Meet Our Staff

Having attended a Catholic grade school while growing up in De Pere, Wisconsin, I feel right at home at Wauwatosa Catholic School.  Studying, dance, basketball, volleyball, and spending time with my large extended family filled my high school days at Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay.  After receiving a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2009, I decided to go back to school to pursue a career in education.  In December 2013, I completed the Graduate Teacher Certification Program at Concordia University of Appleton.  I look forward to receiving a master’s degree in Teaching and Learning from Concordia soon. Teaching second graders is an exciting challenge.  I hope to show my students just how much fun learning can be and instill in them a passion for lifelong learning.

Personal Goals: To provide a learning environment that is respectful and safe for every student and adult.  To guide students to become positive-thinking productive members of society.  To inspire students to be leaders in their community, parish, and family.

As a second-career teacher, I have finally discovered my true calling in Kindergarten! I danced and sang my way through high school and college on the stages of Six Flags Great America. After earning a bachelor's degree in journalism at Northern Illinois University, I worked for several years as an editor and reporter at a daily newspaper in Illinois before moving to Milwaukee with my family. My husband Matt and I have two beautiful children who attend Wauwatosa Catholic.

 I got my first taste of teaching when I taught tap dance to middle school-age kids. From there, I gained experience in middle school as a paraeducator, and later taught fourth grade. Kindergarten has been the most exciting and rewarding work by far. I look forward to this school year getting to know all the new students and their families.

Personal Goal: I hope to nurture my students' natural curiosity and excitement toward discovering new things and help them become caring, respectful, loving young people. 

I was raised in Oak Creek, but now live in Cudahy. I went to college at UW-Parkside and grad school at UWM. I worked in Racine public schools at Olympia Brown Elementary School and the Pius XI Performing Arts Academy before working directly with Wauwatosa Catholic. I took piano lessons as a child and later in college became focused in music education in general music and choir. I love music and I love teaching. It excites me to use my knowledge and skills to guide children through expanding their musical abilities. Thank you for allowing me to be apart of your child's 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 the seventh grade homeroom teacher and middle school reading and language arts teacher.  I am excited to be here in my first year at Wauwatosa Catholic.  I have been teaching for over twenty years at the middle school level in Catholic schools, and my greatest joy is in helping students develop a love for reading and becoming expressive writers who enjoy writing. I am always amazed at the number of students who come back to me and tell me that now they enjoy reading and writing, and that is why I teach!

I have a degree in education, grades 1-8 from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, with a minor in Spanish and many graduate credits in reading and writing.  In my spare time I enjoy biking, reading, traveling, (I just got back from Santa Fe, which I loved!), museums and art galleries, yoga, working out, Brewers and Badgers, and spending time with my family up north and outside.  I have two sons who are 18 and 20. I am excited to get to know all the new faces here, and I hope you will enjoy reading our blogs and learning about all of us!

Hello Wauwatosa Catholic Families! Here is a little about me. I was raised in a small town of Spring Green, Wisconsin. I grew up on a farm where we raised cattle, pigs, and grew many different types of crops! It was such a fun experience!  I moved to Milwaukee almost five years ago and have loved every minute of it.  In my free time, I love to cook and bake, hang out with my friends and family, and travel.  I received my Elementary Education degree from Wisconsin Lutheran College.  This will be my second year of teaching first grade and my first year at Wauwatosa Catholic! I love learning and exploring new things! I cannot wait to share my love for learning with all of you!

Personal Goal: My personal goals for teaching include creating a safe, respectful, and responsible learning environment for all students.  Where they feel comfortable to share and express their creativity amongst themselves and their peers. Another way in making students feel comfortable is through encouragement and positive reinforcement.  I teach students to be respectful of others and themselves, the use of manners, and an understanding that they will grow socially, emotionally, spiritually, and academically throughout the school year. I aspire to teach students in an engaging manner where they can see how topics we are studying are relevant to the world and/or our daily lives.  This year I will work towards becoming acclimated with Wauwatosa Catholic, be part of many community, church, and school events, and to continue to build positive relationships. 

