Beth Ustanko

Beth Ustanko serves as Dean of Curriculum & Instruction at American Classical Academy Rutherford (ACAR). She recently moved to Middle Tennessee from North Dakota.

Beth Ustanko earned her B.A. in Elementary Education from Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) and her M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from St. Catherine University (St. Paul, Minnesota), and she completed coursework for a Gifted and Talented Endorsement at the University of North Dakota (Grand Forks). Her 25 years of teaching include both public and private schools. She began her career as an elementary classroom teacher, served as a gifted education specialist for 10 years, and most recently taught 4th grade at Capstone Classical Academy in Fargo, which, like ACAR, is a Hillsdale Member School.

Beth Ustanko sees many parallels between classical education and gifted education, first and foremost an emphasis on thinking. She appreciates how classical education promotes a love of learning and scholarship while developing virtuous character. She often quotes Anne of Green Gables, a favorite book from her childhood and her 4th grade classroom: “It’s not what the world holds for you; it’s what you bring to it.”

She and her husband have a college-age daughter. She enjoys attending her daughter’s orchestra concerts, traveling, and reading, and she has volunteered on the North Dakota Association for Gifted Children board since 2018.