Meet Our Staff

Scott Somerville attended Phillips Exeter preparatory school and then Dartmouth (Philosophy), where he met his wife, Marcia. Scott was a homeschool activist before he was a lawyer – as the first president of Christian Home Educators of New Hampshire, Scott battled the New Hampshire rules revision subcommittee to a standstill in their effort to triple the regulations on homeschoolers. That brush with the law was enough to induce him to quit his day job as a programmer, put the house on the market, and move the whole family down to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Scott went to Harvard Law School with a wife and five children in 1989. He graduated with honors (and a sixth child) in 1992. Scott and his family moved straight from liberal Harvard in Massachusetts to conservative rural Virginia and the Home School Legal Defense Association, where Scott spent the next fourteen years fighting for homeschoolers’ legal freedoms (and writing a few briefs for the Supreme Court in passing).

Meanwhile, Marcia was developing a successful career as a homeschooling mother, co-op leader, curriculum designer, and head of Lampstand Press. She also served as a consultant in the first drafts of curriculum design for Patrick Henry College, a classical four-year liberal arts institution at which Scott also taught as an adjunct professor in science and law.

Eventually, Scott left HSLDA to join Lampstand Press in a full-time capacity and encourage fathers as the heads of their homeschools. He is the creator of the successful Pop Quiz audios, and he is a highly acclaimed nationwide speaker.

Scott has written and spoken extensively on subjects ranging from parental rights to the privacy of the home, but his central concern has always been for the homeschool family – especially the homeschool dad. Scott combines his personal experience of over more than twenty years of homeschooling with his professional expertise in his writing and teaching.

Marcia Somerville, wife of Scott Somerville, is a homeschooling mother of six and the author of the Tapestry of Grace curriculum.

Marcia graduated in 1976 from Kent School, a highly acclaimed classical preparatory school; she received her degree in history from Dartmouth College in 1979. A homeschooling mom since her first child began kindergarten, Marcia found herself ready to quit after 10 years. She couldn’t imagine a way to educate all of her children in every subject.

After a season of tears and prayer, though, and drawing on her own rigorous high school experience and her Ivy League degree in history, she developed a method that integrated the humanities and social sciences into a four-year survey of world history. At first, she used her idea only with her own children.  However, after graduating her two oldest sons, she offered to lead neighboring homeschooling families through the same four-year cycle.  In serving them, she developed a new curriculum that came to be called Tapestry of Grace.

Today, thousands of families in America and overseas benefit from Marcia’s labor of love. Tapestry of Grace has won many awards, and has brought both joy and quality education to many homes.  In Korea, Tapestry has become the model for a new curriculum that the leaders of a 20,000 member church are spearheading.  In addition to writing homeschool materials, Marcia enjoys speaking on a variety of topics that encourage and enlighten fellow homeschoolers.  Her vision is to mentor homeschool moms in raising up a generation of Christian youth equipped with a deep, apologetics-oriented understanding of the Great Conversation and the ability to contribute to it.

Christina was largely homeschooled by Scott and Marcia Somerville, though she also attended private Christian school for some classes in math and science. Upon graduation in 2002, she attended Patrick Henry College (a private four-year liberal arts college) and earned her B.A. in Literature.

Upon graduation from college, Christina returned to Lampstand Press as an author, writing a Great Books Literature program for high school students, a Literature program for junior high students, and two literature textbooks. 

During this time, Christina also edited Marcia’s book (Love the Journey), contributed to Writing Aids and Evaluations, taught for Tapestry University (a teacher training entity) and also taught for Lampstand Learning Center (a private online classical Christian school, now called Lucerna Academy).

In 2016, having completed a first career as a curriculum designer and teacher, Christina left Lampstand Press to embark on a second career as a private tutor in order to broaden her own knowledge of education beyond homeschooling. 

Over the next four years, Christina taught or tutored for Christian homeschool students, secular homeschool students, private school students (including some at Thomas Jefferson, the top-rated high school in America), the Potter’s School, public school students, and college students. She taught students on both coasts of the United States and internationally.

During this time, Christina worked for an SAT prep school. She also tutored in three AP subjects, college applications, and the LSAT. By 2020, Christina had taught most humanities subjects (including writing and reading comprehension) for students from Kindergarten through post-college.

