Faculty

Monsignor Vincent Bommarito

Monsignor Bommarito grew up in St. George’s parish in St. Louis. He felt a calling from an early age and became interested in the seminary after the 8th grade.
He attended St. Louis Prep High School and later attended college at Kenrick Glennon Seminary where he obtained his Master’s degree of Divinity. Monsignor has ministered to the communities at St. Monica, St. Charles, Little Flower, and St. Thomas the Apostle.
Although he considers being the pastor of St. Ambrose among his greatest accomplishments. He has served the vibrant community two different times for a total of 16 years. Monsignor is fully committed to the parish and community and makes himself available 24/7.

Principal Michel Wendell

Michel Wendell is a graduate of Maryville College, and earned a BA in English and a BA in Education. She received a Masters in Education from Washington University. Michel attended St. Louis University for Ed. Administration.
Michel taught in the Upward Bound program at SLUH. She helped develop the Upper Grade curriculum for the Project Achievement summer program, a collaboration of our Catholic Schools and the St. Louis Public Schools, and was Language Arts Consultant for the St. Louis Archdiocese.
She taught in the Junior High at Holy Family School in South City. From there she was principal at Good Shepherd-Hillsboro and Cathedral Basilica School. She was the Curriculum Coordinator at St. Gabriel the Archangel, and served as Interim Principal. Michel has been the principal at St. Stephen Protomartyr School for the past 5 years.

Katie Bixon	Katie teaches Pre-K3. This is her 5th year at St. Ambrose. She has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood from the University of Missouri- St. Louis.
Rebecca Ceriotti	Rebecca will be our new Pre-K-3 teacher this year.
Beth Cunningham	This is Beth’s 19th year teaching! She has taught Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade.
Catherine DiBello
Emily Elmore	Emily has her bachelors degree in deaf education/elementary education and a master’s degree in early intervention in deaf education. This is her 20th year teaching at St. Ambrose
Allison Entrikin
	Michelle Grellner Mrs. Grellner is certified in regular (k-8) and special (k-12) education. She also has reading specialist certification. She has lived in St. Louis her entire life and attended Ursuline Academy and Fontbonne University. Mrs. Grellner is married and has two teenage boys and one dog who keep her very busy. In her free time, she likes to go for hikes and long walks.
Anne Henry	Anne Henry teaches 5th grade and has taught at St. Ambrose since 2015. She has a Master of Arts in Teaching and is passionate about connecting learning to real life. She strives to build relationships with students and believes that kindness is essential. Mrs. Henry is married and has three teenagers and two cats. She enjoys reading and trying out new restaurants. In her free time, she loves to travel with her husband and kids.
	Debbie Hildebrand It's a great day here at St. Ambrose on the Hill. Welcome to the 2020-2021 School Year. I will be teaching 8th Grade Religion and Grades Pre-K-8 Technology Classes. I am very excited and proud to begin my 26th year here at St. Ambrose (my alma mater). It will be quite a busy year for me and for all of the students. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and working with all of our wonderful students and families. A little about myself..I celebrated my 32ndt wedding anniversary this past April and I am proud to say that I have 3 wonderful children that I am very proud of. My oldest, Brian, has his Masters degree in Music Therapy and is working for SSM. Brian got married in May of 2017 to AJ Arena. They have given me the best gift of my grand-daughter, Heather, April 24, 2020. My second son, Joe, completed his undergraduate studies and graduated from McKendree University with a Psychology Degree. My youngest, and only girl Alyssa, graduated from McKendree University in May 2017 with her degree in Health and Wellness with a specialty in Nutrition. I am a lifelong resident of the Hill Neighborhood and love being involved. I hope you enjoy learning more about our wonderful school and neighborhood.
Lisa Horner
	Gabby Lavezzi
Christine Malone
	Jennifer O'Toole This will be my 19th year teaching at St. Ambrose School. Seventeen of those years have been in first grade. I am married with two boys in middle school. They keep me busy with all of their activities. I enjoy traveling to new places and staying up late reading books.
Tina Offner	Although her certifications are in Music and Theater, Tina learned to speak Italian after living in Italy for 5 years. She was born in Naples and then returned to live in Sardinia. She has been teaching for 14 years. She has a B.A. from University of Washington and a M.A. from Fontbonne University. She is thrilled to be teaching a language that she loves to the students of St. Ambrose.
	Bruce Paulus Hello, I’m Bruce Paulus, the PE/Heath teacher (Grades preK- 8) at St. Ambrose on the Hill. I began my teaching career at Northwest High School for the City of St. Louis Public School system. I have over 30 years of experience as a Catholic Educator. A summary of my previous schools that I have taught at are listed below: • St. Vincent DePaul Grade & High Schools (2 years) – Perryville, MO • St. Stephen Protomartyr (5 years) – South St. Louis • Immaculate Heart of Mary (20 years) – South St. Louis • Our Lady of Sorrows (7 years) – South St. Louis • St. Ambrose on the Hill (1 year) –The Hill I am a veteran. I worked in local television (KTVI & KMOX) news and sports for 5 years. I am trained and certified in lifesaving techniques, and I have been a classroom teacher, PE Instructor and H.S. Football Coach in my educational career. I am married with three daughters, and three grandchildren. My wife Liz and I, as well as, my youngest daughter Anna (will be a freshman at Cor Jesu Academy) are members of OLS Parish. My two older daughters are also working in Catholic education and live in Chicago. I am blessed to be a member of the St. Ambrose School Family, and I enjoy working with your wonderful children.
Catherine Pettus
	Maria Polizzi Hi! My name is Maria Polizzi and I am so happy to be back teaching at St. Ambrose. I substitute taught, as well as taught first grade for two years at St. Ambrose before getting married and moving to Richmond, Virginia and then Allentown, Pennsylvania, where I also taught first grade! I am a third generation graduate of St. Ambrose and truly know what a special place it is. I married my highschool sweetheart in 2016 and we are thrilled to be back home in St. Louis with our two dogs Carl and Walt. We love to travel, cook and spend time with our friends and family. I'm looking forward to a great year at STA!
Jen Ronzio	am so blessed to be starting my twelfth year at St. Ambrose and leading St. Maria Goretti House! I also teach 6-8th Science and 6th-8th Math. I attended Cor Jesu Academy for high school and graduated from Mizzou in 2005 with a degree in Animal Science. Go Tigers! I am certified in 5-9th Science, 5-9th Math, and completed my Masters in Teaching at Webster University. My husband and I just celebrated 11 years of marriage and we have a 5 1/2 year old daughter, Nellie, and a 2 1/2 year old son, Landon.
	Jennifer Ruggeri
Mary Saunchegraw	A little bit of my background, I taught grades 2, 3, and 5 in the Hazelwood School District for 10 years and then had the opportunity to stay at home with my children. During that time I worked for Special School District in the Homebound program, was a substitute teacher and was very involved in my children's school and our parish. Then I worked for Ferguson/Florissant as a Parent Educator for three years. For two years I was at St. Mary Magdalen teaching middle school social studies, also science and religion. I am very excited to be starting my third year at St. Ambrose. My daughter Caroline will be a freshman at Rockhurst University this year, and Nicholas will be starting year four at Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL.
	Kathleen Seaton My name is Kathleen Seaton. I have a Bachelors of Science degree in Early Childhood Education from UMSL. I also have completed several hours towards my Masters in Education. Before joining the preschool team at St. Ambrose, I taught Kindergarten at another Catholic school.
Diana Smith
	Beth Wagner
Genna Yoon

Monsignor Vincent Bommarito

Principal Michel Wendell

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