Now entering his 22nd year, Director of College Guidance Kirk Blackard has perfected a system that ensures every boy gets individual, personalized attention from the moment they step on campus until the very end of the college-application process.

The Class of 2025 earned more than $4.8 million in scholarships after the 65 seniors submitted 421 applications to 168 different colleges (6.5 applications per student).  

Mr. Blackard has been involved in college admissions and college counseling since 1991. A graduate of St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Va., Mr. Blackard received a B.A. from Wake Forest University in 1989 and his master's from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1995.

Mr. Blackard lives on campus and his interests include basketball, tennis, and cooking. 

Learn more about College Guidance

Christ School underwent a basketball renaissance in Josh Coley's first season and won a state championship in his second, third, and fourth. He is the fastest coach to reach 100 wins here. Suffice it to say, all Greenie student-athletes are in capable hands with Coach Coley as Athletic Director and Basketball Program Director. 

His four-year record is 101-23 with Varsity Basketball after inheriting a program in 2021 that had won just three games the year before. Christ School defeated Carmel Christian for a NCISAA 4-A state championships three-peat in February 2025. 

Before arriving in Arden, Mr. Coley had nine years of coaching experience from Charlotte area high schools Garinger, Carmel Christian, and United Faith Christian Academy, where he directed the NCISAA program to a 94-28 overall record with four conference championships as well as a state finals appearance and two trips to the NCISAA semifinal round. During his time at United Faith, Mr. Coley served as Athletic Director, where he was responsible for managing budgets and staff, as well as enforcing state association rules. More than 20 student athletes at United Faith signed basketball scholarships with Division I or Division II colleges. 

Mr. Coley has coached or played professional basketball in three leagues - the NBDL, American Basketball Association, and United States Continental Basketball League. He was a point guard for two pro teams in the Raleigh/Durham area (the Carolina Jaguars and Cary Invasion) from 2010 to 2012.

Mr. Coley graduated from N.C. Central University’s Turner School of Law in 2012 with his M.B.A./J.D. after receiving a B.A. in Communication Studies from UNC Greensboro in 2008.

Assistant Head of School Lisa Darling's wealth and breadth of knowledge in education have been great assets to Christ School since she first joined the community during the 2023-24 academic year. 

She initially took on the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer. 

Prior to coming here, Ms. Darling demonstrated stellar leadership as the head of school at three different institutions (Wilmington Friends School in Delaware, United World College, and the Awty International School in Houston. 

Ms. Darling returned to Houston in October to receive a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms award for her work in promoting the French language and French-speaking culture from France’s ambassador to the U.S., Laurent Bili. 

Ms. Darling's professional career began in 1979 and has taken her to schools in six different states. She was formerly on the board for the National Association of Independent Schools from 1996 to 2000 and is part of the board of trustees for two schools in Texas - Shlenker School and Dallas International School. 

Ms. Darling earned her B.A. in Religion from George Fox College in 1976 and then went on to receive master's degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and the State University of New York. 

She considers herself an inveterate traveler and animal lover. Her son, Nedim, lives and works in San Francisco. 

Ms. Darling will live on campus in Seitz House.

Christ School's prosperity now and moving forward can be largely attributed to the work of Assistant Head for External Affairs Betsy Ellis P'24, who has taken fundraising to unprecedented levels since her hiring in 2018. 

Each fiscal year reaches new heights, an upward trend that continued with 2023-24. Donors generously pledged more than $1.6 million on "Give Now & Go Green," the school's annual day of giving. 

Last year's extensive renovation to Patrick Beaver Student Center was largely made possible by the 2022 "Work Hard, Play Hard" auction. 

Mrs. Ellis assists Head of School Dr. Sean Jenkins with strategic initiatives, ever mindful of affording every boy the same opportunities she would want for her son, Ben '24, who was a 2023-24 Job Prefect. 

Mrs. Ellis previously worked in Christ School's Advancement Office from 2002 to 2004, assisting with fundraising for the renovation to St. Joseph’s Chapel. In 2004, Mrs. Ellis became Director of Advancement at Asheville's Evergreen Charter School. After the birth of her son, Mrs. Ellis joined Asheville's Pisgah Legal Services, where she worked for 11 years. Her job grew to Director of Philanthropy, managing a talented team, 1,600 donors, and increasing the non-profit's annual campaign from $200,000 to more than $1.4 million a year. 

