Faculty
Leadership | Staff
Lower School
Erin Fortin
Kindergarten Teacher
Mrs. Fortin has been teaching at UCA for four years. She previously worked in the public school system for years in various roles and has loved working with children of many different ages, from pre-k through high school. Seeing them grow as students and as people is something she is passionate about and enjoys fostering. She has been continuing this work at UCA which has opened up those opportunities both academically as well as spiritually! Her favorite bible verse is Jeremiah 29:11.
Mrs. Fortin has been married to her husband, Gilbert, since 2008. They have two children, Jeremiah and Ariah. As a family, they love going on adventures together in their Jeep, and they also really enjoy the beach, especially the ocean. Mrs. Fortin and Gilbert like playing cornhole and spending time with friends and family. They have two dogs named Mia and Clay. She also enjoys playing guitar and piano, singing, wood-burning, and crafts.
Holly Ford
First & Second Grade Teacher
Mrs. Ford is starting her third year at UCA. She enjoys music, art, American Sign Language, and laughing.
Kellie Stilianessis
Third Grade Teacher
Kellie has been teaching at UCA for six years. She has been married to her husband, William, for ten years on Christmas Eve. Besides third grade, she has also taught first and second grades, fourth and fifth grades, middle school math. When she’s not in school, she enjoys singing, board games, card games, math and word puzzles, and spending time with her family. Teaching has been a passion since she was a child, and she loves being part of the UCA family.
Erica Petre
Fourth & Fifth Grade Teacher
Dr. Erica Petre is the fourth and fifth-grade teacher at UCA. She loves learning new things and wants to help her students become lifelong learners. She moved to the Northeast Kingdom as a teenager and has taught in the area for the last ten years. She really enjoys working with students on projects that give them an opportunity to apply all that they've learned. When she’s not teaching, she likes to spend time restoring her older home and reading suspense novels. She is also interested in music and loves to try out different instruments. Her favorite bible verse is John 16:33, and she’s very excited to be part of the UCA community.
Kathy Beals
Physical Education Teacher
Mrs. Beals has been teaching at UCA for 11 years and enjoys singing, birding, attending concerts, and traveling in her free time.
Ruth Marquette
Handchimes & El-Bells Teacher
Mrs. Marquette has been teaching at UCA for four years and enjoys playing the flute, ringing handbells, reading, and camping. She earned her Handbell Musician Level 1 Certification through the Handbell Musicians of America in 2018 and continues learning through festivals and seminars. She has been making music with handbells since 2002 and enjoys sharing what she learns to unite people through this musical art form. As UCA’s resident flutist, she has accompanied the Bronze Ambassadors, UCA’s advanced handbell ensemble, several times. Her favorite bible verse is Ephesians 5:19, and she often says, “I like to think that by making music, you pray twice.”
Upper School
Jeremiah Schuyler
Middle School Social Studies Teacher
Mr. Schuyler grew up in New York State and fell in love with Vermont at an early age through summer church camp. He taught History and other social studies classes at Richford Jr-Sr High School for fifteen years before coming to UCA. He has been teaching at UCA for four years, and his favorite bible verse is Ephesians 4:32. He lives in Newport City with his wife and their two boys. In his free time, Mr. Schuyler enjoys golf, cooking, antiques, music, and playing the drums and guitar.
Matthew Petre
Middle School Mathematics & Science Teacher High School Christian Studies Teacher
Mr. Petre has been teaching for three years, and this is his first year at UCA. In his free time he enjoys Legos, running, and drinking lots of coffee. Mr. Petre is also teaching Gaming as part of UCA’s new ESports program.
Jim Smith
High School History/Government & Catholic Studies Teacher
Mr. Smith is starting his twenty-sixth year at UCA, teaching a number of classes from political sciences, Church History, and American History. He has a deep love for history and works hard to pass this on to his students for the purpose of helping them achieve goals that connect them to history. Mr. Smith’s favorite bible verse is James 1:5.
He has lived in the region his whole life and has taught locally for thirty-six years. He loves to be outside in the spring, summer, and fall and really enjoys painting during the season. His hobbies include reading, watching sports, and visiting the coast of Maine.
Meredith Gaines
Middle School Language Arts, High School English, Yearbook, & Drama Workshop Teacher
Mrs. Gaines is beginning her eighth year of teaching at UCA and has been a teacher in various capacities for most of her adult life. Many ages have passed through her classrooms, from preschool music 3-year-olds to high school seniors in AP Literature. She graduated from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, while focusing her studies there on performing arts in live theatre acting, directing, and music. Always an eternal student, she also completed studies in English, Art History, and Mathematics. She is currently working on her Masters Degree in Creative Writing through Southern New Hampshire University.
After several years of teaching remotely at UCA, Mrs. Gaines and her husband moved from Texas to Vermont in August of 2023. Even after living in a big city for most of her life, she has realized in her move to Newport that she really is happiest in small-town life. She resides with her husband, 2 dogs (Maggie & Moose), and 2 cats (Marty & MukDuk) and is grateful to have her adult daughter, Madisyn, close by in Newport as well. Her favorite bible verse is Romans 5:3-5.
Mike DeSena
Middle School Christian Studies Teacher
Pastor Mike has served in the pastorate of the Morgan Church for twenty-five years, preaching and teaching God's Word to the congregation. He serves as the Pastoral Advisory Council representative on the UCA Board of Directors. He has taught at UCA for three years and enjoys cooking and playing the guitar in his free time. His favorite bible verse is Proverbs 3:5-6.
Kimberlee Strepka
Advanced Handbells Teacher
Dr. Strepka has been teaching music for more than thirty years and at UCA for twenty-two years. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University, where handbells were the topic of her dissertation. Music is a unique avenue for teaching excellence in life, collaborating with others, ministering to the disenfranchised, and witnessing to our community and beyond. Children have a powerful opportunity to change their world through their music-making, and she enjoys providing her students with those experiences. Her favorite bible verse is Acts 17:28, and her hobbies are Ukrainian egg decorating, writing, and research.
Wendy Lippmann
High School Mathematics & Science Teacher
Mrs. Lippmann has been part of the UCA community as a teacher, coach, and parent for 17 years. Prior to moving to the NEK in 2003, Mrs. Lippmann spent time in academic labs in Boston and Seattle, where she worked in biomedical research and taught at Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, MA. Her favorite bible verse is Ephesians 2:10, and her hobbies are theater, puzzles and games, reading and listening to audiobooks, spending time with family, traveling, and gardening.
