Faculty & Staff Members
New to the Episcopal Community

Episcopal welcomes our new faculty and staff for the 2019-2020 school year.
​We hope you will take the time to read their bios below and welcome them to our community!

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Lower School

Nicole Engstrom - Fifth Grade
Nicole has more than 20 years of experience in education and has taught in multiple countries, including Luxembourg, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and Brazil. She joins Episcopal after recent stints in Bryan, Texas. Nicole’s diverse teaching experience includes organizing the Allen Academy Celebration of Cultures Day, serving as a translator for a charity medical trip to the Dominican Republic, and initiating and implementing fundraising efforts to raise awareness for clean water while at River Oaks Elementary in Houston. Nicole was recognized with the Adaptive Expertise Teacher of the Year award while at Allen Academy. She has taught gifted and talented students. In addition, she co-wrote and directed grade-level plays. Nicole earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Miami University (Ohio) and a master’s degree in international teaching from Framingham State University. She is fluent in Portuguese and conversational in Spanish. Nicole is married to Episcopal Middle School Head Mark Engstrom and their two children, Emma and Alex, will begin school here in the fall.

Stephanie Ezell - PreK-4
Stephanie has twenty years of experience in education, including significant Montessori experience. She joins Episcopal’s Lower School team after serving as a kindergarten language arts and math teacher and first grade reading specialist at The Runnels School. Stephanie earned a Bachelor of Arts in elementary and early childhood education from Furman University and trained at the Montessori Institute of Atlanta. Stephanie is involved with numerous community service organizations, including the Junior League of Baton Rouge, Feeding Our Friends and Welcome House Ministry.

Georgina Lemoine - Second Grade
After serving as an on-campus tutor last school year, Georgina joins the Episcopal staff this fall. Over the course of her career, she has held numerous roles at Episcopal, including Spanish teacher and second grade teacher. Georgina has more than 20 years of experience in education and has taught in Calcasieu and East Baton Rouge parishes. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in elementary education with minor concentrations in Spanish and French.

​Maria Marretta-Campbell - Kindergarten
Maria brings more than 20 years of teaching experience to her new role in Episcopal’s Lower School. Most recently, she was a first grade teacher at the Baton Rouge Center for Visual and Performing Arts School. Maria earned a Bachelor of Science and a master’s degree in education from Louisiana State University. She is a national board certified teacher in early childhood education. Maria has served as a mentor for student teachers at Southeastern Louisiana University and is a Google Certified Educator Level I.
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Emily Richard - PreK-3
Emily is no stranger to Episcopal having previously served as an extended care counselor. Now, with more than six years of experience in education she returns to Episcopal as a member of the Lower School team. Emily was most recently a classroom teacher at Lake Elementary in St. Amant where she taught first grade and PreK students. Emily earned a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from Louisiana State University.

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Upper School

Casey Duncan - Religion
After serving as a substitute Lower School religion teacher last school year, Casey joins Episcopal this school year as an Upper School religion teacher. Casey earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation, park and tourism sciences from Texas A&M University and a master’s in theological studies from the Virginia Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. Casey has planned and led retreats and adult Christian formation classes for churches in the Diocese of Texas. She also led church programs and classes for students at the University of Texas. Casey is a former member of the University of Texas Interfaith Council and the Diocese of Texas College Ministry Advisory Council. 

Douglas Gay - Band Director
Since earning his bachelor’s degree in music education at Northwestern State University, Doug has worked as a professional musician and a music educator for over 20 years. A professional drummer, Doug worked as a high school band director in Baton Rouge for a number of years before starting his own music academy, Baton Rouge Music Studios. Students at BRMS can learn to play various instruments, as well as music theory, composition, recording techniques and live production - many of the skills necessary for a successful career in the music industry. As a teacher, Doug works to ensure that students, whether they see themselves pursuing a musical career or not, are excited about music and that his class is a bright spot in their day. Doug is eager to return to teaching in a private school and will be teaching band classes in both the Middle and Upper School.

