Team
The Garden Christian Academy is anchored in five core values which undergird the school’s distinctly Christian witness and safeguard the integrity of its close-knit team:
1) Clean Hands
2) Pure Hearts
3) Humility
4) Obedience
5) Unity of the Spirit
Stephen and Danielle Piscura
Cofounders
Stephen: Head of School · Danielle: Programs Manager
Stephen and Danielle Piscura experienced firsthand the negative impact of educational disadvantages and, conversely, the transformational power that accompanies access to a distinguished, Christ-centered education. After many years living in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood, and growing a family of their own, the Piscuras are honored to cooperate with God as He makes a way for their neighbors to gain access to the very same education which they desire for their own children.
Danielle earned a B.A. from Miami University and a M.Ed. from Cleveland State University in 2009 with specialization in Curriculum and Instruction and a particular focus on urban education. She went on to gain an endorsement in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She student-taught, substitute-taught, and led a classroom of her own in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District for years when, in 2013, she stepped out with an emerging dream to partner with Stephen to found a school for underserved children in their community. She is privileged to shoulder a wide range of roles and responsibilities at GCA, including serving as its Programs Manager.
Stephen grew up in Northeast Ohio and moved to the city of Cleveland in 2008. He met Danielle on a vision-trip to Thailand, where they discovered their shared passion for a lifestyle of service to God and others. Stephen earned a B.A. from Kent State University studying literature and photojournalism. He is privileged to serve as GCA’s Head of School.
For nearly ten years, Stephen and Danielle lived in and raised their family in the intentional Christian community they founded in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood. They have three children, Levi, Solomon, and Nienna, all of whom are students at GCA.
Jennifer Figueroa Branch
Director of Admissions & Operations Manager
Jennifer is a Clevelander who loves her city. She spent five years as an administrative assistant in a legal office, while also serving as personal assistant to an international church leader for more than ten years. These experiences serve GCA well, given how many hats Jennfier wears at the school! Her work encompasses a range of financial, administrative, and managerial tasks. She works closely with the Head of School to direct the school’s admissions processes. She conducts prospective-student open houses on a monthly basis, ensures compliance with the state of Ohio, supports core financial and HR processes, and much more! Jennifer served as a founding member of GCA’s board of directors, but resigned that role in order to become the school’s very first employee! She and her husband, Christopher, are the proud parents of two daughters, Rosalina and Lily, both of whom are students at GCA. Jennifer resounds with the words of Vincent Van Gogh, her favorite artist, when he declared, “I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed.”
Eberle Matovich
Director of Curriculum
Eberle is from Hawaii, where she grew up surrounded by the beauty and diversity of island cultures. She had the opportunity to teach K–12 students at Mana'o'i'o Baptist Academy, the small Christian school that she founded on the island of Maui. One of her favorite aspects of teaching younger grades is getting to celebrate and foster her students’ natural love for learning. Eberle enjoys exploring Ohio with her husband Scott and their two children Magdalene and Aquilla, both of whom attend GCA. C.S. Lewis sums up her worldview: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
Stacie Brandt
Director of Student and Family Support
Stacie serves as GCA’s Director of Student and Family Support. She graduated from Clarks Summit University in 2017 with a B.A. in Early Childhood Education. During her time at university, Stacie developed a passion for ministry. That passion led her to Cleveland in 2018, where she interned at Cuyahoga Valley Church as a missions and youth intern. Since living in Cleveland, she has had the opportunity to be a mentor, advocate, and provide trauma-informed care to at-risk youth. These experiences serve her well at GCA, as much of her role involves shepherding students and cultivating relationships with the students and families of GCA. Stacie is passionate about community. She loves to help out and serve wherever she can. If she’s not at church or work, you can find her at a coffee shop, with friends playing board games, hiking the Metroparks, or at home doing something crafty and enjoying a good action movie.
Nickolas Athineos
Lower School Teacher: Cohort
Born in a suburb of Cleveland, Nickolas moved to the city in 2016. He earned a B.A. from Moody Bible Institute studying Theology and Church history and a M.A. from Cleveland State University in English Literature. He is privileged to teach and shepherd the cohort at GCA.
