Instructors
Mr. Scott Augustine
PRIMA II BOYS
Scott Augustine is the parent of four enthusiastic Aquinas Learning students (plus a toddler) and his family has been a part of the Aquinas Twin Cities Center since its first year. Scott has enjoyed the role of Behold Science Mentor for the Prima I and Prima II students at Aquinas Twin Cities for seven years, last year he taught Alta II Economics. Mr. Augustine has worked professionally as a Certified Financial Planner for twenty-three years. He earned a B. A. in economics with a minor in business from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. The Augustines reside in Stillwater and are parishioners at the Church of All Saints in Minneapolis. Their favorite family past time is traveling to beautiful places where they can behold God’s beauty and splendor, especially Hawai’i.
Miss Catherine Dahl
PARVA
PIANO LESSONS
PRIVATE TUTORING
Catherine Dahl is a lifelong homeschooler and pianist. Herself a graduate of Seton Home Study School, she provides tutoring to homeschool families, as well as mentoring the Aquinas Learning Parva class for the past 7 years. Formerly with the Music Teachers Network, she has taught beginning and intermediate piano for 12+ years. A history enthusiast and card-carrying bookworm, she loves to learn, explore, and share all she can about history and the Catholic Faith. She lives in West St. Paul with her sister and two beagles.
Miss Maggie Dahl
PRIVATE TUTORING
Mr. Tim Doran
LATIN
Mrs. Kelsey Eberhardt
MATH
Kelsey Eberhardt is a math fanatic! She graduated from the College of Saint Benedict with a degree in math education and computer science. Kelsey worked as a software developer and corporate trainer for 8 years but still did math tutoring on the side just for fun! She has been a math mentor for Aquinas Twin Cities for four years and is excited for another great year. In her spare time she enjoys playing French horn, reading, playing tennis, and learning to crochet. Kelsey resides in Shakopee with her husband and three young children.
Mrs. Kathy Flicek
PRIMA I GIRLS
Kathy retired just one year ago after teaching in a Catholic School and later in the public school system for 30 years. She graduated from St. Olaf College with a Fine Arts and Elementary Ed. degree and earned a master’s degree from St. Mary’s. While her children were growing up, she was her parish’s DRE for 15 years and taught Religious Ed for 30 years.
Kathy lives on 10 acres of her family’s farm in Webster with her husband Paul. They have been blessed with four children and 13 grandchildren.Paul and Kathy enjoy doing anything that involves those grandchildren!
Kathy is so excited to join the Aquinas Twin Cities team, her daughter-in-law Meg - the director, and 5 of her grandchildren who currently attend Aquinas!
Mrs. Meg Flicek
DIRECTOR
Mrs. Laura Hudinsky
SEWING
DRAMA
Hi I’m Laura Hudinsky.
I am a wife, a mother to a little girl, designer, seamstress, and homemaker!
I have been sewing since I was 11 years old and started sewing professional when I was 18. I have owned my own alterations and custom sewing business for 10 years now.
My favorite thing to sew is dresses for my daughter and wedding dresses. I got married in April 2020 and designed/sewed my own wedding dress! I love the creativity that wedding dresses let you have!
When I'm not sewing I love to read, bike, kayak, explore nature, crochet, bake/cook & hang out with my amazing family!
Mrs. Missy Kluesner
P.E.
Mrs. Sarah Mergen
BEHOLD SCIENCE
Mr. Juan Perez
LATIN
Mr. Juan Perez first encountered the classical world when he stumbled into a liberal arts degree at a public university in South Florida. Intrigued by the ancients, he dove headfirst into their philosophy, language, and history, which mercifully led to a rejection of Christian synchronism and a total embrace of the Catholic Church. He spent some time studying 20th-century history, in particular, the good work of Pope Pius XII, before graduating from Ave Maria School of Law in 2010.
Now Mr. Perez spends his weekdays working from home for Thomson Reuters where he helps corporate legal departments manage their legal spend. In the evenings, he serenades his beautiful wife and five rambunctious daughters to the tune of the baritone ukulele. In his free time, he participates in a neighborhood confraternity where he gets to study theology, practice beer-brewing, and host traditional processions throughout the liturgical year. Mr. Perez has taught Logic and Latin in the past and is delighted to be teaching Schola Alta's Philosophy course at Aquinas Twin Cities in preparation for teaching this class to his own daughters when they move into the Schola Alta years.
