Faculty and Staff

Sparhawk Academy faculty and staff are committed to the intellectual, moral, physical, and spiritual education of young men. They also have a rich love of teaching and learning, both inside and outside of the classroom. Read below to find out more.

Joseph Billmeier – Entrepreneurship
BA, University of Notre Dame
MBA, Washington University
Years at Sparhawk: 5
Email: jbillmeier@sparhawkacademy.org

A native of Long Island, Joe Billmeier earned his BA from Notre Dame University and his MBA from Washington University. After several years as a stockbroker, Mr. Billmeier has worked full-time as the Director of the Layton Study Center in Milwaukee, WI, the Northview University Center in Chicago, IL, the Wespine Study Center in St. Louis, MO. While living in Chicago Mr. Billmeier was the Parent Event Coordinator at Northridge Preparatory School, where he also served as a student advisor. Since coming to Boston in 1998 as Director of the Chestnut Hill Center in Chestnut Hill, MA, Mr. Billmeier has worked with hundreds of high school boys, primarily through Chestnut Hill’s Edge program, to prepare them to be good professionals, fathers, friends and citizens.

Beth Crevier – Reception
BS, Framingham State University
Years at Sparhawk: 4
Email: reception@sparhawkacademy.org

Beth Crevier is a homemaker and mother to a former Sparhawk student. She grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Framingham State University. Mrs. Crevier lives in Milford with her husband Andre, with whom she has raised ten children.

 

Claudio Ferrari – Math, History, Religion
BS, Franciscan University
Years at Sparhawk: 1
Email: cferrari@sparhawkacademy.org

Claudio Ferrari graduated from Franciscan University with a degree in Theology and Philosophy. Since then, he has worked closely with the Archdiocese of Boston as a teacher and is a St. Thomas More Fellow. Claudio has had the opportunity to work with and form students for many years as a missionary in Texas and in Rome, Italy. Claudio greatly enjoys the outdoors and also has a passion for different cultures from around the world.

 

Jack Flaherty – Business Manager
BS, University of New Mexico
Years at Sparhawk: 5
Email: jflaherty@sparhawkacademy.org

Jack Flaherty comes to Sparhawk from the Montrose School in Medfield, MA, where he was the Business Manager for five years after retiring from running an optical lens grinding company in Newton. He earned his BS from the University of New Mexico. He and his wife Ellen live in Millis.

 

Joseph Giallombardo – Physical Education, Science, Speech
BA, University of Dallas
Years at Sparhawk: 5
Email: jgiallombardo@sparhawkacademy.org

Joe Giallombardo joins us from The Rose Institute, where he is a speech coach and Senior Instructor. As part of the The Rose Institute, he helped hundreds of elementary school students develop proficiency in public speaking and communication. He is a 2014 graduate of the University of Dallas, where he studied History. He also studied Film Production and Directing Techniques under Werner Herzog in 2016, and is an expert in Italian wines. Mr. Giallombardo has also worked as a mentor at the Midtown Educational Foundation in Chicago.

 

James Golden – Grade 4 Homeroom
BA, St. Anselm College
MA, National University of Ireland
MBA, University of Massachusetts
Years at Sparhawk: 6
Email: jgolden@sparhawkacademy.org

Jim Golden grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts, where he currently lives with his wife Gaby and their four sons. Three of their sons are currently enrolled at Sparhawk. Mr. Golden worked at State Street Corporation in Boston for ten years before switching careers to become a teacher, and he spent his first year of teaching at The Heights School in Maryland. In addition to teaching 4th Grade, he helps manage the facilities at Sparhawk and enjoys the opportunity to serve the school with hands-on work. Mr. Golden enjoys carpentry and has played guitar with several rock bands over the years.

 

Edward Greene – Religion

AS, Hartford State Technical College
BA, Boston College
Years at Sparhawk: 3
Email: ngreene@sparhawkacademy.org

Ned Greene most recently retired from the Capital Projects team at Boston College, where he spent 33 years working as a Designer/Project Manager. He has a BA in Business Administration from Boston College and an AS in Architecture from Hartford State Technical College, as well as a Certificate in Architectural Engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology. Prior to joining BC Mr. Green worked as a teacher, and has continued to teach CCD at the elementary school and high school level for over 30 years at St. Catherine’s in Norwood. Mr. Greene also served as head of the building committee for Montrose School from 2005 until 2008. He lives with his wife Nancy and their family in Westwood.

 

 

Fr. John Grieco – Chaplain
BA, University of Dallas
Licentiate, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
PhD, The Catholic University of America
Years at Sparhawk: 6
Email: j.r.grieco@gmail.com

Fr. John Grieco grew up in Bayonne, NJ and studied Philosophy at the University of Dallas. After graduating, he moved to Washington DC, where he earned a PhD from the Catholic University of America and taught undergraduate philosophy for several years. While in Washington, he also taught for two years at The Heights School in Potomac, MD, and was Director of the Tenley Study Center for 5 years. From there, he moved to Rome to study for the priesthood, earning a Licentiate in Moral Theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. He was then ordained as a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei. Upon his return to the United States, he served for three years as Chaplain of Northridge Prep in Niles, IL. Fr. John is also Chaplain of the Montrose School in Medfield, MA.