As 2019 ended,  Christina was offered the opportunity to take over Lampstand Press. She now works as owner of the company, curator of her family’s work, and author of several proven curriculum programs in her own right.

To facilitate future curriculum designs, Christina spends as much time as possible speaking directly with homeschooling families, co-op leaders, and school administrators. Christina also continues to teach because she she says she can’t design good curriculum if she doesn’t stay in the trenches with other teachers.

Ned (Dr. Edward Somerville when we are feeling formal) grew up on the Christian mission field in Mexico.  He also grew up with Tapestry of Grace.  Ned received his undergraduate degree from Grove City College, taught physics to children at a local school in Pennsylvania, then went on to graduate school at a university in Barcelona, Spain, where he has been living and working for the last several years.

Ned took his doctorate in the History of Science in March of 2021, and was immediately invited to join the Lampstand Press staff.  He is a serious amateur musician, a devotee of integrated learning and natural philosophy, and an amazingly gifted curriculum designer.

Ned currently splits his time between teaching at the university in Barcelona and working on Lampstand Press’s history-based Math and Science programs.  Few have ever attempted this unusual approach, but the general hope at Lampstand Press is that these new threads will add a great deal of color, texture, and nuance to the Tapestry of Grace program.

As the eldest of Scott and Marcia’s children, Nate Somerville was privileged to participate in the creation and development of Tapestry of Grace from its earliest stages.  Together with Marcia and his brother Mike, Nate boldly ventured forward into the high school years, blazing the trail that would later become Tapestry.

After graduating high school and earning the highest SAT score of all the Somerville children, Nate participated in a two-year scholarship program at Montgomery County Community College.  He completed an Associate’s degree, a summer at Cambridge University (England), and a European Grand Tour.  Upon his return, Nate transferred to Hillsdale College, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in History in 2003.  He went on to become an occasional history teacher, a warehouse manager, and eventually a UPS driver.  (He liked driving, and said everybody was always happy to see him because he delivered packages.)

In late 2019, a way opened for Nate to leave his beloved UPS truck and rejoin Lampstand Press part-time as a contributing author.  When not working as a technical writer or a private tutor, Nate uses his remarkable gift for humorous writing, his vocal talents, and his love of history to bear on the Warp and Weft projects.  Working from home offers new challenges and opportunities, but the rewards of more time spent actively fathering vs. driving a truck make every sacrifice worthwhile. Telling his son stories about the adventures and shenanigans of turkey-chickens, dragons, and Pokemon on long car rides sharpens Nate’s already quirky sense of humor and allows him to test his material on a captive audience.  After all, space pizza doesn’t just pop into existence from the void.

Mark is a professor of IT at two different higher learning institutions (one a college, and the other a respected career center).  He has worked with clients like Walmart and James Madison University, but also provides IT support for the nursing home down the street.  Mark plays bass guitar at his church, and (our favorite fun fact) can teach robotics.  He not only offers us a variety of experience and up-to-the-minute professional skills, but also an endless supply of good cheer. 

Mark refuses to give up on any tech problem we hand him, no matter how complex.  We are so grateful for him!

Michael did Tapestry throughout high school, but we first met him in a Bible As Literature class that Christina taught for The Potter’s School during Michael’s senior year of high school. 

We were so impressed with Michael’s attitude and work that we offered him an internship the following year. A year or two later, we offered him an editor position. Finally, he became our Managing Editor.

Michael eventually graduated from Boyce College and left us after several years on staff. He is now married and teaching classics at a private Christian school while completing his Masters and Doctorate degrees. However, he is still our Consulting Editor for special projects.  Rarely have we known anybody with a better eye for detail, and we are grateful to have him!

We asked Lesa to begin work on a grammar exercises program for Lower Grammar and Upper Grammar students that would help our children learn history while practicing grammar.  She blew us away!  Her sentences combine people, vocabulary, and facts from the week in such a way that students can practice all three while learning grammar and also preparing for their weekly History quiz in Evaluations.  It’s a whole new level of learning integration, and we’re dizzy with the possibilities!

Long-time Tapestry user and co-op leader Becca  brings us a wide range of technical skills, an unfailingly patient attitude, and a love for Tapestry that cannot not be bought, but can be received with deep thanks.