Mrs. Ellis was ready for a new challenge and the opportunity to return to Christ School came at the right time. 

Mrs. Ellis, her husband James (an attorney in Black Mountain, N.C.), and their three sons live in Van Every House. When she is not working, Ellis loves to travel, cook, and entertain. She also enjoys spending time at the family's place on Lake Champlain in Vermont. 

As the Director of Human Resources and Facilities, Danny Elmer manages the employee personnel files, the company health and benefits packages, as well as the progress of all new construction.

Look around campus and you can tell he has been busy lately with the renovation of Beaver Student Center (completed, 2023), Stolz Dining Hall (completed, 2016), the renovation of ’30 House into a new Wellness Center and offices for Advancement (completed, 2017), the Close-Krieger Athletic Center (completed, 2018), Father Kirk Brown Outdoor Chapel (completed, 2018), and new on-campus housing for faculty and staff. With the help of his maintenance and grounds crews, Mr. Elmer keeps every Christ School building – academic, residential, athletics – in working order and ensures the grounds are well-manicured.

Being in the wilderness is Mr. Elmer’s great passion, and when he finds the time, he shares that passion with Christ School students, either taking a group fishing or to the skeet-shooting range. These trips keep Mr. Elmer connected to the community, and the love the boys have for him was acknowledged in 2016, when they dedicated the Angelus, Christ School’s yearbook, to him. You can see his effect on his sons, too. Sam ’13, a fanatical fly-fisherman himself, works for Vanguard Financial. Ben ’09 is a professional fly-fishing guide in Cashiers, N.C.

Mr. Elmer graduated from N.C. State in 1985 with a double major in Business Management and Economics. After managing the financial operations for businesses in Asheville and Raleigh, Mr. Elmer worked as the Director of Finance for an all-boys summer camp in Flat Rock, N.C. He joined Christ School in 2007, and what’s kept him here is “Hands down, the people – great faculty and staff, great kids!”

Cissy Elmer, his wife of more than 30 years, manages the Student Center and Bookstore.

Dr. Lisa Garner P’24 hopes that every Christ School boy will grow and develop into the best version of themselves as Dean of Student Wellness. 

She is creating and overseeing the new Modern Life Skills Program for the 2025-26 academic year, along with continuing to lead our counseling programs. 

Lisa is a native of western North Carolina and was happy to return home and join the Christ School community starting with the 2021-22 academic year. Prior to this, Dr. Garner spent more than 20 years living and working in Chicago with a professional practice that focused exclusively on work with children, teens and families in residential, community mental health, and school settings.

Outside of school, she enjoys travel with her family to locations near and far, exploring local trails, gardening, and reading historical fiction. 

Dr. Garner and her husband, Lee, are proud parents to Lawson, Lily, and Luke '24.

Spontaneous standing ovations in the relative calm of St. Joseph’s Chapel only happen for a very good reason. 

Peter Hartwig was moved to tears during an April chapel service in which the boys loudly showed their approval for his hiring as the next Chaplain. 

Mr. Hartwig has been at Christ School for three years now and most recently served as Director of Spiritual Life, a role in which he oversaw the chapel program and anchored the school pillar of Spirituality. He has also taught Public Speaking and three other religion courses. 

Mr. Hartwig was an Echols Scholar at the University of Virginia, receiving his B.A. in Religious Studies & Classics in 2016. He then went on to receive master’s degrees from the University of Cambridge (Master of Philosophy) and Princeton Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity).

Mr. Hartwig's employment before Christ School included posts at Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash., and the Westminster Theological Centre in the United Kingdom. He was also a Communications Associate for Global Endowment Management, LP out of Charlotte. 

Mr. Hartwig lives on campus.

Dean of Students Drew Hyche '94 has been a beloved mainstay of the administration for 25 years. 

He was a natural choice as the 2023 winner of the Water Carrier Award, which annually goes to a faculty or staff member who largely works behind the scenes and embodies the ideals of compassion, humor, a sense of history, humility, loyalty, the ability to teach, and an unshakeable commitment to the Christ School community. 

"You won't find many people working here with more personal knowledge of Christ School," said Head of School Dr. Sean Jenkins. 