April Fox
Lower School Teacher: First Grade
A native of the Cleveland area, April earned her bachelor’s degree in Education from Bowling Green State University and went on to gain her master’s degree in Literacy Education. She worked as an Intervention Specialist for twelve years, serving students with moderate-intensive special needs. A passion for helping little learners build strong foundations of literacy and a love for learning drew April back to the classroom after a five-year absence while she was at home with her own children. She is now in her third year at GCA and has served as both a kindergarten and first-grade teacher. April and her husband have two wonderful children who are students at GCA. They enjoy being out in nature, reading, crafting, and sampling all the tacos they can find around Cleveland. The following quote is from one of her favorite books: “Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive—it’s such an interesting world.” —Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Alla Karapunarly
Lower School Teacher: Second Grade
Alla serves as GCA’s second-grade teacher. She graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She moved to the United States from Moldova at a young age and has lived in Cleveland for the past six years. It is Alla’s desire to serve the community in which she was raised. She and her husband, Billy, are members of St. Anselm Anglican Church where they regularly serve the parish in a variety of roles.
Kestrel Logan
Lower School Teacher: Fifth Grade
Kestrel is a South African native who immigrated to the east coast of the US at a young age, eventually making his home in Chicago’s inner city. After witnessing both the tragic disparities in educational opportunity and the potential for life-giving love in a classroom setting, Kestrel enrolled at Moody Bible Institute. He graduated with his B.A. in Elementary Education after student teaching on Chicago’s north side and is delighted to embark on a new journey of learning with the fifth-graders at GCA. Kestrel finds great joy in gardening, cycling, running, and attempting to grow as a beginning jazz pianist. You can usually find him playing word games and praising God for the gift of good ice cream at his home in Clark-Fulton.
Bekah Pausch
Lower School Teacher: Third Grade
Bekah earned a degree in Elementary Education. After graduating, Bekah moved to Cleveland to become more involved in CityView Church. It was always her desire to work and worship in the community in which she lived. Bekah is passionate about ministry in the city of Cleveland.
Lizzie Ranasinghe
Lower School Teacher: Kindergarten
Lizzie was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. She received a B.A. in Early Childhood Education and Family Science from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). During her time at Miami, Lizzie began recognizing some of the educational disparities that many students and families experience. A teaching experience in Cincinnati Public Schools really opened her eyes to the need for families to be involved with their students’ education, and the need for them to be given the tools to do that. After graduating from Miami, Lizzie spent some time working in congregational ministry, later feeling called back into teaching after hearing about the mission of GCA. Outside of teaching, Lizzie enjoys spending time with her friends and family, traveling, visiting new coffee shops, and working on various creative design projects.
James Yang
Lower School Teacher: Fourth Grade
Hailing from Iowa City, IA and South Korea, James has made Cleveland his home since 2012. He attended Case Western Reserve University and finished his studies at Cleveland State University in English with concentration in Creative Writing. He shares GCA’s passion to form childrens’ minds and hearts—and was instantly drawn to the opportunity to guide children to see and love “the good, the true, and the beautiful.” As a continual learner alongside his students, he enjoys drinking from the classical tradition’s deep well of literature, poetry, and music. In this regard, most recently he’s enjoyed employing and improving his own cursive handwriting and working his way through Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. James enjoys developing his own love of words, expression, and passion through singing and rapping (though his rapping career is now retired). James dabbles in pickup basketball and is an enduring supporter of the Miami Heat. He has several Bible passages which have been foundational to his own formation, but if he had to choose two, they would be 1 Corinthians 1:26–31 and Philippians 3:7–16.
Kelsey Andrews
Latin Teacher and Instructional Aide
Kelsey was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. She graduated with a B.A. in English and Classical Education from Hillsdale university. Kelsey is honored to serve as the third-grade teacher and share’s GCA’s passion to cultivate the love of God in the hearts and minds of students. It is her desire to see students enthusiastically explore God’s marvelous world, fall in love with His marvelous ways, and serve those around them by becoming restorers of peace. Outside of teaching, Kelsey enjoys cooking, painting, gardening, and hiking through the Cuyahoga Valley National Parks.
