GRADES 1-2
Rachel Pate is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Wesleyan College, where she received a B.A. degree in Early Childhood Education. After her graduation, Rachel taught kindergarten, first, and fifth grade for the Bibb County Schools System while continuing her education. In only her second year of teaching, Rachel was nominated as Disney's National Teacher of the Year for her work in building a handicapped accessible trail to the wildlife habitat she created at her school. After earning her M.A. and Ed.S. degrees in Early Childhood Education from Georgia College, Rachel moved to Gwinnett County and began teaching at Berkeley Lake Elementary School. In 1998, after seven years of teaching, Rachel left the public school system to stay at home with her infant son. In 2006, while enrolling her son in Veritas, Rachel was approached about teaching. With her love for teaching and her passion for home schooling, she soon decided to accept the offer. When she is not teaching in the Veritas classroom or schooling at home, Rachel has actively been involved in the children’s and women's ministry of her church, where she has lead K-2 students on Sunday mornings. In addition to teaching, Rachel enjoys gardening, painting, and spending time with her husband, Russell, and their three children, Noah, Madeline, and John-Michael.
GRADES 3-4
Michelle Smith graduated from Shorter College in 1994 with a B.S. in Middle Grades Education, specializing in Math and Language Arts. She went on to teach 7th grade Math in a South Carolina public school for two years, and coach JV Cheerleading. In 1997 she moved back to Georgia to get married, and began teaching at Wesleyan School, coaching Varsity Cheerleading and assisting with the Photography Club. She later moved to Bridgeway Christian Academy, and began teaching 4th grade, and coaching cheerleading. After the birth of her first child, Michelle left the classroom, but never lost her love for working with children. She worked at YMCA and Camp All American, and had two more children. She began home schooling her oldest in preschool, and later found out about Veritas in 2008. She thought it would be the perfect way to get back into teaching after her six year break. This year, in addition to Veritas, she is interning at Alpharetta Montessori School, and is enjoying learning new methods of teaching to add to what she already does at Veritas. In her little free time, Michelle enjoys spending time with her husband Ron, as well as their children, Brandon, Kelly and Jordan. They are involved at North Point Community Church, and participate in AWANAS and sign language at First Baptist Church of Alpharetta.
GRADES 5-6
Paula Nix taught special education for 7 years before staying at home for a year with her daughter. She was led back into teaching at Veritas because of their commitment to educating students from a Christian world view and assisting parents in raising a biblically minded generation. She lives in Canton with her husband, Spencer, daughter, Piper, and another daughter that will soon join the family, Haddyn. The Nix’s are part of a church plant in Canton called Isaac’s Keep, where Paula’s husband is the preaching elder.
Jennifer Meara will be teaching 5/6 grade English in Cumming. She is married to Tom Meara (above). She has experience as an adjunct faculty member at the University of South Carolina and as a classroom teacher at a private, Christian school. She earned her Master of Arts degree from Bob Jones University and her Bachelor’s degree from Clearwater Christian College.
GRADES 7-8 HISTORY AND BIBLE
Kari Mattingly graduated from Wheaton College in 1998 with a B.A. in Secondary Education, specializing in History and Social Science, as well as a minor in Psychology. She taught 10th grade World History at Providence Christian Academy, where she and her students coordinated the annual Renaissance Festival. She also served at PCA as the JV Cheerleading coach. After the birth of her first child, Kari left the classroom, but never lost her passion for teaching – or for what she regards as "His story". Now the mother of four children under six, Kari is back to teaching in the Veritas classroom, where her goal is to stir in her students a passion for both faith and learning. Although motherhood affords her very little free time, Kari enjoys spending time with her husband Tyler, as well as their children. Ella, Emily, Evie, and Ty provide her with a wealth of writing material! Kari also enjoys reading, sewing, traveling, and attending services with her family at Brownsbridge Community Church.
GRADES 7-8 ENGLISH
Jane Jarrett
GRADES 9-12 ENGLISH
Cindy Barnwell has been teaching high school English for the past 24 years, and has taught in both public and private schools. Prior to teaching at Veritas, she taught at Fellowship Christian School in Roswell, GA for 15 years, where she served as the department head for the English department, and created the department’s curriculum. She holds a GA teaching license, ACSI certification (Assoc. of Christian Schools International), and is certified by the College Board to teach both Advanced Placement Literature and Composition and Advanced Placement Language and Composition. In the past, she also worked for an educational publisher, designing and writing grammar and writing curriculum for the Texas public schools. She is married to Richard, who is a veterinarian, and they have a son, Nick, who is a student at Auburn University. She and her husband are members at Crabapple First Baptist Church in Milton, GA, where they work with AWANAS and participate in other church-related ministries. In her free time, Cindy enjoys reading, gardening, sewing, hiking and camping, playing with her dogs, helping out at Richard’s animal hospital, designing curriculum, and writing.
GRADES 9-12 HISTORY, BIBLE and GREEK
John Clark graduated from Wheaton College in 1970 with a B.A. in Sociology, and a minor in Philosophy. He then earned an MTS from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and did further postgraduate work in Popular Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University. John has taught numerous adult continuing education classes for the Evening at Emory program for sixteen years and taught Sunday School and served as Christian Ed director for two different churches in Atlanta. His wife Laurie has taught blind students for forty years. They attend Church of the Redeemer in Sandy Springs. John’s hobby and passion is researching and collecting 20th century American popular and folk music.