After graduating from Clemson University in 1998, Mr. Hyche came back to his alma mater to work as an intern in Residential Life and to coach basketball and tennis. Since then, he has worked in Student Activities, Admissions, and Student Life.

Mr. Hyche also serves as one of the Administrators on Duty and as one of the advisors to Form VI (12^th grade). He lives on campus with his two children, Harper and Burns.

Dr. Sean Jenkins became the 14th Head of School at Christ School in July 2021.

Originally from Knoxville, Tenn., Dr. Jenkins received his B.A. in English from Wake Forest University and his M.Ed. from North Carolina State University. He completed his Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Virginia, where he served on the honor council and was inducted into the Raven Society.

Dr. Jenkins is a graduate of the McCallie School and former member of its Board of Trustees. His other civic associations have included serving as senior warden at Christ Episcopal Church, serving on the Board of Trustees for the Virginia Episcopal School (VES), and the Charlottesville Free Clinic.

Dr. Jenkins joined the Christ School community from the University of Virginia after serving stints at Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Jenkins served UVA Presidents John T. Casteen, III, Teresa A. Sullivan, and James E. Ryan as a senior assistant where his responsibilities included admissions, accreditation, development, board-governance, education policy, global programming, strategic and academic planning, and operations.

At UVA, Dr. Jenkins taught and advised undergraduate and graduate students. He was recognized for outstanding leadership and teaching by The Society of the Purple Shadows in 2015. His broad range of experience and expertise benefit our community in his role as Head of School.

Dr. Jenkins' family - wife, Lawson, a Spartanburg, S.C. native, and a fellow Wake Forest and UVA graduate, and sons Coleman and Jack - are also members of the community.

Andrew Pearson believes the greatest reward from his day-to-day work here is that it requires no hyperbole or other means of exaggeration.

Mr. Pearson looks forward to championing the Christ School community, our core values, and all Greenies in new and meaningful ways. As Director of Communications, he will oversee a four-person team of talented creatives who expect to broaden the school’s reach through engaging video and photography.

Mr. Pearson has been responsible for much of Christ School’s external media (website content and social media) the past eight years, in addition to providing sports information for every athletic team since 2019. Christ School entered this new year with the largest social media following for any Asheville area school (24,751 followers), combining general and athletic accounts.

Mr. Pearson has lived in the Asheville area since 1995 and graduated from UNC Asheville in 1999 with a B.A. in Mass Communication. He wrote for two local newspapers (the Asheville Citizen-Times and Hendersonville Times-News) for a combined 18 years, covering his share of Greenie triumphs, including the complete run by the Plumlee brothers.

Mr. Pearson lives just outside of campus in Fletcher, with his wife, Ursula, close enough to hear the Angelus bell from their front porch.

Emily Pulsifer P'15, P'17 champions Christ School at every opportunity, having seen what the curriculum and culture has done for her sons, Liam '15 and Zach '17, as well as many other students. 

This passion translates into her daily work as Dean of Academics. 

Mrs. Pulsifer has been a member of the faculty since 2009, was formerly the chair of the English Department, and was named 2019-20 Teacher of the Year. 

Mrs. Pulsifer has also been a longtime faculty advisor for the Struan, the school’s art and literary magazine, an assistant coach for cross country and track, and a writing coach for seniors as they prepare college applications. She earned her B.A. in History from Emory University, and her master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine. Mrs. Pulsifer previously taught at Kents Hill School in Maine.

She reads, runs, and cooks in west Asheville with her husband, Andrew.

Watch the Faculty Spotlight on Emily Pulsifer

Finding the right person to be Christ School's first Director of Safety and Security was a search that began and ended with Ron Ramsey. 

Mr. Ramsey’s love for the boys and scrupulous attention to detail have been part of the school’s fiber for 11 years. 

He has previously been in positions of leadership as chair of the Science Department, Director of the Outdoor Program, Principal, and had been Assistant Head of School since 2021. 

Mr. Ramsey earned a B.S. in Secondary Education from Tennessee Tech University in 1998 and an M.S. in Science Education from Montana State University in 2009. He began his teaching career at St. Andrews-Sewanee School, where Mr. Ramsey spent 12 years. Along with his duties at Christ School, Mr. Ramsey volunteers for the Buncombe County Rescue Squad and serves as a member of the Western North Carolina Mountain Rescue Team 3.

