Kimberly Staggs

Grammar Principal

B.A.(history, minor in German), University of California Irvine

M.A.(history), The University of Alabama

J.D. The University of Alabama

Mrs. Staggs was raised in Irvine, California, where she attended the University of California, Irvine, Campus wide Honors Program, earning a B.A. with a major in history and a minor in German. During her junior year at U.C. Irvine, she lived and studied in Göttingen, Germany, through the University of California’s Education Abroad Program. While taking classes in Germany, she developed an interest in the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, which led her to write her senior thesis on the Birmingham civil rights marches in 1963, “Alienable Rights: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Power By and For the Children.”

Mrs. Staggs graduated cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa from U.C.I. in 1993, then moved to Alabama to pursue her M.A. in history at the University of Alabama, where she received a Graduate Council Fellowship. Continuing her interest in civil rights, Mrs. Staggs wrote her master’s thesis about the Selma voting rights marches of 1965. Writing “Williams v. Wallace and the Federal Court in the Selma March: Bringing Proportionality to the Constitution” piqued her interest in the field of law and, upon receiving her M.A. in 1995, she began her studies at the University of Alabama School of Law, where she became an editor for the Law and Psychology Review and was was given Best Paper awards in both her Decedents’ Estates and Real Estate Development courses. While still in law school, she clerked for the Honorable Robert Bernard Harwood, Jr., on the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court. Kimberly received her Juris Doctor degree and was admitted to the Alabama Bar Association in 1998.

Following law school, Mrs. Staggs moved to New York City for a year with her husband, Clay Staggs, while he attended school, where she worked for the Office of Development and the Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University Law School. Upon return she again clerked for the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, this time for the Honorable L. Scott Coogler. In 2000, she opened her own law office and enjoyed practicing in real estate law. In addition to her own practice, Mrs. Staggs has written appellate briefs for other attorneys and taught paralegal courses and Western Civilization at Shelton State Community College.

Mrs. Staggs turned from college courses to classical education in 2006 when it was time for her daughter to start Kindergarten. Having been heartily persuaded that a classical education would be the best option for her own children, she became the first Kindergarten teacher at Riverwood Classical School, taught the first and second grades during the 2007-2008 school year, and will teach the second and third grades during the 2008-2009 school year.

Contact Kimberly

Fiona DeSimone

B.A., University of Alabama, Birmingham

Ms. DeSimone graduated Cum Laude from the University of Alabama in Birmingham in December, 2008. She has a major in History, a minor in Secondary Education, great love and patience for children, and a dedication to teaching the Word. Although her position at Riverwood Classical is her first official teaching job since graduating, Ms. DeSimone has spent much time teaching and working with children. On mission trips she has assisted with Bible clubs for inner-city children in Ireland, she has worked frequently with the children’s program at her church. and, most recently, she has tutored student athletes at UAB. When not in the classroom teaching, Ms. DeSimone enjoys serving her church as a pianist, violinist, and vocalist, mentoring teen girls, playing ultimate frisbee, spending time outdoors, and reading books by great thinkers such as C.S. Lewis, John Piper, and G.K. Chesterton.

Contact Fiona

Kelly Ferris

B.S.(Elementary Education), University of Alabama

Mrs. Ferris grew up in Jacksonville, Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama, summa cum laude, in 2007. In addition to her degree in elementary education, Mrs. Ferris loves children and desires to shepherd and teach them. Mrs. Ferris served as a first grade teacher for a year in the Tuscaloosa Public School system before joining Riverwood Classcial School. She has had experience teaching in kindergarten, second, third, and sixth grades, and has worked one on one as a tutor with many children in many different subject areas. Mrs. Ferris looks forward to teaching the kindergarten and first grade students during the 2008-2009 school year at Riverwood Classical.

Contact Kelly