Middle School
“Catholic education aims not only to communicate facts but also to transmit a coherent, comprehensive vision of life, in the conviction that the truths contained in that vision liberate students in the most profound meaning of human freedom.”
-Pope Saint John Paul II
Mr. John Patrick Lodato, History
John Lodato teaches Middle School History and serves as Dean of Middle School Boys.
Mr. Lodato is the proud beneficiary of Catholic education from Kindergarten through high school. Having learned so much from his passionate and talented teachers at Lacordaire Academy and Oratory Prep, he is overjoyed to carry on that tradition of love of learning with the OLMC community. He is a 2015 graduate of the NJIT/Rutgers-Newark Federated History Program and enthusiastic about all things historical. Some of his favorite figures from the past include Augustus Caesar, Benedict of Nursia, Eleanor of Aquitaine, John Adams, James K. Polk, and John Henry Newman.
Mr. Lodato passionately believe that what happened in the past has a profound impact on the present, and that the great men and women of bygone ages have much to teach us today. Mr. Lodato hopes to introduce middle school students to the amazing, complex, and sometimes controversial stories of the people who shaped the world we live in, and to inspire the students to take a closer look at the past.
Mr. David Gillespie, History
Bio coming soon- Please check back!
Mr. Noah Thornburgh, English (Grade 8)
Noah Thornburgh is delighted to teach at OLMC School, as he has been a dynamic faculty member at Lumen Gentium Academy since the 2021-22 school year. This followed two years working in the tech world, where he was a digital marketer and client associate for a small startup based out of Helsinki, Finland. Noah grew restless behind the laptop and felt God calling him to more fully use his abilities, which he had been ceaselessly honing on readings of and writings on the Western canon in his off time from work. He sees the classical model as, ultimately, the most respectful model of education. He's ecstatic that, with this curriculum, he can treat students as the capable individuals he knows they are.
During those years, he met his wife, Meredith, the smartest person he knows and his favorite conversational sparring partner, who was instrumental in his conversion to Catholicism and highly supportive of his career switch into teaching. They live with their young son in Morristown, NJ, where she is a graduate student pursuing her Ph.D. in History.
Before all that, Noah worked as journalist and won awards both for his investigative writing and mentorship as an editor. He takes his experience as a writing coach into the classroom, ready to prove that to be a good writer is to be a good thinker.
Ms. Lucia Ulizko, English
Bio coming soon- Please check back!
Mrs. Viviana Pacheco, Mathematics
Bio coming soon- Please check back!
Dr. Denise Glenn, Science
Bio coming soon- Please check back!
Dr. Eric Vollero, Science
Dr. Eric Vollero grew up in Rahway, New Jersey and attended St. John the Apostle in Clark from K-8 and Union Catholic Regional High School. He attended Montclair State University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Some of his interests in the field include works from Jean Piaget, Carl Jung, and Jordan Peterson. He also has a Doctorate of Acupuncture from Pacific College of San Diego, holds a license for acupuncture in New Jersey, and owns a sports injury and recovery practice in Westfield and Boonton, NJ. Other personal interests include playing guitar, rock climbing, and hiking.
Dr. Vollero has a variety of different experiences teaching including high school history, psychology, and sociology; assistant teaching biomedical classes at a grad school level; and teaching after school programs for middle school science. His personal favorite scientific topics include animal behavior, planetary space science, and anatomy and physiology.
Mrs. Rosalee Bolleia, Latin III
Mrs. Bolleia teaches middle school Latin and English. She is excited to share with her students the wonderful worlds that the Classics make available and that she herself traversed as a child. By encountering beautiful Literature, Mrs. Bolleia believes as John of Salisbury writes: “The soul is purged of its defects and is revivified even in adversity by a mysterious and serene cheerfulness.”
Classically homeschooled with her nine siblings, Mrs. Bolleia received her B.A. in Classics and Early Christian Literature from Ave Maria University in Florida. After graduating from college, Mrs. Bolleia spent a year traveling and teaching, both in the United States and abroad in China. She is currently completing a Master’s degree in Classical Education from the University of Dallas. When not furiously writing papers and preparing lessons, Mrs. Bolleia enjoys hikes, swing dances, travel, a good book and a cup of coffee, and the occasional thrilling adventure such as sky diving or scuba diving.
Mrs. Amelia Lodato, Latin II
Bio coming soon- Please check back!
Dr. Jerry Czarnecki, Latin I
Dr Jerry Czarnecki holds a B.A. in Classical Languages from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago. He has a particular interest in the long novels of Henry James and Marcel Proust. His love of adventure and language led him to live and teach in Asia for 15 years, mostly in Korea and Hong Kong.
He enjoys travels across challenging countries, long walks and hikes, and the music of Gustav Mahler. He was grateful to his sons for their good and patient company this summer in Uzbekistan and on the ridge of Mala Fatra.