 

Joseph Haggarty – History, Math, Science
BA, Thomas Aquinas College
MA, Boston College
PhD, Boston College
Years at Sparhawk: 4
Email: jhaggarty@sparhawkacademy.org

Joseph Haggarty finished his graduate studies in Philosophy at Boston College in 2015, after earning a Masters there and a BA in Philosophy at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. He has taught at many levels, including as an Assistant Professor at TAC and as an Adjunct Professor at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton. Mr. Haggarty also taught middle school and high school for two years at Trivium School in Lancaster. He lives in Millis with his wife Caroline and their 6 children.

 

Benjamin Houde – Grade 5 Homeroom, Latin
BA, Ave Maria University
MEd, University of Navarra
Years at Sparhawk: 6
Email: bhoude@sparhawkacademy.org

A native of Topsham, Maine, Ben Houde graduated as valedictorian from Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida with a BA in Classics and Early Christian Literature. He spent the following two years teaching Latin and Humanities at the Rhodora J. Donahue Academy in Florida. Mr. Houde graduated with a Masters in Secondary School Education from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain in June 2018. Alongside teaching, he coaches soccer and baseball at Sparhawk, and is an outdoor enthusiast, Irish fiddle player, and Eagle Scout.

 

Tony Janeiro – Grade 6 Homeroom, Director of Mentoring

BA, Providence College
Years at Sparhawk: 2
Email: tjaneiro@sparhawkacademy.org

Tony Janeiro is happy to return to New England after spending the last 12 years teaching in New Spain ( Mexico and Texas ) at brother schools of Sparhawk. He is a graduate of Providence College and the University of Dallas where he studied literature. In addition to teaching, Mr. Janeiro is excited about lending a helping hand to build cultural opportunities here at Sparhawk in the arts and community festivals and events. 

 

Thomas Keefe  – Director of Admissions
BA, Harvard University
Years at Sparhawk: 4
Email: tkeefe@sparhawkacademy.org

Tom Keefe lives in Millis with his wife Maggie and two sons. Mr. Keefe spent many years helping to run the Sebago Leadership Camp, including as Chief Operating Officer in 2015. Mr. Keefe has been working as a Data Solutions Manager at Wayfair since graduating from Harvard College in 2015 with a degree in History and Literature.

 

John Paul Lechner  – Grade 7 Homeroom, Director of Academics and Formation
BA, University of Illinois
MA, St. John’s College
Years at Sparhawk: 6
Email: jplechner@sparhawkacademy.org

John Paul Lechner grew up in the Chicago suburbs and attended Northridge Prep. He earned his BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied History and Spanish. He joined the faculty of The Heights School in 2009, where he taught grades 7-8 and mentored hundreds of boys in his nine years there. In 2018 he completed his MA in Liberal Arts at St. John’s in Annapolis, MD and then moved north to Boston. From 2019-2022 he served as Director of the Sebago Leadership Camp while also teaching at Sparhawk. Mr. Lechner has learned a lot developing the farm at Sparhawk, enjoying the opportunities to enhance the grounds through landscaping and share the beauty through photography.

 

Raymond Le Grand – Grade 8 Homeroom, Director of Operations
BS, University of Notre Dame
MS, New York University

Years at Sparhawk: 6
Email:
rlegrand@sparhawkacademy.org

An Eagle Scout from Dallas, Texas, Raymond Le Grand earned his BS from Notre Dame University, and an MS from New York University, both in Mechanical Engineering. He has taught STEM classes in Brooklyn, NY public schools and worked for a series of high tech start up companies designing custom apps. As a mobile app developer, he has been involved in several industrial CAD and medical device start-ups in Boston and Cambridge. His academic interests led him to create and release NYU Robofish, an iPhone app to control small kid-friendly robotic fish. Mr. Le Grand has been on the staff of the Sebago Leadership Camp for many years as a teacher and mentor. He enjoys teaching math and science, along with managing financial aid and operations for the school.

 

Paul Mahoney – History, Math, Religion
BA, Harvard University
JD, New England School of Law
Years at Sparhawk: 5
Email: pmahoney@sparhawkacademy.org

Paul Mahoney has returned to education after raising a family in Franklin with his wife Tammy and working for 20 years as a corporate lawyer, most recently at ​SAP America, where he was Senior Director and Corporate Counsel. He grew up in West Roxbury and attended Boston Latin and then Harvard College, where he majored in History. Mr. Mahoney taught high school History, Math, and Religion for five years at the Westbridge School and went on to earn his JD at the New England School of Law. He is the proud father of our eighth grade teacher Sean Mahoney and grandfather of two Sparhawk students and an alumnus.

