enjoys teaching a wide range of subjects and currently teaches Physics, Biology, Physical Science and Logic. She is the chairman of the ACCA Secondary School Curriculum Committee. Eve lives in Smyrna with her husband Steve of 37 years. Steve and Eve's youngest son, John, currently attends ACCA. Steve and Eve are members of Christ Church Presbyterian (PCA) in Atlanta where she serves in the Children's Ministry. Eve enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, reading, and outdoor activities.

Helene Ranwez

History, Literature, Composition, Latin

Born and raised in France, Helene Ranwez is a product of a classical French education with a strong English influence provided by her American mother, who was an English major. An avid reader, Helene continues to bring to the classroom fresh insights born of her wide reading interests. For the past fourteen years, she has taught students of all ages in classical schools, from the 2nd grade through high school, where she taught English literature and composition as well as History and Rhetoric. She has taught French and Latin to elementary, middle school and high school students as well.

DeAnna Baldwin

Music

DeAnna Baldwin has been teaching music for around 20 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Georgia, majoring in music performance, and graduating magna cum laudi. She teaches piano, violin, and cello students as young as 5 using traditional and Suzuki methods. She also holds Suzuki certification. Besides her responsibilities as Music Teacher, DeAnna also serves ACCA as a part-time Pre K teaching assistant. Mrs. Baldwin and her husband, Chris, are the parents of three ACCA students: Taylor (14), Michael (11) and Jonathan (10).

Rick Casey

Art

Rick Casey earned his BA in Architecture from Texas A&M University. He has 21 years of experience as an Architect and Certified Interior Designer. He has been an Artist since childhood. He is the owner of Casey Design Studio, llc. in Atlanta, which services the Architectural Industry focused on Art and Design. Rick has been happily married to Michele Casey for 16 years and is the father of two ACCA children, Elizabeth (age 11) and Elliot (age 8). Rick has instructed many coworkers throughout his career in the Art of drawing and rendering. Rick has always had a dream to teach art, especially to children. He is grateful and very excited to be joining ACCA with the opportunity to lead the children in the development of their character and skills to become artists.

* Omnibus is an integrated program of reading through the most important works of Western Theology, History and Literature.

Ceil Questad

Learning Resources Center

Cecilia Questad earned her BS in Elementary Education from Trenton State College in NJ and comes to ACCA with over 15 years teaching experience in public, private and home schooling. She believes learning is a lifelong process and has a passion for helping all children learn, especially those who learn differently than most. She's been married for 22 years to Scott and enjoys travel, photography, SNOW, reading, gardening, the beach, cooking, spending time with her 2 adopted boys and helping wherever she can. Ceil was born and raised in New Jersey and moved to Atlanta in 2008.