Jack Exum received his Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Auburn University Montgomery and his Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Faulkner University located in Montgomery, AL.  He taught for 7 years and has been in educational administration for the past 5 years a PK-8 Principal, Secondary School Principal, and a Head of School.  Mr. Exum joined HVCS in June 2010 as the head of school after moving from Charlotte, NC.  He is married and has two children, an eight-year old daughter and a two-year old son.  He and his family worship at Hickory Valley Christian Church.

Debbie Aytes graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Studies: PreK-3.  She has been teaching Kindergarten at Hickory Valley Christian School for eight years. She is a native of Chattanooga and is married to Travis Aytes and has two wonderful boys, Logan (11) and Caleb (7).

Mrs. Aytes's Class Page

Dara Bechtol received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Auburn University in 2001.  Dara has taught at Hickory Valley for nine years. She currently teaches 5th through 8th grade Math and 6th grade Science. She is a native of Chattanooga and attended GPS. Dara is the wife of Matt Bechtol and the mother of James and Davis. 

Mrs. Bechtol's Class Page

Dustin Binegar attended Holmes community college where he studied drafting and design. While at Holmes, he played soccer for two years and also cheered. He then transferred to Mississippi State University where he cheered for four years and studied psychology. He received a degree in teaching with a minor in coaching while at MSU. He also has a exercise sience and health education degree from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. He teaches 4th and grade Language Arts. He also teaches 5th, 7th, and 8th grade History/Geography. He is the school's athletic director, and the guidence counselor. He teaches K3-8th grade P.E. He is a native of Lexington, Mississippi and attended Kosciusko High School. Dustin is married to Ashley.This is Dustin's second year at Hickory Valley.

Mr. Binegar's Class Page

Cheyenne Bradberry plans and prepares the lunch time meals for the students and staff at HVCS. She shops for the food and prepares it each day. She prepares a monthly menu, allowing the parents to select the meals that they wish to purchase for their children for that month.

Maria Carlone received her M.A. from Middlebury College and her PhD. in Literature and Second Language Acquisition (language teaching and learning) from the University of Massachusetts.  Maria has taught elementary school, middle school, high school, and college.  This is her 21st year of teaching and her fifth year at HVCS. Mrs. Carlone, her husband Jim, and her son, William,  are members of Tyner United Methodist Church and are very grateful for their church family and friends. Maria teaches Spanish to K4 through 8th Grades.  She is married to Jim Carlone, who works at the McCallie School.  Her son, William, is now 15 months old!

Adelia Derrick is a teacher in our K-4 program. She has been teaching at HVCS for many years and loves working with young children.

Mollee Shannon is pursuing a degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. This year is her fifth year as an employee of Hickory Valley Christian School and her second year as the K-3 teacher.

Angela Frost graduated from UTC in 1993 with a BS in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. She has seven years of experience in elementary ed and three years in early childhood. She currently teaches 3rd grade reading, 2^nd grade math, and 1st grade Bible, science, and social studies.  This is her fifth year of teaching at HVCS.  Angela was born in Austin, Texas. She is the wife of Bob Frost and mother of Tiffany, Hayden James and Preston.

Mrs. Frost's Class Page

Debbie Grimes attended college at Tennessee Temple.  To avoid becoming a football widow, Debbie has become an avid Georgia football fan with her husband of nineteen years. She and Garry serve together in their church by ministering to the country of Belize and conducting a Vacation Bible School. She is married to Gary and they have a blended family of four children and five grandchildren. She was born and raised in Ohio. Debbie teaches 3rd and 4th grade math, 3rd and 4th grade Bible, and 4th and 5th grade science at Hickory Valley.

Mrs. Grimes' Class Page

Jane Kaplan graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Elementary Education.  She has taught preschool, first and third grade. She has a Library Science degree from UT and Trevecca College. She was a librarian at McKenzie before she came to HVCS.  She is now the librarian at Hickory Valley School and Church and is a volunteer librarian at Rivermont Presbyterian Church. She is married to Shelby Kaplan and has a son, a daughter and five grandchildren.

Debra McGhee is the Financial Manager for HVCS. She graduated from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1987.  She received a B.S. degree in both Accounting and Marketing.  She is a native of Chattanooga. She lives in Ooltewah with her husband, Tom, and two children, Kelsey and Garrett.  Kelsey is a senior at East Hamilton High and Garrett is currently a 8^th grader at HVCS.  Debra is an active member of Ridgedale Baptist Church where she teaches Sunday School in the youth department. 

Lee Moore teaches 2nd grade. She teaches Science to the elementary children, doing many interesting and exciting hands-on activities with them.  One especially "hands on" activity is helping the children grow a garden.

Mrs. Moore's Class Page

Kelly Nichols attends Christway Community Church with her husband, Walt, and her daughter, Taylor, who attends Hickory Valley as a 2nd grade student. Kelly the director of our Aftercare and Summercare programs.

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 Becky Randolph is the art teacher at HVCS.

Jeff Rose graduated from Cincinnati Bible College with a B.A. in Christian Education, from The College of Mt. St. Joseph with a M.Ed in Elementary Education, and from Chattanooga State with an Associate Degree in Computer Science. He worked at Hickory Valley from 1993-1998, then did computer programming for Unum for nine years. He returned to Hickory Valley in the summer of 2007 as the Technology and Facilities Manager. He is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and attended Western Hills High School. He is married to Kathy Rose and they have two children.

Cathy Shultz, a native of Cookeville, TN, attended Carson-Newman College where she received a B.A. in Liberal Studies with Elementary Education.  As of May 2010, she also holds a M.Ed. in Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning.  She has also met the state's gifted education employment standard through special education. Cathy began teaching in 2001 and joined the HVCS teaching body in 2004.  She currently teaches first grade.  She is married to Josh Shultz and has a young son named Daniel.

Mrs. Shultz's Class Page

Lyndsay Slaten is a native of Chattanooga, TN, and earned her degree from Samford University. This is her third year to be with the K4 class at Hickory Valley. She and her husband of four years joyfully welcomed their first born, Shepard, this past summer.

Christy Spiesser has a bachelor of arts in French language and culture from the Pennsylvania State University and a “Licence” (Bachelor of Arts) in English from the Université de Strasbourg in France. Mrs. Spiesser is currently pursuing a Master's in Secondary Education with an emphasis in English. She has been teaching at HVCS for seventeen years.  For 2010-2011, she will be teaching middle school language arts,social studies, science and Bible.  Mrs. Spiesser is married to Patrick and has two daughters, Lara and Nathalie. She is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and has lived in seven states and one foreign country.

Mrs. Spiesser's Class Page

Loretta Stynchcombe graduated from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science degree. She has taught for thirty-three years.  The past twenty-six years have been spent teaching at HVCS. She currently teaches fourth grade reading and social studies and fifth grade reading, language arts, Bible, and chimes. She is a native of Salem, Illinois. Loretta is married to Lee and has one son and two grandchildren.She has had the opportunity of traveling as a missionary to Haiti, Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.  She is a member of Morris Hill Baptist Church and enjoys singing in the choir.  Other pastimes include workouts at the YMCA, spending time outside, walking, and time spent with her two grandchildren in Atlanta.” 

Mrs. Stynchcombe's Class Page

Bill Williams is a Facilities and Maintenance employee who helps maintain the buildings at the school. He is the husband of Rose, and they have two grown children, two grandchildren, and two more soon to arrive. He is an Elder at Hickory Valley Christian Church and is a retired electrician who worked many years for Norfolk Southern Corp.