My educational background includes a BA from Mt. Mary in Art Therapy/Elementary Art Education.  Working eight years at St. Pius X as the part-time art teacher has been a rewarding experience.  Prior to this, I substitute taught all subjects for nine years at Christ King.  My husband Mike and I have been residents of Wauwatosa for 25 years where we raised our five children.  My interests include art, reading, boating and scuba diving.

Personal Goal:  My personal goal is to provide a safe, caring and respectful environment in which students can work:

• to encourage students to be inquisitive about art, enabling them to develop a desire to produce exciting pieces
• to develop strong communication skills through interaction and inflection giving them the ability to describe their art work
• to work with different materials while practicing problem solving techniques
• to explore many types of art, so to develop an artist who is able to assess his/her individual level of skill and then further work on areas that need improvement
• to discover the cultural values of various civilizations through their interpretation of art and then promote an understanding
• to provide a dynamic and interesting environment involving all the senses.

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 who attend Wauwatosa Catholic. 

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 have been married for eight years 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 1st graders and their families.

I was born and raised on the west side of Michigan in a small town called Montague. I graduated from a Catholic College in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2007. Upon graduation I joined the United States Peace Corps and served as an English Teacher/Community Development Organizer for three years in the Republic of Moldova. When I completed my service I returned to the U.S. to purse a graduate degree from Marquette University in public service and simultaneously worked as a Title 1 school teacher.

My husband and I got married in 2012 and share our home with a giant German Shepherd dog named Stella and our baby girl Nora Lynn.  We enjoy traveling, frequent trips to the dog park, spending time at the lake house in northern Wisconsin and football games.

My educational philosophy is simple: each and every day for each and every student. I strive to prepare my students to become self-reliant and global individuals; to teach them to think, speak and write with clarity, precision and independence; to lead them to recognize and value their individuality; and to inspire them to embrace, challenge and find joy through achievement.  And most importantly I plan for us to have a lot of fun in the process! 

Hi! My name is Jessica Krause and I will be the new P.E. teacher at Wauwatosa Catholic for the up-coming school year. I am so excited to join this school team, as it already feels like family. Born and raised in Minnesota, I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Kinesiology and continued on to complete my M.Ed. in Physical Education. My husband and I just moved into Wisconsin in June, and while he is originally from the Milwaukee area, I am very happy to call this place my new home.  When we are not working, we like to spend our time outdoors and spending time with friends, family, and our dog, Cooper.

My goal for the 2016-2017 school year is to help every student find success in physical education while learning new skills and activities. I hope to instill a positive attitude toward being physically active and the importance of being a healthy, well-rounded individual. I look forward to meeting all of you this fall and seeing all of the children learn and grow into confident, independent beings, with a bright outlook on life!

I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado! I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education at the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. After graduating from college I participated in a year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) and I served in the Milwaukee area as an educational assistant. After my year of service with JVC, I attended Cardinal Stritch University and received my Master’s Degree in Education. I fell in love with the city of Milwaukee and I have lived here for the past six years. I taught K4 for the past four years and I am looking forward to starting my fifth year in K4 at Wauwatosa Catholic School! In my free time I love to draw, cook, ride my bike, travel and watch football. I am a huge Denver Broncos fan! I also love spending time with my family, my fiancé, and my dog Harvey. I love to smile and have a passion for children!

Personal Goal: My teaching goal is to create a safe, faith based, peaceful, and positive classroom where students gain social skills and have respect for one another. I love to create hands-on activities and differentiate the classroom to help meet every student’s needs. I also strive to build positive, meaningful relationships with my students and their families. 

