Welcome Back: New Assignments and New Faces
We are happy to report that we have many new students joining us this year at Concordia Prep. Due to the growth in enrollment, a few changes have been made to the administrative team:
Mrs. Ruth Heilman will continue to serve as the Upper School Principal, Faculty Dean, and Director of STAR. She will no longer direct our choir program, allowing her to focus her time and energy leading the STAR program and supporting our instructional staff.
Mr. Curtis Miller will serve as Middle School Principal and Dean of Students. He will continue to lead the middle school while taking over student discipline for grades 6-12. This is Mr. Miller’s seventh year at CPS. In addition to his teaching duties, he has been an outstanding Middle School Boys Basketball Coach.
Ms. Grace Belz will transition from Registrar to serving as our Director of ELL and a STAR Instructor. Ms. Belz will also work with our admissions team as a Middle School Admissions Counselor. Ms. Belz has been an outstanding addition here and will be an excellent resource for our international and STAR students.
Mrs. Jane Ponton is our new Director of Communications. She joins us from The Seton Keough High School in Baltimore where she worked for 11 years. She will be managing all school communications efforts. Please send her news about your students’ activities and achievements and information that you need to be disbursed to the CPS community: janeponton@concordiaprepschool.org.
From left: Ms. Megan Brunssen, Ms. Audrey Mehl, Mrs. Cheryl Foley, Mr. Tony Rinaudo, Ms. Lauren Staehr, and Mrs. Michelle Suggs. (Not Pictured: Mrs. Joy Johnson and Mr. Phillip Serrell).
New Teachers:
We are excited to welcome Ms. Megan Brunssen as an Upper School Social Science Teacher and our Varsity Girls Soccer Coach. Megan graduated from Concordia University Nebraska and brings college-level playing and club coaching experience to the Saints Athletic Department.
Mrs. Cheryl Foley is joining us as our Middle School Science Teacher. She is a very experienced teacher most recently serving at Harford Friends School. She brings a dynamic hands-on teaching style and over ten years of experience to the CPS Community.
Mrs. Joy Johnson is re-joining our staff this year as an Upper School English and Theater Teacher and will lead the Concordia Prep Theater Program. Mrs. Johnson brings fifteen years of high school and college teaching experience to the CPS Team.
Ms. Audrey Mehl is joining our teaching staff after serving as an ELL Missionary in Hungary for two years. A Concordia University Nebraska graduate, Audrey will serve as a Middle School Social Science and Religion Teacher and Junior Varsity Volleyball Coach.
Mr. Tony Rinaudo, a Towson University graduate, is joining our team after spending two years working for Carroll County Schools. He brings his dynamic teaching style to our Physical Education, Social Science, and World Language Departments, working with both middle and upper school students.
Mr. Philip Serrell is joining our Math Department after many years teaching in both public and private schools in Harford County as well as running a math tutoring service. Mr. Serrell will teach math in both the middle and upper school.
Ms. Lauren Staehr is joining us from Concordia University Nebraska as the Middle and Upper School Choral Music Teacher and Middle School Religion Teacher. Ms. Staehr is experienced with choir, piano, drama, and forensics and will be an excellent addition to our Fine Arts Department.
Mrs. Michelle Suggs is re-joining our staff to serve as a Middle and Upper School Spanish and Math teacher. Her fifteen years of experience and energetic teaching style will be a wonderful addition to our team.