Cyprus Classical Academy Faculty and Staff

Michelle Wallick
CEO/Director of Cyprus Schools

Mrs. Wallick obtained Graduate Certification in Talent Development and Gifted Education from the University of MN. and a B.A. in English with a minor in Math/Computer Science from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul.  She has taught preschool and elementary aged children for over 30 years. When her two oldest children began their schooling, it became apparent that they had differing needs from other children. Her children knew the curriculum before they entered school and were obviously gifted and unchallenged by their school. She sent her kids to private schools, a charter school, and a public school without success in finding a learning environment that was challenging and engaging to them. She eventually decided to teach them at home.  At the same time, her youngest child, although only a toddler, was also clearly gifted and needed a different environment than a typical preschool. Michelle designed a unique preschool program, which includes the Montessori philosophy along with academic time suited to preschool aged children, to address the needs of all  children who attend. Cyprus was born in 2005 and opened its doors in a small church room with 5 preschool students.

From the experience and research done when her two oldest children were attending elementary school, Mrs. Wallick knew that were no suitable options for highly gifted students.  With a handful of 4 year-olds working at levels well beyond kindergarten in the Montessori preschool, Michelle designed a unique elementary program specifically for students who are advanced and gifted which could accommodate even the most profoundly gifted students while allowing them to learn with similar-aged and similar-ability peers. Cyprus offers Classical education, with ability-based rather than age-based classes and a very in-depth, full-day, enriching curriculum. Cyprus now accommodates students from PK - 8th grade ages.
 
While spending several years working with academically gifted children, it became apparent that often musical and artistic talent are present too. Michelle felt it was very important to address these talents with the same quality and excellence as Cyprus approaches academics. Although Cyprus has always been very rich in the arts, it now offers a full-scale school for music and the arts open after school hours. Private instrument lessons, art classes, drama, STEM and other classes are offered through Cyprus School of Music and the Arts.

Michelle and her husband, Mike, have  three children ages 24, 22, and 14, and she is Founder and Director of all three Cyprus Schools and continues to teach on a regular basis.

Karen Gainor
Organizational Director
Language/Literature/Composition/History

Mrs. Karen Gainor found Cyprus when looking for a preschool for her gifted sons in 2008. She spent a year as a Cyprus parent and daily volunteer in our classrooms. Beginning in the Fall of 2009, she became a lead teacher in our elementary program.

Karen has a B.A.in English and Journalism, an M.A. in English Literature and has nearly completed her PHD in Rhetoric and Technical Communication from the University of MN. She has seven years of experience teaching writing, public speaking, group communication, technical communication and visual design at the college level, but finds some her most gratifying work to be teaching young children.

Karen loves geography and learning about our country and the myriad of places in this world. She has four years of experience reporting for and editing a bi-weekly newspaper, loves journalism in all forms and believes that the type of questions good reporters ask can be wonderful guidelines for the type of questions all inquisitive minds should hopefully be asking. Karen is quite accomplished at Sudoku and enjoys baking and writing poetry.

Mrs. Gainor is the Scheduling Director of the Academy and knows every student's and every teacher's schedule.  Beyond that, she leads our morning meeting and puts incredible care and effort into the character development of our students.  She has a deep understanding of Cyprus' mission and vision and makes sure it is truly carried out.  Mrs. Gainor can be found at Cyprus 6-7 days each week, working on the continuous implementation of the mission of the school and on her own individual classes. Her dedication is unsurpassed.

Jacob Hofherr
​Super K Teacher

Mr. Jacob Hofherr has worked with children in educational settings for over the past nine years. During that time he graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education specializing in kindergarten through third grade education and teaching English as a second language. He has worked in schools as a substitute teacher, paraprofessional, and has volunteered in many elementary as well as preschool classrooms. It is his pleasure to have the opportunity to work with Cyprus families to provide their children with the best learning experience possible.

Mr. Hofherr became Cyprus Classical Academy's Super K teacher in the 2015-2016 school year, helping to refine and define the program.  He is a truly dedicated teacher who spends the time getting to know each and every one of his students and sets academic, emotional, and social goals for each, ensuring their progress every step of the way.  He has become the face of Super K, and takes that responsibility extremely seriously, knowing that it is the foundation that he provides that will set his students up for success.

Krischan Kunkel
​Math & Science Instructor

Mr. Krischan Kunkel holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the Open University in England. As a mathematician, he is particularly interested in Data Science and Statistics, and participates in competitions on a regular basis.

Mr. Kunkel is a passionate about education and has been teaching audio engineering and acoustics at colleges in the USA and Germany for nearly 20 years.  He came to the USA as an exchange student and musician from Germany and studied Recording Engineering in Minneapolis.