Born and raised in the Twin Cities area, my teaching adventures have taken me from Minneapolis to St. Paul, to Milwaukee, and happily landed me here at Wauwatosa Catholic School teaching Four-year-old Kindergarten.   I have worked in early childhood as a dance instructor, teaching assistant, and Pre-K/Four-year-old Kindergarten teacher. Early childhood is my strength and my passion. I have a Bachelor’s in Dance and Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an Elementary/Pre-primary teaching certification from Augsburg College in Minneapolis. An active member of the local dance community I perform with Wild Space Dance Company as well as choreograph my own projects for Radermacher Dance Company.  I love sharing the joy of movement with my classroom of students. Outside of school and dancing you might find me biking, reading, experiencing art of all kinds and spending time with my husband, John, and our dogs and cats.

My Personal Goal: To provide individualized instruction that nurtures my students academically, socially, physically, emotionally, creatively and spiritually; and to develop great thinkers who are inspired by, curious about, and care for the world around them.

 have taught on many levels—university, high school, and elementary school, and have enjoyed and learned from them all.  I am sincere, accommodating, and flexible, and I use a variety of strategies to engage students.  I believe learning another language and culture enriches our lives.

Personal Goal:  I will provide a positive, rich environment academically and culturally for my students.  I will value their contributions and efforts.  I will encourage the students to love learning and to look at the world with an inquiring approach.  I will also encourage them to use Jesus’ example as a guide for life.

My name is Nora von Dorn - Ortega and I am thrilled to be joining your strong educational community at Wauwatosa Catholic School as the third grade teacher! I received my undergraduate degree in 2011 from Marquette University in psychology and family studies, and am currently completing my masters from Marquette as well, in elementary education. Needless to say, I am excited to join the community at Wauwatosa Catholic. I believe that teaching is a very important job and devote myself to constantly improve and evolve my skillset. My aim is to fuel a drive within every student, and to develop the their academic and personal skills which I believe lead to a flourishing learning community. I have always loved learning both in the classroom and out of the classroom, and I hope to instill that love of learning to my students. I appreciate that teaching provides service both to the community at large, and to individual children. As a teacher I promise to bring positivity, excitement, motivation, and unconditional positive regard for every student to the classroom.

When I’m not teaching I like to run, cook, read, travel, and relax with family and friends. I’m originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, which isn’t too far from Green Bay (shout out to all you Packers fans). Milwaukee has been my home for the past seven years and I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far. I’m looking forward to spending time with your child, and am thankful for the opportunity to work within such a wonderful educational community!

 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.

Hello! My name is Kelly White and I am the new fourth grade teacher at Wauwatosa Catholic School. I am so blessed to be part of such a great school! A little about me: I grew up in Hales Corners and attended school in the Whitnall School District from Kindergarten-12th grade. I have been an active Parishioner at St. Mary’s Catholic Faith Community in Hales Corners since I was a child. In my free time I enjoy spending time with my friends and family, doing yoga, running, and attending Milwaukee Brewer games. Go Brewers!   

 In December of 2014, I received my bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from UW-Whitewater. During my last semester of college, I was a Teacher Intern at an elementary school in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District. During this experience, I co-taught a multi-age (1st-3rd grade) classroom with two veteran teachers. After graduation, I was a long-term substitute teacher in a fourth grade classroom at Prince of Peace Catholic School in Milwaukee. My hard work and dedication in these field experiences, along with the classes I’ve taken during my undergraduate degree, have fully prepared me for my first full year of teaching.

I firmly believe that when children are given a learning environment where they feel valued and have choice in how they learn, children will be able to reach their full potential. I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for us. 

Mrs. Heidi Hernandez has brought a wealth of leadership talent and knowledge since joining Wauwatosa Catholic School in 2012. Under Mrs. Hernandez's leadership, Wauwatosa Catholic School became the first authorized Catholic International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme elementary school in the State of Wisconsin, while maintaining and strengthening our Catholic identity.

Prior to coming to Wauwatosa Catholic School Mrs. Hernandez earned a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Marian University, a master's degree in Administrative and Instructional Leadership from Alverno College and a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Alverno College. Mrs. Hernandez was an instructional supervisor in the Catholic schools through Nonpublic Educational Services, a Massachusetts-based company that provides tutoring services for more than 15,000 students around the world. Mrs. Hernandez also brings experience as a literacy coach and teacher in the Milwaukee Public School System.