About Us

Leadership

Under the guidance of the president and principals, Notre Dame Academy's administrative team implements the policies and prinicples of our mission. With the help of the leadership team, faculty, and staff members, the school is able to uphold the foundational principles for which it was founded.

In addition, other administrators direct their respective departments, including religious education, academics, admissions, athletics, marketing, communications, development, and operations.

List of 12 members.

Ken Willers

Notre Dame Academy

President

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Dr. Chris Smart

Notre Dame Academy

Upper School Principal

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Julia Derucki

Notre Dame Academy

Lower School & Middle School Principal

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Whitney Vollmer

Notre Dame Academy

Director of Admissions

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Julie Pack

Notre Dame Academy

Director of Religious Education

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John Cole Kirksey

Notre Dame Academy

Athletics Director

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Erica Gillespie

Notre Dame Academy

Finance Director

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Amy Lascelles

Notre Dame Academy

Lower School & Middle School Fine Arts Coordinator & Band Director

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Sandy Bianco

Notre Dame Academy

Development Manager

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Tony Barfield

Notre Dame Academy

Facilities Director

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Madison George

Notre Dame Academy

Director of Communications

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Ms. Brandi Shannon

Notre Dame Academy

Business Manager

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Meet the Board

Notre Dame Academy is directed by a Board of Trustees to aid in the present and future goals as well as oversee the financial well-being of the school.

Lori Armistead, Chairman

Lori Armistead has been on the Notre Dame Academy board of directors since 2020 and was appointed chair of the board in 2021. A nationally known leader in the education reform and school choice movements for nearly two decades, Mrs. Armistead is currently a senior program officer for the K-12 Education Program at the Walton Family Foundation, the nation’s largest education philanthropy committed to empowering parents with the resources and freedom to choose the best education for their children. In that role, she advises the foundation’s philanthropic investment and programmatic priorities in public policy and advocacy efforts nationally. She has also supported the creation and growth of high-quality, autonomously-governed schools in Georgia, among other states.

Mrs. Armistead has been active in education policy development in Georgia since 2007. Before joining the Walton Family Foundation, she served as director of state projects at the national nonprofits Alliance for School Choice and Advocates for School Choice, where she helped lobby for the creation of the Georgia Tax Credit Program and Senate Bill 10, the state’s voucher program for students with special needs.

A lifelong Catholic, Mrs. Armistead was raised in Ohio, lived in the Washington, D.C. area for nearly a decade, and has lived in Duluth, Georgia, since 2012. She and her husband, Bill, are active parishioners of St. Benedict Catholic Church in Johns Creek, and they have three young children, including two students at Notre Dame Academy.

Mrs. Armistead received a bachelor’s degree in literature and English from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, in 2000.
Jorge Balthazar, Trustee

Jorge Balthazar is a Sales and Marketing global professional with ample experience in the sectors of Pulp & Paper, Chemical and Tobacco. He currently is a Sales & Marketing Director at SWM INTL, a multinational producer of premium specialty papers and resin-based engineered materials headquartered in Alpharetta, GA.

Mr. Balthazar leads the Americas commercial team responsible for the region’s top line, managing the overall B2B relationship with over 150 industrial clients in 20 countries, including Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 100 corporations throughout his career with SWM. Before his current position, Mr. Balthazar worked as Commercial Director in the management board of SWM do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and various sales and marketing positions with SWM in Miami, FL and Kimberly-Clark Corp. in Roswell, Georgia, and Medellin, Colombia.

Mr. Balthazar has a Chemical Engineering degree from Universidad Potificia Bolivariana, Medellin’s Catholic University, postgraduate education in Biochemical Engineering from the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, an Executive MBA from Coppead Institute of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and conducted Advanced B2B Marketing studies at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. Mr. Balthazar is a recipient of the Rotary Foundation Graduate Scholarship for International Understanding.

