Fr. Von Deeke - Parish Pastor
vondeeke@hotmail.com


Mrs. Kelly Schaaf - School Principal
mailto:principal@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Kelly Schaaf lives in Smithton with her husband, Tim, and their three sons. Shegraduated from SIU-E in 2001 with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. In August of 2001 she began her teaching career at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Smithton. Since the start of her teaching career she went back to school twice. She earned a Master's degree in Education Administration as well as a Master's degree in Reading. During her teaching career, she taught grades 4th-8th. In addition to teaching middle school grades, she was also a tutor in the Academic Lab at Freeburg High School and served as the Academic Lab Director for three years. 

Mrs. Katie Waeltz - School Secretary
mailto:office@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Katie was the school secretary over at St. Agatha since 2016 before coming over to St. Joseph in 2020 when the two schools merged.  The highlight of her job is getting to know all the students.  They always seem to brighten the day.

Mrs. Cheryl Sinn - PreK3 teacher
mailto:ccsinn@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Sinn has been a staff member since 2017.  She has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts with a Minor in Marketing and Design from McKendree University.  She was a volunteer librarian at St. Joseph Catholic School for 7 years.

Mrs. Melinda Tarvin - PreK4 teacher
mailto:mtarvin@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Tarvin has been a staff member since 2013.  She has a MA in Education and a BS in Elementary Education from McKendree University.  She holds an IL teaching certification endorsed in Language Arts, Social Science, and Elementary Education.

Ms. Jennifer Cole - Kindergarten teacher
jcole@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Ms. Cole has been a staff member since 2010.  She has a BA in Elementary Education from Eastern Illinois University with emphasis in Biology and General Sciences.  She also holds an IL teaching certification for Elementary Education.

Mrs. Hope Zittel - Kindergarten teacher
hzittel@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Zittel has been subbing at St. Joseph and St. Agatha for 8 years before coming on to St. Joseph full time.  She has a Bachelors Degree from SIUE in Psychology with a minor Kinesiology.  She was also the Assistant Athletic Director and Soccer Coordinator.  She has a son and daughter who are both graduates of St. Joseph.

Mrs. Bethany Zeveski- 1st grade teacher
mailto:bzeveski@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Zeveski was a Kindergarten teacher at St. Agatha school for 7 years before the two schools merged. She now teaches 1st grade at St. Joe’s.  She has a Bachelors degree from McKendree University. She lives in Smithton with her husband Tom, a St. Joseph Alumni, and their 2 children. 

Ms. Michelle Ogilvie - 2nd grade teacher
mailto:mogilvie@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Ms. Ogilvie has been a staff member since 2013.  She has a BS in Elementary Education from SIU Edwardsville.  She also holds an IL teaching certification endorsed in Elementary Education, Language Arts, and Social Science.

Mrs. Laura Lintker - 3rd & 4th grade homeroom teacher 
mailto:llintker@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Lintker taught at St. Agatha School for 17 years before joining the staff at St. Joseph School.  She has a BS in Special Education from SIUE.   

Mrs. Ashley Seibold - 5th/6th homeroom teacher
mailto:aseibold@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org

Mrs. Melissa Thomas - 7th grade homeroom teacher
mailto:mthomas@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Thomas has been a staff member since 2020.  She taught at St. Agatha for 2 years and has been in the field of education since 2007.  She has a BA in Education and a MAT in Education, both from Webster University in St. Louis.

Mr. John Middendorff - 8th grade homeroom teacher
mailto:jmiddendorff@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mr. Middendorff has been a staff member since 2011.  He has a BA in Education from SIU Edwardsville.  He holds an IL teaching certification endorsed in Social Science, Mathematics, and Elementary Education. 

Mrs. Sandy Busch - PE teacher
mailto:sbusch@stjosephschoolfreeburg.org
Mrs. Busch has been a staff member since from 1996-1998 and 2012 to present.  She has a BS from McKendree University.  She holds an Illinois Teaching Certificate endorsed in Physical Education.

Mrs. Patti Force - School cook

Mr. Brad Niebruegge - (Mr. Brad) custodian
Mr. Niebruegge has been a staff member since 2016.  He has a Fire Science degree from Southwest Illinois College.  He is also a Certified Safety Professional and an Authorized OSHA Instructor trained through the OSHA Training Institute.