As a music producer and recording engineer, Mr. Kunkel has worked on major international album projects and in recording studios including Prince’s New Power Generation, Paisley Park and the legendary Abbey Road Studios. He also worked as a consultant and instructor for Siemens in Berlin and he helped the St.Paul-based McNally Smith College to establish a new campus in Germany, where he was the department head for their music production program.

While in the USA, Mr. Kunkel met his wife, Jeana. They started a family in Berlin and lived in Germany for the past 15 years. They just recently moved back to the Twin Cities and were grateful to have found Cyprus for their children. Mr. Kunkel loved how passionate the staff was with the children and decided to become part of this wonderful school. Their son and daughter both attend Cyprus Classical Academy, Cyprus Classical Montessori, as well as Cyprus School of Music and the Arts.

Mr. Kunkel embodies the Cyprus spirit by truly believing in the high abilities of children and using his own knowledge, experience,  gifts, and talents to expand their knowledge, challenge them, and inspire them to think beyond the classroom.  

"Mr. Kunkel has really helped me to love math because he knows so much about it and the mathematicians from history, so he always adds interesting angles to everything he teaches, which makes math really fun."  
                                                                - 12 year old Pre-Calculus student

Dr. Nicole Mary Milligan
History & Literature

Dr. Nicole Mary Milligan writes as Nicole Mary Kelby and is the critically acclaimed author of several novels including The Pink Suit (Little, Brown), White Truffles in Winter (W.W. Norton), In the Company of Angels (Hyperion), and the literary craft book The Constant Art of Being a Writer (Writer’s Digest Books). She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a Bush Artist Fellowship in Literature, Florida Book Award, both a Florida and Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship and is toured and translated worldwide. www.nmkelby.com.

In addition to being a novelist, she is an educator, a speaker, and an historian with a wealth of knowledge and experience.. She is able to capture the essence of historical times, places, and people with her highly engaging and interesting stories and anecdotes.  She shares her vast knowledge with our students  teaching history to grades 1-6 as well as some literature and writing units and classes.

Ms. Alexis Royal
​Teacher

​Ms. Royal holds a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from Averett University in Danville, Virginia. She has worked with elementary aged children for years and has a deep passion for educating them. She taught first grade in Newport News Public Schools in Virginia, and substitute taught all grades in Denver, Colorado. She also has years of experience volunteering in classrooms, which she began doing in high school.
​
Ms. Royal enjoys spending time with her 3-year-old son and her husband. When they are all free, they spend their time hiking, or going out to the zoo, seeing theatrical performances, and visiting museums around the area. They also love to travel and fly out regularly for quick weekend trips. She is excited to begin teaching at Cyprus Classical Academy for the 2017-2018 school year!

Dr. Michael Vogt
Cyprus STEM Instructor/Mentor

STEM is the buzz word made popular the past several years as America began to recognize the shortcomings typical American students were facing in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education. Government agencies and educational institutions across the nation have stepped up to provide more engaging and more challenging STEM education in the classrooms at both public & private schools such as Cyprus. 

Dr. Vogt is a career professional research scientist from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Laboratories. He and colleagues from Western Kentucky University (WKU) are testing out new curriculum approaches to reveal STEM’s role in the surrounding world.  These are being implemented by Dr. Vogt at Cyprus to develop our students' appreciation of and skills in these areas at a younger age, and to encourage their study and potential STEM career paths.  Dr. Vogt became the Cyprus STEM Mentor and Science Instructor during the 2012-2013 school year.  

Dr. Vogt also shares his laboratory of modern professional instruments & electronic equipment, to give our students an introduction to “real” science from microscopy and plant pathology to astrophysics and rocket engineering, all combined with real-world problem-solving mathematics.  

Dr. Vogt is a beloved, fun, and invested teacher with a great personality and endless energy. He often can be seen at Cyprus with his tiny service dog, Pluto.  

Foreign Language

Fanny Feng
Chinese Specialist

Ms. Feng Graduated from Sichuan University in China where she studied pharmacy for 5 years. She moved to the US in 2013. While in college, she worked in a nearby elementary school as a volunteer teaching English and math. After coming to the United States, she taught in a Chinese immersion school for some time. Ms. Feng believes that the best things for childrens' development are nurturing and teaching.  Ms. Feng teaches Mandarin Chinese to Cyprus students enrolled in Chinese class with great success.  Students have come out of the program having passed as high as the internationally standardized HSK 3 and have been placed in high school Chinese 4.

Darci Lundsten
​Spanish & English Instructor

Darci Lundsten holds a degree in Psychology, with emphasis in Early Childhood Development, from the University of Minnesota. Darci has been with Cyprus since 2014 and is currently teaching language arts and beginning Spanish. ​

Administration