Staff
All of our Roman Catholic faculty take an annual, public Oath of Fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.
To view this oath click here.
Dian Schmiedicke
Founder
dschmiedicke@divineassistanceacademy.org
Dian Schmiedicke grew up in the coastal community of Santa Cruz, California, the eldest daughter of Austrian and German immigrant parents. Raised as an evangelical Christian, she discovered and entered the Catholic Church while attending college in Asheville, North Carolina. After graduating, Dian took a position in international development with Human Life International in Front Royal, Virginia where she met her husband, Michael. She discovered Montessori and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as a new mother searching for truth and beauty in parenting and began to study.
Dian holds a B.A. in Biology and Chemistry from Warren Wilson College, an Association Montessori Internationale Primary Diploma from The Washington Montessori Institute, and a Masters Degree in Education from Loyola University. Dian also holds Levels I, II and III Certifications from The Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. She founded Divinum Auxilium Academy in 2012 after running a small, community Atrium for two years and is the mother of four children, all having attended the school.
Jessica Harvey
Head of School
Latin Program Coordinator
jharvey@divineassistanceacademy.org
Jessica Harvey is a lifelong Catholic raised by a gentleman farmer in Vermont. Growing up, dinner table discussions often highlighted Robert Frost poems or theological debates when all the reference books came out to back up someone’s opinion. This spirited pursuit of the truth has informed her own family where her husband speaks Latin to their four children in hopes they’ll speak back (still hoping) and books are voraciously consumed and passed around. Jessica received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Thomas More College of Liberal Arts with a concentration in Literature, and a Masters of English from the University of Dallas. She has taught in grammar and high schools and served as the Director of Admissions at her Alma mater. Her favorite teaching moments were teaching her own children to read when she homeschooled them for 6 years. Jessica lives with her family on the tippy top of the Blue Ridge in Linden, VA with a menagerie of goats, pheasants, chickens and bees.
Faith Starnes
Grammar Class Master Teacher
Faith joins us as a lifelong Catholic and proud native Texan. Having graduated from the University of Dallas with a major in Theology and concentration in Ethics, she is excited to bring her love of faith and ethics to the Front Royal community.
Growing up, Faith’s parents instilled a love of athletics in her and her 5 siblings. By the time she graduated high school, she had played tennis, volleyball, basketball, softball, track and cross country. After having played one year of college basketball, Faith realized she was called to focus more on her faith and friendships. She continued her passion for athletics by overseeing the intramural seasons at the University of Dallas throughout her last two years.
After graduating college, Faith spent the next year as a Seton Teaching Fellow in the Bronx where she helped bring the Catholic faith to students and their families. There she cultivated a deeper passion for sharing the faith while also realizing a fervor to continue teaching.
She enjoys working out, traveling, cooking, crocheting baby blankets for her friends, and painting. She is very excited to begin her new journey in Front Royal!
Amy Schumann
Pre Grammar Class Master Teacher
Pre Grammar Art Teacher
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Coordinator
Levels I, II and III Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Catechist
aschumann@divineassistanceacademy.org
Guiding, instructing, inspiring – Amy has always loved teaching. She began teaching Sunday school when she was in middle school and went on to earn a BS in Elementary Education from Taylor University. She has taught in public and private schools, Christian and secular, including The American School of Yaounde, in Cameroon, where she started an art program for nursery through high school students.
While serving as a Protestant missionary in Cameroon, Amy found her home in the Catholic Church, met and married her husband, and gave birth to their first child. Back in the US, Amy homeschooled their children and taught art in their weekly co-op. Through homeschooling, Amy discovered the richness of the Montessori emphasis on hands-on work and leading children to independence. In 2013, the Schumann family moved from DC to Front Royal and Amy began teaching at Divinum Auxilium. In 2015 she earned her Lower Elementary Montessori Diploma from North American Montessori Center. She also holds Level I and Level II Certification from The Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
Amy enjoys working with each child, guiding them to grow in their strengths and to improve their weaknesses, in the unique setting of Divinum Auxilium, where students and staff are joined in a community imbued with our Catholic faith.
Jane Smith
Montessori Lower Elementary Class Directress
Level I Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Catechist
jsmith@divineassistanceacademy.org
A Virginia native and life-long Catholic, Jane attended Christendom College, graduating with a degree in history and a goal of pursuing a career in archaeology. Along the way, her life took a turn towards working with more recently alive humans. Recently Jane completed the Montessori Lower Elementary Teacher Training Program at the North American Montessori Center and received an International Montessori Teaching Diploma.
Working as an individual tutor for English language and essay writing students, Jane discovered how deeply satisfying and rewarding teaching can be. After several years as a distance education tutor, she moved into working with children at a public library, appreciating the ability of this role to help children grow holistically and educate parents and caregivers on the current discoveries from neuroscience and psychology about how children learn.
After discovering the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd through her son, she grew to love the Montessori method’s deep respect for the child and its approach to educating the child as a whole person: fostering social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and intellectual growth.
Jane’s hobbies include gardening, hiking, canoeing, native plant and tree identification, and single-handedly attempting to bring hats back in fashion with her extensive vintage hat collection.
