.png)
The first secular homeschool hybrid for middle and high school students in the greater Raleigh-Durham area.
STAFF
Educators who care deeply — and teach with purpose.
At Harmony Homeschool Academy, our staff is made up of qualified educators and specialists who bring both academic excellence and real-life experience into the classroom.
Every teacher is committed to creating an environment where students feel emotionally safe, supported, and genuinely engaged.
​
Harmony exists to meet the needs of today’s learners—so our instructors teach with flexibility, creativity, and deep respect for each student’s unique learning style.
Angela Ruth
Co-Founder, Director of Education,
Teacher
Angela grew up in and out of Latin America, and has spent much of her life volunteering to help those in need. Angela began working in orphanages at a young age and pursued her work in service throughout and upon graduation from the College of William and Mary. Angela spent her early career working for the U.S. government, devotedly supporting U.S. military servicemen and women in Baghdad, Iraq, and later through non-profit work at the Wounded Warrior Project.
Angela began teaching approximately ten years ago, managing a library ESL program near the Texas-Mexico border. Angela began homeschooling just prior to the COVID pandemic and ran a homeschooling co-op in Tampa, Florida. Angela has spent the last several years writing curriculum and developing instructional methods that focus on multi-sensory, holistic learning, aimed at truly engaging today’s students, teaching to their generation, and increasing retention. Currently Angela teaches nine classes in the greater Raleigh area, focused mainly on the Spanish language and social studies. Angela co-founded Harmony Homeschool Academy with Laura to provide her own children and the community with a balanced, accepting, and healthy learning environment. Angela has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations with a concentration in Latin America and a second degree in Spanish.
Laura Greene, Psy.D.
Co-Founder, Director of Operations,
Teacher
Laura grew up in New Jersey and has made Apex, NC her home for the past fifteen years, where she lives with her family. Laura has been homeschooling one of her three sons for the past five years. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology (concentration: Women's Studies) from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA and both master’s and doctoral degrees in School Psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ. She is a licensed psychologist in North Carolina, where she provides therapy to individuals with depression and anxiety. She is excited to partner with Angela as a co-founder of Harmony Homeschool Academy to provide a nurturing and individualized learning environment for middle and high school students.
Laura’s professional background is in conducting and interpreting psychological and psycho-educational evaluations for individuals with disabilities. She was selected to work on an NIH study, developing Positive Behavior Support plans for individuals with developmental delays and their families. She has provided consultation to teachers, and individual and group counseling to children and adolescents in a school setting. Laura brings a unique area of expertise to the development of Harmony and its priority of meeting students’ social and emotional needs to facilitate learning.
Courtney Morfing
Teacher
After 14 years of teaching, 12 in Bergen County, NJ teaching science, 2 in Switzerland at an International School, Ms. Courtney is excited to be a science teacher at the Harmony Homeschool Academy! She absolutely loves science and enjoys sharing her passion for this subject with all of her students. She also enjoys coaching Girls on the Run and working with a multitude of clubs and activities outside of the four walls of the classroom.
She graduated from Clemson University (Go Tigers!) with a degree in Environmental Economics and Resources and then went on to earn her MA in Environmental Education from NYU. Learning is a lifelong journey and she has continued taking classes throughout her career.
Ms. Courtney has been married to her husband, Nick, for 11 years and they have 2 fierce children, Finley (8) and Jackson (4). They moved to Holly Springs, NC in June 2024. Before that, they lived on a small farm in New York, where they raised bees and chickens. When she is not in school or chasing kids, she loves to travel and run half marathons... so far she has run 39, in 26 states and 12 counties!
Jason Wong, Ph.D.
Teacher
Jason trained as an organic/medicinal chemist at MIT (B.S) and Harvard University (Ph.D.) and spent 15+ years developing new cancer therapies and diagnostics as a research and development team leader.
Interspersed throughout his industry career, Jason has invested a significant amount of time teaching chemistry and math, working with students ranging from kindergarten to post-doctorate, as well as homeschooling his two daughters.
Most recently, Jason taught multiple mathematics classes for homeschoolers, including for-credit high school classes (Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry), Pre-Algebra, and a hands-on enrichment course he developed entitled “Mathematical Malfunctions.”
When not teaching, he enjoys running, playing jazz and contemporary piano, and cooking for the family.
Emily Mora
Teacher
Emily Mora has worked as a speech-language pathologist for over 20 years. She also works as a literacy specialist with extensive training and experience addressing deficits in word level decoding, reading fluency, comprehension, spelling, and foundational written expression.