Hannah Ghassan - Math
Hannah joins Episcopal as an Upper School math teacher. She is AP College Board certified to teach AP statistics. In addition, she has classroom experience teaching geometry and algebra 2. As an AP statistics teacher at Hamilton Southeastern High School, Hannah helped increase the percentage of students passing the exam by 32% during her first year of teaching. In addition, Hannah was the recipient of the Hamilton Southeastern High School 2016/2017 Teacher of the Year Award, which is given to one teacher each year for outstanding service to students. As a teacher at Yorkville High School, she also received the Yorkville High School 2015 Fox Pride Award, which recognizes teachers who make an impact on the school and the community. In addition to her teaching duties, Hannah has also served as a junior varsity and varsity sideline and competitive cheerleading coach. She has led competitive cheerleading teams to conference championships and state finals. Hannah earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics with a minor in secondary education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Veronica Hallock - Studio and Visual Art
Since earning a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts at Louisiana State University, Veronica has embodied the artist-teacher philosophy. Over the past four years, she has taught at both the university level and as a talented art teacher at the high school level, all the while showing her own work at over 15 exhibitions in Louisiana and across the country. As an artist, Veronica draws inspiration from literature and challenges her students to develop different perspectives for themselves. She sees art as a positive form of emotional expression that benefits all students. Veronica will be teaching visual art courses in both the Middle School and Upper School next year.

Karen Koprowski-Stout - Studio and Visual Art/Assistant Art Department Chair
A graduate of Louisiana State University, Karen has a master’s degree in anthropology, documentary filmmaking and fine art. Karen has had an impressive career working in art restoration, as a professional fine artist and in the TV and film industry over the past 20 years. She then discovered her calling as a teacher and has been teaching art both in public schools and with the Arts Council of Baton Rouge, while continuing to work as a professional artist. Karen uses her broad experiences in art in her teaching. She views the various art mediums as the tools to bring ideas to life and uses whatever medium will best express her ideas. She tries to instill this flexibility in her own students. In addition to teaching various visual art courses in the Middle School and Upper School, Karen will be developing two new courses for this coming year: Forced Perspective and Optical Illusion Photography for eighth grade, as well as an Introduction to Filmmaking course in the Upper School. These new course offerings are the first in the development of an expanded digital arts program at Episcopal. In addition, Karen will serve as the new Assistant Visual and Performing Arts Department Chair.

Jessica O’Neal ’11 - Physics
Jessica returns to her alma mater as an Upper School science teacher after serving as a Middle School science teacher in Alabama. Jessica works with students, parents and co-workers to nurture students as a whole. She earned a Bachelor of Science in biology at Louisiana Tech University. In addition, she earned a master’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in education from the University of South Alabama. Jessica attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama along with other educators to learn more about space exploration and NASA history. She received a scholarship to attend the AGI Teacher Leadership Academy at ExxonMobil in Houston. Jessica is a member of the National Science Teachers Association, the Alabama Science Teachers Association and the Alabama Education Association.

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Staff & Administration

Kate Cramer - Athletic Office Assistant, Head Swimming Coach, Assistant Track & Field Coach
Kate is a true athlete having competed in high school, college and professionally. She was inducted into the Parkview Baptist School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013. While at Parkview, she was also a Wendy’s High School Heisman state winner, regional winner and national semifinalist. Kate competed in swimming, pole vault, soccer, track and field and cross country. At Louisiana State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in geography, Jessica was a three-year starter and team captain for the soccer team. Kate has competed professionally as an obstacle course racer for Reebok spartan race and as a triathlete. She has coached numerous sports throughout her career, including serving previously as the Episcopal swim coach and assistant girls soccer coach. Kate earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia and is certified to teach grades PreK-3 through sixth.
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Mark Engstrom – Middle School Division Head
Mark joins Episcopal as the new Middle School Division Head. A Louisiana native, he is pleased to be returning to his home state. After graduating from Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans, Mark earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky and master’s degrees from the University of New Orleans and Framingham State College in Massachusetts. He has extensive experience in blended learning and has led multiple professional development opportunities regarding blended learning. He has published multiple articles on personalizing student education. Mark was most recently the division lead for Middle and Upper School at Allen Academy in Bryan, Texas. In addition to more than two decades of experience as an educator, Mark also has experience teaching internationally. He earned a Fulbright Fellowship which allowed him to teach in South Korea for a year. He has also taught in Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil. Mark is married to Nicole Engstrom and their two children, Emma and Alex, will begin school here in the fall.

Matt Holt – Dean of Students
Matt transitions into the role of Dean of Students this school year after previously serving as the Director of the Center for Service Learning and the Upper School religion teacher. Matt earned a bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences from Louisiana State University.  While in college, Matt worked as a counselor at the Episcopal summer camp near Pollock, Louisiana. It was during that time that he discovered his passion for working with young people. This led him to a career in youth ministry within the Episcopal Church. After serving in that capacity for several years and teaching at the Episcopal School in western Louisiana, Matt moved to New Orleans to help lead recovery efforts for the Episcopal Diocese following hurricane Katrina.  It was during this time in New Orleans that he attended Tulane University and earned his teaching certificate. ​​​​​