Mrs. Karen Perez
U.S. HISTORY INTEGRATED WITH LITERATURE & COMPOSITION
MODERN WORLD HISTORY
Once upon a time, Mrs. Karen Perez discovered an American Girl book in her grade school library. From then on, when she wasn't playing basketball, Mrs. Perez always had her nose in a book. Then, in college, she got to study abroad in Toulouse, the medieval city where the Dominican order was founded and Saint Thomas Aquinas is buried, opening her eyes to the beauty of medieval Christendom. So, she dove into the 13th century and earned a liberal arts degree with a certificate in medieval studies from Dartmouth and hoped to begin a career in book publishing.
Instead, the Lord sent Mrs. Perez to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she worked in digital marketing at Google for ten years before happily quitting the corporate world to begin homeschooling with Aquinas Learning in Minnesota. She has delighted in teaching IEW's history-based writing classes at Aquinas Twin Cities since 2017, Schola Alta I Lit/Comp since 2021, and Schola Alta I History since 2022. Mrs. Perez's goal is to motivate her students to know the story of history; to behold truth, goodness, and beauty in literature; and to practice the skills of thinking, speaking, writing, attentiveness, and virtue.
The Perez family worships at the Saint Augustine Oratory in South St. Paul.
Mrs. Maggie Schiltz
HUMAN ANATOMY
CHEMISTRY
Maggie has been teaching in Catholic education for over a decade. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the College of St. Benedict and a Master’s degree in Engineering Education from the University of St. Thomas. She loves teaching all science topics in light of the Catholic faith and is excited to start at Aquinas Learning. Maggie works at a yarn shop on weekends and spends the majority of her free time knitting and crocheting. Maggie lives in St. Louis Park with her husband, Joe, and one year old daughter, Martha.
Mrs. Renee Schoenfelder
PRIMA I & II: BEHOLD ART & MUSIC
FINE ARTS
My family of six children joined Aquinas Learning in 2018 and I have been the Behold Music and Art mentor since 2019. I currently have a son in his first year of college, a daughter who attends high school, and four children at Aquinas Learning. We love the community and rigor of study that we have found at Aquinas Learning and I am forever grateful that my husband, John, convinced me to join!
I graduated undergrad with degrees in Music Education K-12 and Sacred Music, and I have a Masters of Education with a Montessori emphasis. I taught primary level Montessori and private piano lessons before beginning my homeschooling career.
We are members of the parish at the Cathedral of St. Paul since my conversion to the Catholic faith twenty years ago and we live in Burnsville.
Miss Claire Sullivan
PRIMA 1 BOYS
Hi! I am Claire Sullivan. I am the second oldest of seven girls and three of them are at Aquinas Learning. I was homeschooled up through 8th grade and for high school I went to Chesterton Academy. I have helped out at a camp called Totus Tuus for 7 years, where I watched over children between 1st through 6th grade. I am currently doing online classes to teach elementary education and also working at 2 other schools along with Aquinas.
Coming from a big family, I know how different each child’s mind works. I love to see when the children fully understand something, and therefore can help the others around them understand it too. I am very excited to get to know all the children and their family.
Mrs. Jessica Tupy
MONDAY CHILDCARE
Mrs. Rachel Tupy
PRIMA II GIRLS
Rachel and her husband, Jake, reside in Prior Lake and have been married for 17 years. They are blessed with six children, five of whom attend ATC. After being part of the ATC community for the past two years, Rachel is excited to join the Aquinas mentor team.
Rachel and her family are parishioners at St. Catherine’s in Prior Lake. Rachel holds an Associate’s Degree in Interior Design and a Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Studies with a focus in Elementary Education. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family, especially gardening and watching her family swim. She also loves the long days of summer and enjoys baking treats for family and friends during the Christmas season.
She looks forward to helping students discover the beauty and wonder found in learning and making each week’s lessons both engaging and memorable.