Mr. Balthazar and his wife Victoria moved back to the US in 2009, and their daughters joined ND Academy in 3rd and 5th grades, both are now attending St. Pius X, they live in Alpharetta, GA. Mr. Balthazar joined the ND Academy Board of Trustees in December 2014.
Adrienne Brautigan, Trustee

Adrienne Brautigan has been a Notre Dame Academy parent for 16 years. Her sons Andrew and Luke started in Kindergarten and Pre-School in 2006, and have since graduated as part of the Class of 2019 and 2020.   Daughter Claire is a rising Senior and youngest son Jude Jr. is a rising 8^th grader.

Adrienne served on SFO (Student Family Organization) from 2012 – 2015 as Vice President and President, and has volunteered as Room Mom, Lunch Helper, New Family Ambassador, Claddagh Parent member, and event organizer for many years.   She is a current member of Ken Willer’s President’s Cabinet.

Adrienne has a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management and her MBA in Marketing and Communications from Fordham University.   She worked at the National Hockey League in New York City from 1994 – 2000 as Community Relations Manager, overseeing the NHL Foundation and charitable partnerships, and developed the Hockey Fights Cancer campaign that continues to raise money and awareness for cancer research.

Adrienne lives in the Barrington neighborhood in Suwanee with her husband Jude and their children. She is the Communications and Social Chair and has been editor of The Barrington Neighbor newsletter for 17 years. The Brautigan’s enjoy family vacations in Long Beach Island, NJ and play on many tennis teams.   They are active parishioners at St. Benedict Catholic Church.
Joe George, Trustee

Joe George is a 30-year veteran of Cox Enterprises serving in executive positions in the automotive division. During his tenure, Joe has held executive roles in Manheim, AutoTrader, Cox AutoTrader, and Cox Automotive, currently serving as President Cox Automotive Mobility Group. During Mr. George's 30-year Cox career, he has seen the rapid growth of Cox’s automotive units including assisting with the start-up and growth of AutoTrader.com.

Mr. George has a Masters in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University, Masters of Business Administration and Bachelors of Business Administration from The Ohio State University. He graduated as a Weidler Scholar from Ohio State’s Max Fisher College of Business. He also completed the Yale University CEO College program.

Mr. George has served on Notre Dame Academy’s board since 2008 serving on the strategy and governance committees. Joe and his wife Kelly are both active with the Marist Way small faith group program and St. Vincent de Paul society. They attend St. Benedict Catholic Church.
Father David Musso, Trustee

Fr. David Musso is a Marist priest, and serves as Chaplain for Notre Dame Academy, and Marist School in Atlanta. He began his ministry at Marist School in Atlanta, 20 years ago as Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry, after serving as a College Chaplain and Campus Minister at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Fr. David was born and raised in Fresno, CA, but spent most of his adolescent and early adult years in the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii. He graduated from St. Peter Chanel Marist School in San Rafael, Ca, and the University of San Francisco. Prior to Fr. David's Campus Ministry work in Calif., he spent two years in a parish on Kauai, Hawaii, his first assignment as a priest, following his Ordination in June, 1998.

Prior to his studies for the priesthood, he had various occupations and careers, including actor, machinist, janitor and business owner, a correctional officer at San Quentin Prison, 30 years as a professional clown, 14 years in law practice as a criminal defense trial lawyer, Deputy District Attorney, and law professor. During the eight years of seminary training and theology school, he worked as a hospital chaplain, an immigration attorney, and campus minister at American University in Washington, D.C. While in Hawaii, he was appointed as a Tribunal Judge for the Diocese of Hawaii.

As he celebrates his 22th anniversary as a priest, and 28th year as a Marist, he says that nothing in his life has given him more energy and joy than his ministry as a Marist priest. He says that for him, the privilege to be a priest, and chaplain for Marist School, and Notre Dame Academy is the most joy-filled, and rewarding career he could imagine being blessed with.
Harriet Rosa, Trustee