 

Sean Mahoney – Literature, History, Math
BA, Thomas More College
MEd, American College of Education
Years at Sparhawk: 6
Email: smahoney@sparhawkacademy.org

Sean Mahoney returned to his Massachusetts roots in 2018 after eight years of teaching Western Philosophy, Western Literature, World History, Public Debate, Mock Trial and English Composition in both public high school and private academies in Incheon, South Korea. While there he also taught English as a second language (ESL) at the university and corporate level. In Korea he worked towards his Masters in Education from American College of Education and continued his study of philosophy, building on the B.A. in Philosophy he earned at Thomas More College. He and his wife Lynn live with their daughter and two sons in Bellingham. Mr. Mahoney teaches Ancient History and Literature to the eighth grade, and serves as their mentor. He is also Director of the Sparhawk Attic Greek Society (an extracurricular club at Sparhawk). As a proud member of Stone Hall, he enjoys officiating over the annual tug-of-war games, and is never far off where there is a fresh fish to be caught, a fine wine to be tasted, or a good poem to be heard.

 

 

 

LaNon Neary – Reception
Years at Sparhawk: 3
Email: reception@sparhawkacademy.org

After a 27 year adventure in the military that took them all over the world, LaNon Neary and her husband Michael settled in Seekonk with their six army “brats”. Mrs. Neary graduated from The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and attended the University of Maryland.

 

Donald Pacific – Athletic Director, Physical Education
BA, Boston State University
Years at Sparhawk: 6
Email: dpacific@sparhawkacademy.org

Don Pacific earned his BA at Boston State University, where he also played hockey. His experience led him into organizing and instructing various pre-season NHL, AHL, and Division I College Hockey training camps, while also serving as Head Coach for the Worcester Crusaders Midget U-16 team. He was the head coach of the Fay School Varsity Boys hockey team in Southborough, MA for fifteen years, and Assistant Hockey coach at Framingham State University. He has been the Athletic Director of the Sebago Leadership Camp since 2006. He and his wife Marion live in Marlborough, MA.

 

Matthew Reilly – Grade 3 Homeroom, History, Math
BA, University of Navarre
Years at Sparhawk: 2
Email: mreilly@sparhawkacademy.org

Matthew Reilly begins his teaching career after graduating from the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain. He grew up in Vienna, VA and graduated from The Heights School in 2018. Matthew has done extensive volunteer work with children at various clubs and camps in both Spain and the US, including work as a Teaching Intern at The Youth Leadership Foundation in Washington DC. Mr. Reilly is now the 3rd grade homeroom teacher, as well as teaching Craftsmanship, History, and Math across various grades.

 

Michael Schell – Headmaster
BA, College of the Holy Cross
MS, Columbia University
Years at Sparhawk: 1
Email: mschell@sparhawkacademy.org

Michael Schell became Sparhawk Academy’s second Headmaster in July 2023. Originally from a suburb of Philadelphia, he received his secondary education at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. In 2005, he graduated cum laude from the College of the Holy Cross, where he also earned placement on the Division 1 All-Patriot League Baseball Academic Team for his performance on the field and in the classroom. He received a master’s degree in organization and leadership in 2013 from Columbia University’s Klingenstein Center, a premier professional learning program for independent and international school educator-leaders, and completed the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education’s highly regarded Leadership in Enrollment Management Program in 2020. 

Prior to Sparhawk, Michael served as Associate Superintendent of Enrollment Management and Marketing for the Archdiocese of Boston’s Catholic Schools Office. Previously, he was Director of Enrollment Management and College Counseling at Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, MA. Prior to Catholic Memorial, Michael taught History courses, including Advanced Placement Government and United States History, and Theology in addition to performing various advancement, admissions, college counseling, and varsity athletic coaching roles at St. Sebastian’s School and Groton School. 

From 2010 – 2018, Michael was Executive Director of The Cannonball Foundation, a nonprofit he founded to provide leadership programs with partner independent secondary schools, colleges, and community organizations nationwide to elevate the role of character and personal growth in the college athletic recruiting experience. In 2012, he was honored by the NCAA and Buick as a former college athlete who excelled at their sport and has made valuable contributions to their community. 

Michael has been featured by ESPN, National Public Radio, Forbes, The Enrollment Management Association, and Coaching Management magazine on topics related to college admissions, secondary school enrollment marketing, and athletic recruiting. He is an active member of many leading college counseling and secondary school admissions and frequently presents on related topics. Michael is a proud father of a Sparhawk graduate in the Class of 2022 and two current Minutemen. 

 

Kate Stein – Reception
BA, University of Dallas
ME, University of Dallas
Years at Sparhawk: 2
Email: reception@sparhawkacademy.org

Kate Stein grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Montrose School before attending the University of Dallas in Irving, TX, where she earned both her BA and ME in English. She has worked in the publishing industry since 2008, editing over 100 books across a wide range of disciplines. Mrs. Stein and her husband Corey have four sons, three of whom are current Sparhawk students.