Administration & Faculty

Mr. DeJak received the B.A. Classics (Latin) degree from Loyola University Chicago and embarked on a teaching career that has spanned over 20 years. He attained his J.D. from Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, practiced law, and served on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Army prior to being named the founding headmaster of two private high schools in the Twin Cities area: Chesterton Academy and Holy Spirit Academy. He has taught Latin, Greek, literature, government, and theology in high schools in Chicago, Cleveland, the Twin Cities, and Ann Arbor. He is the co-editor of With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit (Loyola Press, 2016). A member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, his articles have appeared in Chronicles, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Gilbert Magazine, the Distributist Review, and the St. Austin Review. He and his wife, Annie, are the proud parents of eight children and live in Front Royal, Virginia.

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Mr. Guttierrez teaches Latin II & III and 6th grade science. He is also the Dean of Students, handling discipline matters as well as planning and directing the activities of the school.  He additionally coaches middle school boys soccer. He has been teaching at Chelsea for 9 years. Before that, Mr. Guttierrez taught at Villanova Prep in Ojai, CA, and served in the admissions office at Thomas Aquinas College. Mr. Guttierrez and his wife, Annie, have six children, two of which attend Chelsea (6th and 4th grades).

Mrs. Suzanne Stanmeyer holds a B.A. in English with a concentration in elementary education from Clarke University and an M.A. in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. She has experience teaching in a variety of settings including public and private schools, a home-based pre-school, CCD and RCIA classes, private tutoring, and as a homeschooling parent. In 2012, Mrs. Stanmeyer co-founded a private school in Purcellville, VA where she served as school administrator for four years. Most recently, she has volunteered her time and talent as a member of the Chelsea Academy Board of Directors.  
Mrs. Stanmeyer is a life-long Green Bay Packers fan. She and her family live in Front Royal. 

Mr. Fier attended Christendom College and subsequently earned his Bachelors of Business Administration at James Madison University.  He began his career in the audit practice of a Big 4 accounting firm (KPMG) and then returned to Christendom College serving as the Controller and then Director of Finance.  Luke is a certified public accountant and a member of both the American Institute of CPAs and the Virginia Society of CPAs.  Luke and his wife Kristin live in Front Royal and have been part of the Chelsea community since Fall 2020 when their oldest son, Tommy, entered fifth grade.

Mrs. Waters earned her undergraduate degree from St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York before going on to receive a Master of Curriculum and Instruction at Hood College. For ten years she taught English at St. John’s College Preparatory High School, where she also served as English Department Chair and directed an annual Shakespeare festival. Mrs. Waters and her family live in Winchester.

Mr. Vander Woude graduated from Christendom College, where he earned a B.A. in  Philosophy with a minor in Theology

Mrs. Lewis, our Office Manager, relocated from New Jersey where she served as the Executive Assistant and Office Manager for over fifteen years in a Catholic high school and elementary school.  She attended the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station, NJ.  In her previous parish in NJ, Mrs. Lewis served as a religious education teacher for thirteen years, youth ministry director and was part of the liturgy planning committee. She now resides in the Eastern panhandle of West Virginia with her husband and is the mother of two grown children.