Harriet Rosa was a parent of two students at Notre Dame Academy for nine years from 2007 to 2016. During a portion of that time, Mrs. Rosa worked as Notre Dame’s Advancement Director, overseeing the Annual Fund and working on the Capital Campaign for Kavanaugh Hall & the George Student Center. Mrs. Rosa graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia State University with a BBA in Finance and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). She also holds her Chartered Financial Analyst designation, CFA®. Mrs. Rosa worked for Bank of America as a Private Bank Portfolio Manager until she had her children, Grace & Jack. In 2016, Mrs. Rosa and her family relocated to Wichita, KS where she currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Bishop Carroll Catholic High School Board of Trustees and works for St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.
Father Bill Rowland, Trustee

Fr. Bill Rowland, S.M. has a BA degree in English Literature and an MA degree in Theology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He has served in parochial ministry for 15 years, having served as assistant pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Atlanta, GA; St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Wheeling, SV and as pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Paulina, LA. He has served as the provincial (1994 – 2000) and as the vocation director (2001 – 2009) for the Marists in the United States. Fr. Rowland, SM was appointed to Marist School in Atlanta on January 1, 2010, as the Chaplain to the Marist Alumni Association and as the Special Assistant to Fr. Harhager, S.M. Very Rev. Paul Frechette, S.M., the provincial superior of the Marists in the United States, appointed Fr, Rowland as the President of Marist School.
James C. Ryan, Chair Finance Committee

James C. Ryan has served as Gray Television’s Chief Financial Officer since joining Gray in October, 1998 and has served as Executive Vice President since January, 2016. Previously, Mr. Ryan had been Senior Vice President since September, 2002. Gray Television Inc. is a public company that owns and/or operates local broadcast television stations across the United States. In his capacity at Gray, he is responsible for all corporate operations involving Corporate Finance, Accounting, Tax, Financial Planning and Analysis, Treasury, Accounts Payable, Human Resources and Risk Management. In addition, as an Executive Vice President of Gray, he is also involved in the overall management of the company. Prior to Gray, Mr. Ryan held other finance and accounting roles with two other television broadcast companies between 1985 and 1998 and worked in public accounting from 1982 to 1985.

Mr. Ryan is a 1982 graduate of Saint Bonaventure University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in accounting.
Ken Willers, Notre Dame Academy President

President Willers, a native of San Francisco, offers over 30 years of service in Catholic Education. He holds a BA in Philosophy/Teaching Credential from Don Bosco Seminary College, Newton, NJ; an MDiv in Theology from the Jesuit School of Theology, and Advanced Certificate in Catholic Educational Diocesan Leadership from The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC. President Willers served as Associate Superintendent of Leadership for Innovation and Growth for the Diocese of Oakland, CA. In addition to his 17 years as an elementary school principal, Ken has been a classroom teacher at the elementary, Jr. High and High School levels. He has taught in Archdiocese of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Diocese of Oakland.

President Willers served 9 years as principal of St. John School in SF (2001-2010). During that time, the school received the 2003 Innovation in Technology Award (12 schools in the nation) and his Advisory Board was awarded the NCEA Outstanding Board Award in 2009. Under his leadership at the School of the Madeleine (2010-2018), the school’s Advisory Board received the NCEA’s ‘Lead Learn Proclaim Award’ in 2016. In recognition of his innovation with technology integration and visionary leadership style, he was honored with the 2016 Exemplary Leadership Award from the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) as well as the NCEA’s Leadership Award in 2017. In October of 2017 Ken was honored by the NAESP with the National Distinguished Principal Award in Washington, DC (one of three Catholic school principals in the nation along with 1 public school principal from each state). In addition to his administrative role, President Willers serves on the Board of Directors for Salesian College Preparatory and The Procedo Project. Since 2005, he has served as a Regional Representative, and Executive Mentor, and an Advisory Consultant for the NCEA’s Department of Professional Learning. He continues to offer his insights and expertise regarding Catholic education as national speaker, presenter, and author for Catholic educators, the NCEA, and for dioceses across the country. He is well-known to many on Twitter as @21stCenPresKW

Contact the Board of Trustees

Notre Dame Academy

4635 River Green Parkway
Duluth, GA 30096
P: 678-387-9385
F: 678-990-9353

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