Jenny Cook teaches 8th grade American Literature and Formal Logic. She earned a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD in 2006, and a Master’s in Teaching from Western Oregon University in 2008. She specializes in middle school Language Arts and American History. Jenny and her husband, Allen, homeschooled their children for three years, giving her a true appreciation for the “best of both worlds” hybrid model of education which JPII offers.

She is extremely happy to be part of the JPII family as a teacher and a mother of five enrolled students.

Jenny has no spare time between mothering and teaching duties, but enjoys playing classic Nintendo games, planing fun birthday parties for their seven children, and Jazzercising unironically.

Mary Hermann teaches pre-algebra. The 4th of 10 children, she has worked at JPII St Charles in the past and has several siblings who are JPII graduates (and a brother who met his wife when they were both teachers at JPII). She was a lay consecrated woman for 12 years, half of which were spent working at a boarding school in Rhode Island. She holds a bachelor’s degree in religious and pastoral studies and has taught Middle School religion for 10 years. She chased her now husband Alex for a whole summer before he realized she was interested. Eventually (with the help of a novena and a comment from a friend) it worked and they married in 2021. They have an active and outgoing one year old (named after St John Paul II) who makes sure they don’t get too much sleep and that they notice every truck on the road. She enjoys reading, baking, doing puzzles, listening to audiobooks, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. 

Mr. Levanos was home-schooled, received a classical Christian education in highschool, and obtained his BA and MA in history at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is passionate about Catholic theology; Christian apologetics; and Western history, philosophy, and literature. At JPII, Mr. Levanos teaches Medieval History and Literature and American History. In addition to teaching at JPII, he works as a sidewalk counselor for Coalition Life (a pro-life organization dedicated to protecting the unborn) and teaches PSR at St. Raymond-St. Elizabeth Church. He is honored that God has given him the opportunity to teach at JPII and prays and aspires to encourage his students to grow in their knowledge of, faith in, and love for Christ. 

After studying at Thomas Aquinas College, Mr. Martel knew what he wanted to do with his life. The delight and wonder of learning were what he wanted to pass on to the younger generations. He has been involved with the home-schooling community here in St. Louis since the 1980’s and served as teacher at Gateway Academy and now currently at St. John Paul II. What Mr. Martel likes about JPII is its dedication to a classical curriculum as the best foundation for a solid education and its 3-day format allowing the parents to actively exercise their very important role of mentoring their children’s formation.

The Catholic faith also plays a central role in the presentation of all academic subjects integrating faith and reason so necessary for proper human development. All that he loved and was privileged to learn while at Thomas Aquinas College is what he wishes for all students of JPII.

John Tardiff grew up in Rhode Island, and received his undergraduate degree at Thomas More College in New Hampshire. After spending some time wandering around Europe, including walking the Camino, and studying in Rome, he received a Master’s in the Theology of Marriage and Family at the John Paul II Institute in DC. He has taught almost every subject in the upper school, and especially enjoys studying American history, Geometry, and Latin. He always finds a way to slip astronomy into whatever he’s teaching. He also enjoys digging in his backyard and gazing at the stars.

Originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, Mrs. Katya Vail graduated Summa Cum Laude from Saint Louis University, where she received her Bachelor’s in Theology with minors in Spanish and Catholic Education. In the Spring of 2025, Mrs. Vail earned her Master of Arts degree in Theology from the Aquinas Institute here in St. Louis, with honors. Her area of interest in Theology is Systematics, with special attention to Soteriology. She and her husband were blessed to welcome their son Dominic in Summer 2025. She is a parishioner at St. Francis de Sales Oratory and in her free time you can find her at a thrift store, a coffee shop, or on a very long walk!