Jeff Townsend has been a believer in the classical method since studying Aristotle during his masters program at Southern Illinois University in 1994.  There was no question that when he and his wife, Natalie, decided to homeschool that “rhetoric” would be the foundation.  Jeff is a lifelong educator, having served on the faculty at Fellowship Church’s Ministry Leadership Institute from 2001-2003.  In addition, he oversaw community education at Fellowship Church where he taught community groups on culture and worldview.  A dedicated homeschool parent, he has directed both Challenge A (7th grade) and Challenge III (11th grade) for Classical Conversations Bearden.  An original board member of Cumberland Christian Academy, in 2023 he joined the staff as Co-Prinicipal (Operations).  His passion is to help families sustain classical education by building a strong organization of support, namely Cumberland Christian Academy. 

Jeff also works in healthcare as Sr Vice President, Projects and Analytics, for HealthCareTN, a non-profit business coalition on health in Tennesee.

He and his wife, Natalie, have homeschooled their five children for the last seven years. Jeff is an elder at Shomair Yisrael messianic synagogue in Knoxville, where he co-leads congregational worship and the youth worship team.