December 12, 2022

Dear Parents of Students in Grade 5,

As you are aware, faculty member Lauren Shuneson is expecting a baby soon, and we are all excited about this upcoming addition to her family.

Mrs. Shuneson is expected to be on maternity leave from winter break until late spring. During her leave, Keith Scowden will become the lead teacher of the class. Mr. Scowden is well known to our fifth-graders because he has been their full-time associate teacher since the beginning of last school year.

Mr. Scowden is an experienced lower school educator who has been at Academy since 2015 when he began working in Summer Experience. He was the fourth grade associate in 2021-22 and a fourth grade lead teacher in 2020-21 before moving to the fifth grade associate position this year. Mr. Scowden already knows the students and curriculum well, and we are looking forward to him leading Mrs. Shuneson’s class during her maternity leave.

Another familiar face – Academy alum Alex Farrenkopf ’12, the oldest son of faculty members Brelle Farrenkopf and Stefan Farrenkopf – will become the fifth grade associate during this time. He worked in the Westerville City School District from 2020-2021 as a student success coach at Hawthorne Elementary during COVID. Mr. Farrenkopf has also worked at Academy in our Summer Experience program and CASE from 2014-2018. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from Denison University and is currently working on a second B.A. degree in Social Work from Capital University while completing an internship at Children’s Nationwide Hospital.

I know you join me in wishing Lauren and her husband all the best on their upcoming new family member in addition to welcoming Mr. Scowden to 5C and introducing Mr. Farrenkopf to our fifth grade students.

Warm Regards,

Mark L. Hansen

Head of Lower School