She works with students ages 6 to 18 to diagnose language and literacy disorders and provide personalized interventions.
In addition, Emily trains educators and school districts on effective literacy practices, as well as serving as Education Director of Decoding Dyslexia North Carolina where she engages in advocacy and community education work.
Ryanne Casey
Teacher
Ryanne Casey was a public school teacher for 12 years ranging from 2nd grade through middle school. During that time she received her National Board certification for Literacy (which has always been a passion) but also fell in love with STEM. After teaching and working as an educational administrator abroad for three years she moved back and became a middle school STEM coordinator. She loved working with small groups in this field and moved on to work for a military funded STEM program in multiple schools across the county. She also began her journey as a homeschool mom and when Covid ended her job, she became even more involved in the homeschool community and fell in love. She co-founded a STEM co-op and more recently began teaching homeschool classes at the community center. Now she is excited to join the Harmony team!
Ryanne is passionate about authentic learning. She believes learning should have real life connections. She believes in learning how to fail and learning from those trials. She believes in collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking skills over memorization.
At home she has 4 children, two dogs, and three cats that keep her busy! She enjoys travel, reading, painting, the beach, organizing and playing board games.
Amara Hosinski
Teacher
Amara always had a passion for teaching and learning. Her worked started early with small jobs as a bedside tutor at a children’s hospital, an afterschool activities coordinator, and a summer camp counselor. She loved being outdoors with students and witnessed that time outside had a profoundly positive effect on students’ well-being.
After graduating with a BS in Education from IU, she took her first steps into a classroom abroad in Central America in the country of lakes and volcanoes. She started as a volunteer in orphanages and local schools until she was hired by the American Nicaraguan School. These experiences shaped her love for a global mindset, wholistic education, and project-based learning.
A few years later, she returned to the U.S. where she went back into the classroom teaching upper middle school and lower high school ELA in Indiana before moving to North Carolina in 2017. In NC, she navigated the complexities of English grammar while teaching ESL at Wake Tech Community College. During this time, she attained a Masters in English Studies with a certificate in Multicultural and Transnational Literature.
In the classroom, she believes that learning is life-long for both students and teachers and involves the body, mind, and heart. Her hope is for the stories we live and the stories we read to shape us into better people.
In her spare time, Amara enjoys hiking up the mountains and kayaking in the marshes of the sea with her husband and 8-year-old daughter. At home, they play board games and enjoy the company of their three cats. She is thrilled to be joining such an amazing team of educators at Harmony.
Nicole Flannery
Teacher
Nicole has always had a passion for reading. At a young age she always immersed herself in books. That translated into an English degree from the University of Maryland. Soon after, she found a home teaching literature at her high school alma mater. There, she focused on 9th and 10th grade English. After 5 years, she and her husband relocated from where they both grew up in Maryland, to Cary, North Carolina. When her youngest daughter went to Kindergarten, she returned to the classroom.
In the last 10 years, she has taught 6th-8th grade ELA, focused on reading, writing and grammar, as well as middle school World History. She has spent the last three years in a small class setting working one on one with many students to prepare them for their next academic steps.
In her spare time, she loves spending time with her husband and her daughters (one at Panther Creek and one at UNCW) going to the beach and of course curling up with a good cup of coffee and a great book!
Allison Fuhrer
Teacher
At an early age, Allison had a passion for the arts, diving into voice and piano lessons and attempting at guitar, but ultimately pursuing the performing arts, namely theater and an array of dance disciplines. She converted her interest and developing expertise into teaching others while still in her teens.
After a foray into preschool instruction, she opened up a performing arts school in the Bay Area in California that she headed up for most of her adult life, honing her craft and expanding on her already vivacious approach to performing arts instruction.
Making the leap to the Raleigh area amidst the COVID pandemic, Allison converted her passion for instruction to developing homeschool curriculum that is accessible to all age groups and learning styles. She has also put on homeschool theater productions locally and began an online resource that includes read-alouds and science experiments for children.
Her many passions include spending time with her husband and three children, reading, raising a sourdough starter, maintaining a garden of fresh veggies, and watching documentaries.
Claudia Finelle
Teacher
Claudia Finelle is a versatile teaching artist with over two decades of experience inspiring creativity in learners of all ages. Trained at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, and Sam Adoque’s atelier in New York City, she honed her skills in figure painting, portraiture, landscapes, and still life—often balancing evening and weekend studio study while working at P233’s inclusion program during the day.