In his free time, Mr. Ramsey likes to fly-fish, read, and explore the outdoors with his family. He and his wife, Vivian, live on campus and have a daughter, Audrey.

Tonya Richardson found herself drawn to Christ School by the Four Pillars, namely Academic Rigor and Spirituality, and how they meld into the daily experience for the boys. 

She brings a proven track record in financial management, strategic planning, and leadership to the position of Chief Financial Officer. 

Ms. Richardson was previously Director of Finance at Nashville’s Oak Hill School, living and working in the Music City for 19 years. There, she was responsible for managing financial operations, including developing and implementing budget controls, and ensuring compliance with relevant policies and regulations. Her experience included preparing financial statements, conducting financial analysis, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to achieve organizational goals. Ms. Richardson also oversaw all aspects of the human resources department at Oak Hill. 

Ms. Richardson graduated from the University of Tennessee and holds degrees in French and International Business. She considers herself a V.F.L. (Vol For Life) and is passionate about her support for the college's sports teams. Ms. Richardson said she enjoys a vibrant life with two adult sons, a circle of cherished friends, and her pets. She comes from a family of chefs and has a profound appreciation for the culinary arts as well as reading, spending time outdoors, and traveling. 

Ms. Richardson lives on campus. 

Much like his paddle strokes, Wesley Shelmire consistently puts a high level of care and precision into every one of his assignments at Christ School. 

He is the new Dean of Residential Life for 2025-26, which is part of a full plate that also includes form director for the ninth grade, Director of the Outdoor Program, dorm parent in Cuningham House, and support for the new Modern Life Skills programming. 

Mr. Shelmire first joined the school in 2022 as Assistant Dean of Students, helping organize our outreach with Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Shelmire enjoys sharing his expertise as an avid kayaker and promoting the Outdoor Program in general. 

Outside of Christ School, Mr. Shelmire has worked at Camp Mondamin in nearby Zirconia, N.C., where he has been Head of Paddling and a Trip Leader.  

A native of the Dallas area, Mr. Shelmire graduated from the University of Colorado in 2020 with a B.A. in Sociology. He was a member of the Applied Leadership Program and Core Leadership Program during his time in Boulder, Colo.  

Mr. Shelmire has always had a special interest in the outside world, specifically identifying plants and fungi. Additionally, he can play the saxophone, guitar, piano, and harmonica. Other hobbies besides climbing, yoga, meditation, reading, and trail running.   

Christ School would not run nearly as smooth without the daily efforts of Steve Stay P'27, who has been Registrar and Executive Assistant to the Head of School since 2020. 

Mr. Stay began his career as a middle and junior high school counselor in Carthage, Mo., then spent five years as a high school counselor for students with special needs in Doha, Qatar. From there, he worked in the post-secondary education arena at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar as an academic counselor for first and second-year medical students. 

Mr. Stay received his B.S. in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic from Brigham Young University and an M.A. in School Counseling from Ohio State University.

Mr. Stay and his wife, Rachel, have four children, including Elliott '27. In his free time, he likes to sing, play guitar, hike, bike, volunteer, make chainmaille trinkets, act, and play tabletop role-playing games.

Enrollment and overall interest in Christ School continue to hit peak levels with Palmer Straughn as Director of Admission. 

Mr. Straughn worked in college admissions for 13 years before coming to Christ School in 2017. 

A seasoned fly fisherman and backpacker, Mr. Straughn could not have picked a better school to continue his work in admissions and fuel two of his greatest passions. Christ School’s location offers world-class fly fishing and some of the Southeast’s best hiking. After heading up the Outdoor Program at Wofford College, Mr. Straughn graduated with a B.A. in History in 2004 and began as an Admission Counselor at Lees-McRae College. Mr. Straughn would go on to advance to Associate Director of Admission and Senior Associate Director of Admission at Wofford. 

Mr. Straughn co-presented “Navigating the NCAA and Admission” at the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling (SACAC) Drive-in Workshop (2015) and followed that effort the next year by co-presenting “Application Case Studies.” At the SACAC’s annual conference in 2014, Mr. Straughn co-presented “Not Just a Small School: The Benefits of a Liberal Arts College.”

Mr. Straughn and his wife, Sara, live on campus.