Faculty & Staff
Mrs. Lisa Williams
Principal & 5th/6th/7th/8th Grade Teacher
Mrs. Williams grew up in the Washington DC area. She received her Undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in the School of Foreign Service followed by commissioning in the United States Marine Corps as a Cryptological Intelligence Officer. After serving in the Marines, Mrs. Williams, her husband and four sons moved to Alaska. She attained her Master of Arts in Education from Alaska Pacific University while teaching and raising her family. Mrs. Williams is both a certified teacher, and an experienced homeschool charter school parent and teacher through iDEA.
Mrs. Williams became involved in classical education at Holy Rosary Academy teaching in both the Lower and Upper Schools. She then became Head of the Lower School and, later, Principal at Holy Rosary.
Mrs. Williams was Headmaster at Chesterton Academy of Annapolis while living in Washington DC and participated in bringing the Chesterton Network into the international community through the monthly international Rosary prayed throughout the Chesterton network of schools across the United States, and in Italy and Iraq.
Mrs. Williams taught at the International School Westpfalz using the Cambridge Curriculum and Swiss SBW Haus des Lernens program prior to returning to Alaska to serve as principal at Our Lady of the Valley.
Mrs. Williams enjoys spending time with her family and her dog Argo, hiking and skiing in the Alaskan wilderness.
Mrs. Simona Benshetler
1st/2nd Grade Teacher
Simona Benshetler was born and raised in Milan, Italy. She studied foreign languages at the Collegio Statale di Lingue Straniere Stendhal in Milan. In 1993, she moved to Houston, Texas, to work for an Italian company, where she later married her husband. Following the birth of her first son, Simona began working as a translator and voice-over artist for the International Space Center, in addition to recording various commercials. She also taught Italian and English to both children and adults, and directed a full-immersion English summer camp in Italy for European children ages 6 to 13.
In 2004, she and her family relocated to Palmer, Alaska, where she homeschooled her children for 10 years. In 2016, she began working as a substitute teacher in the Mat-Su School District and, in 2018, joined the faculty at OLV.
In her free time, Simona enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, and traveling.
Mr. Daniel Tantanella
7th/8th Grade Teacher
Daniel Tantanella was born and raised in Colorado. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in education from University of Northern Colorado where he did his student teaching in Bathurst, NSW in Australia. He taught for several years in Akiachak, Alaska before becoming a full-time dad. The next several years of his life were dedicated to homeschooling his growing family in a the classical tradition as they moved about the beautiful and immense state of Alaska. He enjoys mountain biking, fishing, camp fires, snowboarding, perfecting his pizza dough, and all things theological.
Mrs. Sarah Eppihimer
PreK/Kindergarten Teacher
Bio to be attached.
Mrs. Mary Remer
3rd/4th Grade Teacher
Bio to be attached.
Ms. Sadie Luppen
Office Administrator
Bio to be attached.