Sarah Morrison
Lower Elementary Class Assistant
smorrison@divineassistanceacademy.org
Sarah was born in Oklahoma and moved to the Central Valley of California when she was a young girl. Nestled between the Coastal and Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges, Sarah spent her time hiking, camping, and backpacking. Before moving to Virginia a few years ago, she worked at a lodge in Sequoia National Park, maintaining facilities and living quarters as Housing Supervisor and organizing recreational activities for employees and guests as Health and Wellness Coordinator.
She raised her son, Asher, within Sequoia National Park the first 2 years of his life. Asher accompanied her to work, went backpacking at 6 months on the High Sierra Trail, and called the mountains his backyard. During this time, Sarah realized how rewarding it is to be immersed in nature, teaching others about hiking trails, safety, and preservation of the Parks. This catapulted her desire to pursue education.
Sarah received a B.A. degree from Fresno Pacific University, majoring in History with a minor in Biblical Studies. Her focus was on ancient Hebrew history due to the amount of intrigue she has surrounding the stories of the Old Testament. With enthusiasm and determination, Sarah is blessed to be part of the Divine Assistance Academy family.
Eleanor Kolesar
Lauren Osborne
Primary Assistant
Lauren grew up in Suburban Chantilly Virginia, where she was heavily active in sports, academics, and entertainment, which in turn left little time for rest and contemplation. While attending Virginia Tech, Lauren awakened her love for the Faith and grew in her relationship with God amidst the secular campus.
After graduating with a Business Degree, she explored many different paths before landing on childhood education. Having experienced camp counseling, volunteering for a youth group, after school care, it was babysitting her 3 year old niece that drove her to seek out Montessori school. She soon fell in love with the individualized attention and freedom provided to each child. Lauren ultimately wants to give these students what was hard to find in her public schools: Love for God, space to explore, and a fascination with reality.
While she is not working, Lauren enjoys hiking, cooking, Rosary walks, playing the ukulele, and visiting Jesus in the Chapel. She is grateful to be serving at Divinum Auxilium and is excited to begin assisting in forming the next generation of saints. “…for to such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Kathryn Blicharz
Latin and Art Teacher
A native of Front Royal and lifelong parishioner of St. John the Baptist, Kathryn has always enjoyed the natural landscape of her hometown, from floating on the Shenandoah to hikes in the Blue Ridge. After graduating from Chelsea Academy, she traded green Virginia summers for colorful New England falls and attended Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire where she earned a BA in Liberal Arts. Kathryn then pursued her lifelong passion for drawing and painting to Virginia Commonwealth University and obtained a BFA in Communication Arts. Since graduating, she has taken up freelance book illustration.
When you love something, you want to share it with others. For Kathryn, teaching has always been a natural extension of her love of art. She is excited to share not only her love for art, but also her love for God and His Creation with her students.
Christin Espinola
Bookkeeper
Human Resources
cespinola@divineassistanceacademy.org
Christin grew up in San Diego, California. Her parents, originally from Wisconsin, relocated to sunny, warm, Southern California before she was born. She and her ten brothers and sisters were raised with the Catholic faith being an integral part of their daily family life. Her parents’ financial sacrifice to send her and all her siblings to Catholic schools throughout their school years made a deep impression on her, and she is grateful for the excellent education she received. When she began her own family, she felt compelled to homeschool her children with the goal of integrating the Catholic faith in their education, as well. All four of her children are graduates of Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Christin is a Certified QuickBooks Desktop User and has an Administrative Assistant Certificate, from Madera Community College. Her background includes homeschooling her children, and her previous work experience includes working as an elementary school aide, both in mainstream and special needs classrooms. Additionally, she has worked as a school office assistant. She and her husband, Doug, recently moved from the Central Valley of California to Front Royal to live near their children and grandchildren.
She enjoys celebrating life with her children and grandchildren, reading, and walking in the beautiful surroundings of Virginia.
Craig & Jamie Spiering
Farm Managers
Craig and Jamie managed the Farm and Garden Program at Divine Assistance Academy from 2019 to 2022 and have had children at the Academy since its founding in 2012.
They have a small farmstead where they have a garden and permaculture orchard, and have raised goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, pigs, bees, and Great Pyrenees dogs.
Informed by their Faith, they share a love of Catholic tradition and culture, literature, sustainable agriculture and responsible stewardship over God’s Creation, natural medicine, and, of course, raising their nine children and working toward a holistic household economy.
Aubrey O’Hara
Gardening Instructor
Aubrey is a mother of two who recently moved back to the Shenandoah Valley with her family. Growing up in Frederick County, Virginia, she fell in love with the history of the area and the mountains. Singing in the church choir and attending Sacred Heart Academy during her elementary school years provided her with a strong foundation rooted in the Catholic faith. After receiving her B.A. in Government and International Politics at George Mason University, she spent many years working in marketing at Whole Foods Market and the University of Virginia. Aubrey left her role at UVA to homeschool her children. During that time she started studying and implementing Montessori, Classical, Waldorf, and Charlotte Mason-based education philosophies.
Her childhood, filled with playing free in the forests, orchards, and fields, has made her a passionate advocate for all children (and adults) to experience nature on a daily basis. Aubrey loves to study food policy, various organic and permaculture farming practices, and cooking what she grows. She recently started a small family farm at her home in Middletown.
Aubrey believes all children deserve a meaningful and holistic approach to education and is excited to be part of such a wonderful community.