Dr. Caleb Kudlo
Music Teacher
Dr. Caleb Kudlo and his wife, Julia, make their home in Cleveland’s Near West Side. He first came to Cleveland as a student and, after studying abroad in Israel, was called back to serve in the city. Dr. Kudlo has served as a pastor and worship leader downtown at CityView Church since 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Cleveland State University, a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry from Carolina University, and a Doctor of Worship Studies in Ethnomusicology from Liberty University. As GCA’s music teacher, Dr. Kudlo leads students to appreciate diverse artistic expressions and foster their engagement with Christ and His world through musical creativity.
Evie Pratt
P.E. Teacher
After volunteering with GCA in a variety of ways since the school launched in 2019, Evie Pratt has officially joined the team this year as the P.E. teacher. She holds a B.A. degree in Physical Education and has taught children in both public and private schools in Virginia, Tennessee, and Ohio in a number of subject areas. When not teaching, she has also worked as a fitness instructor, children’s minister, wife, and mother of four children. Evie and her husband have been coaching their kids’ soccer teams for almost 20 years, but Evie’s favorite sports are volleyball, tennis, and softball. They moved to Cleveland 12 years ago to help spread the good news of Jesus through the local church in the Tremont and Clark-Fulton neighborhoods. They continue to do so at Scranton Road Bible Church and are thankful for the passion that GCA exhibits for Jesus, education, and the people that live in our surrounding neighborhoods.
Missy Roberts
Fine Arts Teacher
Missy was raised in northeastern Ohio and has lived in Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles. She spent eight years in Minneapolis pastoring a church with her husband Ken. They returned to the Cleveland area in 2016 to be near family.
Missy owns and operates her own company, Missy Roberts Studio, and is regularly commissioned to paint pet portraits. She is currently working on creating more pieces for her collection titled North American Mammal Portraits.
Missy’s passion about God and His creation is described when she writes:
Almost every creature on God’s earth has something about it that calls forth awe and wonder inside of me. The softness of the small gray field mouse, the hard shine of the black stag beetle, and the majesty of the great blue whale, enthrall me. Beauty in nature makes my heart leap and bound with pure joy. Walking through a woodland forest, quiet meadow or the ocean surf deeply feeds my soul.”
In addition to her many art projects, Missy enjoys writing and illustrating children’s books, reading and writing poetry, hiking, biking, and spending time with her six grandchildren.
Missy considers it an incredible privilege to have the opportunity to foster the precious hearts and minds of the children God has entrusted to us at GCA.
Bethany Bonham
Instructional Aide
Bethany was born and raised in Columbia, MO. After studying in both Missouri and Texas, she moved to the Cleveland area to be nearer to family. Her family’s love for the city is infectious, and they introduced her to The Garden Christian Academy, where she serves as a kindergarten instructional aide.
Kris Hopkins
Instructional Aide
Kris was born in Pittsburgh, PA, but has lived in Northeast Ohio for more than 40 years. She has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Bowling Green State University. Supporting students and staff at GCA is one of her favorite things! Some of her other favorite things are spending time with her husband of 30 years, Mike, and their big family! The best job she has ever had is being a mom and now a Grammy! She also loves to garden, read and exercise.
Siulianny Luna
Instructional Aide
Bio of Siulianny Luna coming soon.
Ally Stephenson
Instructional Aide
Ally was born in West Virginia but moved to Cleveland in 2020. She and her husband, Sam, live in the same neighborhood that GCA is located. She also works for Young Life, an evangelistic ministry to high school students. She’s thankful to be a part of what the Lord is doing in and through GCA.
Amanda Roberts
Director of Nutrition
Amanda resides in Cleveland’s near east side with husband, Britton, and their three children: Carrick (a student at GCA), Brennan, and Iona. Instead of “hats” Amanda wears many shoes at GCA. She was hired in 2020 as Nutrition Director to operate the school’s healthy-lunch program, she cooks the fresh meals daily, and in 2022 she served as the Nature Study teacher and common-arts coordinator. Amanda finds great joy in exploring God’s beautiful creation and desires to share that joy with her students. Connecting people back to the source of their food and teaching them how food is medicine have been guiding principles in Amanda’s journey. She taught nutrition education in many underprivileged communities for The Greater Cleveland Food Bank and The Cleveland Clinic for six years before joining the GCA team. Amanda has been on board with the GCA mission since its inception. When she isn’t cooking or teaching, Amanda can be found in the school’s community garden or exploring Cleveland with her family.