Meet Our Staff

Hello! I earned my degree from UW- Eau Claire in Education Grades 1-8. My minor is Language Arts. I grew up in Kaukauna Wisconsin, a small town close to Appleton. My dad was an elementary teacher for almost 40 years. I have 5 siblings who are spread out all over the country!

I moved to Oak Creek in 2005 to teach kindergarten and then 2nd grade. I coached the girls basketball team including being an assistant on the 2008 state qualifier team.  

I married my husband Dan in 2007. He is currently the Community Director at Pius XI High School in Milwaukee and the Head Boys Basketball coach.

We have three daughters, Emily, Maggie and Audrey. They all attend Wauwatosa Catholic School. We love the warm inviting community. I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of this staff.

My name is Brianna Alexander, I am the K4 teacher at Wauwatosa Catholic School. I am proud to be born and raised in Wisconsin. It is my passion to teach and inspire young minds. Teaching at a Catholic school is a great privilege for me as it allows me to integrate my love for teaching and love for Christ in my daily work. During my free time I spend a lot of time outside in God's nature. I love to hike, run, bike, and swim. It has been a gift to be a part of the Wauwatosa Catholic School community this year. These students bring such joy to our community and remind us there are blessings all around us every day. 

My name is Melisa Zlensky.  I am the kindergarten (k5) teacher at Wauwatosa Catholic school.   As an educator I set high expectations for my students so that I can lay a strong foundation for them to continue to grow and blossom through their educational career.  I have a positive classroom environment where we work together as a team to earn rewards in our classroom.  I also work with the students to help them set goals for themselves and we work together to accomplish the goals that we have set.  

I graduated with my associate degree from UW Waukesha and earn my bachelor's degree from Carroll University with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Early Childhood.  I then went on to receive my master's degree from National Louis university in Curriculum and Instruction.  

I have been working at Wauwatosa Catholic since August of 2012.  My husband matt and I have three kids: Madalynn (8th grader), Mason (6th grader), and Makinley (3rd grader).  We also have three cats named Kobi, Delilah, and Hope.  When I am not at school or working on school things, we enjoy watching our kids play football, baseball, softball, and basketball.  We also enjoy traveling and spending time together as a family.  I also enjoy reading, quilting, sewing, hiking, camping, and spending time with my extended family.  

Hello! My name is Sarah Norgord and I am the First-Grade teacher at Wauwatosa Catholic School. As an educator, it is my job to encourage students to work hard, make learning relevant to their personal lives, and create a safe environment where all students can succeed. Students will become independent and critical thinkers if they are given the opportunity to work together, collaborate with their peers, think outside of the box, and discover things for themselves. This will allow students to reach their full potential. 

I belong to Saint Mary’s Parish in Waukesha. I attended Waukesha Catholic from grades K4-8th grade, and then went to Catholic Memorial High School, and after that, graduated from Carroll University with a dual licensure in Elementary Education and Special Education with a minor in Early Childhood Education. 

I am a dedicated, caring and flexible teacher.  I am certified to teach preschool through eighth grade but my passion is working with three, four and five year olds.  I am also a devoted mother of two.

Personal Goal: I deeply value my own Catholic education and wish to impart my knowledge and love of God and family to my students.  My goal is to instill a love of learning in a faith centered classroom.  I foster positive self-concepts and a positive self-worth.

Hello!  I am looking forward to teaching your child at Wauwatosa Catholic School.  I attended UW-Milwaukee where I earned my Early Childhood Education Degree.  I have been a teacher for ten years and have taught grades K4, K5 and 3rd.  I was born and raised in Milwaukee, attended St. Pius X grade school, and Dominican High School.  I am married and have two sons who attend Wauwatosa Catholic School. 

Teaching has been a passion of mine since I was in high school.  In my classroom, I show my students that I care about them by getting to know them and listening to what they have to say.  I provide a routine and consistent learning environment for them.  We will have a lot of fun with hands on activities, learning about our IB Units, learning from each other, and going on field trips. I look forward to getting to know my students and their families.

After 16 year in education, I still see myself as identifying most with the reflective IB attribute. I continually look at how I can improve how I present materials to students to create an engaging learning environment that meets each student at their ability level. I want each student to feel success and be the best version of themselves.

My name is Beth McAleer. I have spent the last few years as a teacher’s aide and was given the opportunity to return to the classroom as a 5th grade teacher after taking time off to raise my children. I am thrilled to be teaching at Wauwatosa Catholic School. We belong to St. Bernard Parish and look forward to including the Catholic Faith in my classroom. I have three children, Emma who is in 6th grade, Claire, who is in 3rd grade, and Brady who is in K4. I love to read and hope to instill my passion for reading into your children. In my spare time I enjoy knitting and gardening.

I am thrilled to be joining the middle school team at Wauwatosa Catholic!  Originally from Glenview, Illinois, I moved to Milwaukee after high school to attend Marquette University.  I graduated from there with degrees in Broadfield Social Sciences and Elementary Education.  I also have a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from National Louis University.

I spent the first ten years of my career teaching social studies and language arts at a middle school in the Milwaukee Public Schools. After taking seven years off to spend time at home with my children, I returned to the classroom five years ago to teach Title 1A reading to grades K-6th.   I feel incredibly blessed to now have the opportunity to work with the wonderful middle school students at Wauwatosa Catholic in a faith based setting.