Since relocating to North Carolina twenty years ago, she has taught at local community centers, including Cary Art Center and Halle Cultural Arts Center. Her practice has expanded to encompass mixed media, art journaling, and manga (anime‑style comics), and she delights in experimenting with new materials and techniques. She also exhibits her work regularly at local libraries and coffee shops.
Passionate about both art and family, she launched summer art camps when her children were in elementary school so she could spend summers alongside them—beginning with a “Medieval Camp” inspired by her son’s love of knights and armor. Today she oversees nearly twenty camps each year, with her children sometimes serving as enthusiastic co‑instructors.
Bre Wakefield
Front Desk Administrator; Teacher
Bre was born in central Utah and grew up in Utah and Texas. She moved to Cary, NC with her husband and four boys in 2016 after living in the American West, Midwest, Northeast, and Germany. She spent a total of 3 ½ years in Germany, with her 2nd son being born in Heidelberg. She has always been passionate about keeping a connection to Germany, teaching her sons German and keeping German traditions and language
alive at home.
She has thoroughly enjoyed homeschooling her two sons and is excited that they will be a part of the Harmony Academy family. She has been a businesswoman for almost 16 years, having co-founded BE Original Photography with her friend and business partner in 2009. Her administrative experience spans her own business operations and a stint as an administrator for a law office. She loves getting things organized and in good working order and is excited to merge many of her talents and interests as the front desk administrator and instructor for Harmony Academy!
Austin Ketola
Teacher
Austin grew up in Iron Station, North Carolina, a small town just outside Charlotte. In college he went to NC State and earned degrees in Computer Engineering and Economics.
With a strong love of learning, he became a 1-on-1 and small group tutor while in high school. In college, his passion for learning and belief that every child deserves access to top-notch educational support led him to launch a small tutoring company. What began as tutoring sessions evolved into a larger vision: Asobo Education, a game-based, adaptive learning platform (like a blend of Duolingo and IXL) designed to deliver high-quality, data-driven resources to students and teachers everywhere. He is currently piloting the platform locally and continuing development.
Alongside building Asobo, Austin spent three years as an engineer at Quanta Technology, where he has worked as a software engineer specializing in data and process automation.
At home he enjoys cooking, running, and spending time with his daughter (a cat).
Rebecca Tait
Teacher
Rebecca has been homeschooling for over 10 years and has spent much of that time building hands-on, creative learning experiences for kids. For the past 8 years, she’s run a dedicated home makerspace where she’s hosted classes and led co-ops, helping kids unlock their creative side through experimentation and problem-solving.
Rebecca holds a bachelor’s degree in business. She recently co-founded Homeschool Connective, a business focused on developing interactive online courses and gamified curriculum for homeschoolers. Her goal is to create fun, engaging ways for kids to learn complex topics.
Rebecca is on Parent Council at Harmony Homeschool Academy and is the school's Clubs Coordinator. She also co-leads Service Club at Harmony where she creates volunteer opportunities for club members.
Kara Huntley
Teacher
Kara earned a Bachelor of Music (voice) and Bachelor of Education from The University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto in her native Canada. She is a fifth generation music teacher. She started her teaching career at the high school level directing both choral music, jazz band, concert band and dixie band. An accomplished instrumentalist as well as vocalist, Kara plays piano and has performed as an accompanist and clarinet and oboe player.
After relocating to the Seattle area, Kara maintained a private voice and piano studio for nearly a decade, teaching children aged 5-16. Most recently, she served as Music Director for the Carolina Academy of Performing Arts production of the Addams Family Jr.
Kara is loving the NC sunshine after years in the stunningly gorgeous yet often dreary Pacific Northwest and is thrilled to be joining the Harmony family.
Lorin Erickson
Lead Lunch Monitor; Teacher
Lorin is originally from NY and has been in NC for the past 12 years. She is a mom to two teenage boys. Her family lives in Cary with their goldendoodle, Bailey. Her boys attend Cary High School, where her husband is a teacher.
Working as a pediatric Occupational Therapist sparked her passion for supporting children through every age and stage of development. She truly enjoyed watching the students she's worked with grow and reach their goals and beyond!
In her free time, she enjoys walking the beautiful greenways in the area, visiting her favorite beach (Sunset Beach), attending shows at DPAC, and exploring new-to-her coffee shops.