School Board Members
Jo Janssens (Community Representative, Board Chair)
Term: June 2022-August 2025
jjanssens@arcardiacharterschool.org
Jo lives in Northfield. He works in software development and finance, and plays tennis for fun. He's interested in developing the technology side of Arcadia as well as financial literacy.
Tamra Paulson (Teacher Representative, Secretary)
Term: June 2021 – August 2024
tpaulson@arcadiacharterschool.org
Tamra is in her seventh year as a special education teacher at Arcadia and her thirteenth year of teaching. She lives in Northfield with her husband, Brad. Tamra has 4 grown children and 10 grandchildren, all of whom live relatively close by. She loves to spend as much time as possible with her family. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, and relaxing on her front porch or at the lake. Tamra appreciates the small, community-focused school setting of Arcadia and loves to support students to be successful.
Tami Kasch-Flugum (Teacher Representative)
Term: June 2021 – August 2024
Tami is starting her tenth year teaching at Arcadia as a High School Advisor and Life Science Teacher. She lives in New Prague with her husband Matt, who is the Teaching and Learning Coordinator for Tricity United School District. Her son Joshua has just turned eight and loves to create plots for movie and book series. When Tami is not working she loves to travel, cook and eat good food, and really enjoys spending time with her family.
tkasch-flugum@arcadiacharterschool.org
Tammy Prichard (Teacher Representative, Treasurer)
Term: June 2020 - August 2023
Tammy is starting her twelfth year of involvement with Arcadia; she joined the school board in 2009 when her children came to the school, and she started teaching writing in 2013. In addition to teaching high school writing and communication classes at Arcadia, Tammy teaches high school writing classes at a home school academy in Minneapolis. Before teaching in the classroom, she homeschooled six of her seven children; she also did a brief stint as a high school advisor at a private school and as a college entrance consultant. When she's not grading papers, she's working/playing in her garden, knitting, or reading/watching mysteries.
David Wolff (Parent Representative)
Term: June 2022-August 2025
dwolff@arcadiacharterschool.org
David lives in Northfield with his spouse, Jennifer, a biology professor at Carleton, and their two children (a Senior and a Sophomore at Arcadia). He's worked at Content Bookstore since 2015 and is currently the store manager. A strong proponent of life-long learning and liberal arts education, his whole family was attracted to Arcadia's project-based, arts-centric approach. When he's not trying to read most of the books in the store, he's trying to read most of the books at his home. He also enjoys classical music, biking, and is a huge comic book geek.
Shannon Fields (Community Representative)
Term: June 2022-August 2025
sfields@arcadiacharterschool.org
Shannon and his family live in Farmington. Shannon and family are originally from Virginia. Shannon works for UNFI in the IT department. Shannon thinks Arcadia is a great foundation for the real working world. People working together and sharing ideas. He wants to keep promoting this idea. He is also an advocate for people with disabilities. Shannon taught adults with disabilities at his church in Virginia. They taught him more about life and faith than anybody else. Shannon also has participated in Partners in Policymaking. PIP trains adults with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities to advocate for changes on the way people with disabilities are supported, viewed, and taught.
Kathleen Schmidt (Community Representative)
Term: June 2021-August 2024
kschmidt@arcadiacharterschool.org
Kathleen is a retired special education teacher and lives in Northfield. She has family living nearby including two grandsons and in New Hampshire where she has a grandson and granddaughter. As a retiree, she enjoys spending as much time as she can with her grandchildren as well as reading, watching great movies from the 1920’s-1950’s and exercising at FiftyNorth.
Katherine Simon (Parent Representative)
ksimon@artech.k12.mn.us
Katie, husband Paul, and 2 sons (8th and 10th grade at Arcadia) live on their farm in New Prague. Katie is a food safety director at the MN Dept. of Agriculture with 18 years of experience in organizational planning, fiscal controls, strategic planning, and equity and inclusion. She is interested in exploring ways to further support project based learning approaches and other unique learning opportunities that make Arcadia special. Serving on the Board will provide the opportunity to give back to the community that has been welcoming and supportive to our children.
Gabe Meerts (Parent Representative)
gmeerts@artech.k12.mn.us
Gabe Meerts has been a teacher since 2001 at the middle and elementary levels around the US including 8 years at Prairie Creek Community School. Prior to that, he was a research assistant at Yale University studying dyslexia and ADHD. Gabe is currently subbing in Northfield, leads ukulele jams at the Hot Spot, and is one of the founders of the Milltown Mashers.