In my free time, I love to spend time with my husband and three daughters, all of whom attend Wauwatosa Catholic. 

 have a Bachelor's Degree in Education with dual minors in science and mathematics.  My greatest assets are my positive attitude and calm nature.  I have found that if I remain positive and calm; I can always find a solution. It works for behavioral concerns, and when collaborating with parents, co-workers, and employers.  When I take a moment to consider their needs and motivations, we can problem solve for answers.  In fact, I haven’t found a situation in my personal or professional life where keeping calm hasn’t served me well.

I grew up in the Milwaukee area and attended school at St. Ann’s and St. Hyacinth grade schools.  I attended Pius XI High School.  I am thankful for my catholic upbringing and I feel it has helped make me the caring person I am today.  I have been married for ten+ years and my husband and I have an amazing son.  We live in Glendale. Family is very important to me without my families strength and support I would not have been able to achieve all I have.

My name is Mary Jo Wales and I was born in Milwaukee WI. I am 1 of 4 children adopted into a very loving Catholic family. I  began college at UW-Whitewater but ended up moving to Florida where I graduated from the University of Florida. I have three children who are all adults now, living their own wonderful lives. My two miniature dachshunds ((Lily and Chester) are my walking pals. I’ve known since 7th grade that I wanted to teach Physical Education. GYM is WHERE I teach, I teach Physical Education!  I’ve been a Catholic School educator for a LONG time and love it more every year.

Ms. Leah graduated from Mount Mary University in 2018 with an Art Therapy major and a Business minor. She is excited to work with the students of Wauwatosa Catholic School! Ms. Leah hopes to use this experience to expose students to different kinds of fun art mediums in a creative, reflective, and compassionate way. Her favorite mediums are painting, mixed media and jewelry making.  During her free time, she enjoys listening to music, Netflix, selling jewelry at craft fairs and chilling with the dogs.

Fr. Phillip Bogacki is the Pastor of Saint Bernard and Christ King Parishes. From Milwaukee, he has benefitted from Catholic education his whole life. He has an accounting degree from Marquette University. Ordained a priest in 2008, he has served in several parishes and Archdiocesan roles, but most of all enjoys serving as a pastor at Saint Bernard and Christ King and being connected to two parish schools.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, I’ve lived in Milwaukee all of my life. In 2012, after completing a bachelor’s degree at UW-Milwaukee, I heard God calling me to the vocation of priesthood. I entered St. Francis de Sales Seminary in the fall of 2012 to more actively pray, study and discern my vocation. In May of 2018 I was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Following ordination I began my assignment as associate pastor to Saint Bernard and Christ King Parishes. I love being a priest and cannot imagine a life better than serving the Lord!

I have been a life-long member of the Basilica of St. Josaphat. My uncles and cousins were Franciscans so of course I grew up on the south side of Milwaukee because if the Basilica is your spiritual home you can’t live too far away. St. Josaphat School was home to 3 generations of our family. I am so happy that my mother lived long enough to take my son to the same school that 2 other generations before him attended. Our Catholic education was very important to our family. I was proud to be a “Mercy High Gal” and my son loved the Jesuits and was a Marquette High – Marquette U grad. I have served in many roles at the Basilica including children’s choir, Home and School President, Christian Women President, Eucharistic Minister and typing the church bulletin to name a few. I spent 38 years as an employee of Milwaukee Public Schools – Department of Human Resources . I was then offered a position as the Administrative Assistant at Wauwatosa Catholic School – a job that I truly feel blessed to have. My favorite past time is attending athletic events at Catholic Memorial High School, watching my 2 grandchildren. While we all have experienced some rough times this past year, I have never doubted my faith nor was I ever in doubt about how blessed I am to be part of Wauwatosa Catholic School. I am very grateful to Fr. Paul, Fr. Phillip and Fr. Will for all their support and also to our Principal, Lori Suarez for the phenomenal job she does and the faith that she truly lives on a daily basis.

Hello! Faith is an important part of my daily life. I feel that the combination of attending public and private schools helped me become a well-rounded person. As a graduate of DSHA I was able to continue my passion for athletics and spent 4 years on the Varsity swim team. Today I remain active with yoga which helps create and maintain balance in my mind, body, and spirit. I also developed lifelong relationships with a core group of wonderful women throughout my time there whom I remain friends with today. As I branched out into my adult life and later graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a B.S. in Education coupled with a certificate in Cultures and Communities, I began to understand the direction of my life by recognizing the people and things I placed value in.

Family is important to me. Giving is essential to personal growth. And recognizing the goodness in life is an artform that most definitely becomes hard to recognize at times when difficulties in our life show up unannounced. It is at those times that we must cling to our faith. Looking back at my lifelong journey thus far, I recognize that it has had its challenges (I was just brought to tears while writing this) but yet who would I be without the strength I’ve gained every time I didn’t lose faith? God never leaves us. In the times when we are afraid and think we are alone, we are being cradled, and eventually carried to our next destination of personal growth that almost, always leads to remarkable levels of gratitude.

I had always hoped for tons of siblings and a huge family of my own! Neither happened of course. And looking back I figure that is why I had been called to work with children. God knew, and has always known, what I have needed long before I ever did. I enjoy hearing children laugh! I love the funny things they say out of pure innocence! I have had an affiliation with St. Pius X for 15+ years and I have been a part of the WCS community since its inception in 2011. That is why I take such great pride when students return to visit and say hello. That’s the best feeling and the biggest compliment! That tells me, I did my job. I left a mark. Thank you for taking the time to read a glimpse into my life. Vaya con Dios…