Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors

The Children’s Garden of Learning’s Board of Directors is comprised of parents and/or community members who meet monthly with the CGL directors. The Board members, with their individual expertise, support the directors and the staff by assisting in the smooth operation of the school. The Board is responsible for the overall school governance, and at times acts as liaisons for parents. All staff and parents are invited to attend any or all Board meetings.

Each year, the existing Board of Directors and school directors announce the annual elections and solicit interested parents (and in some instances community members) to run for a two-year term on the Board.

  • KATE WILMOUTH BARNDT

    Kate is the Vice President of Legal Affairs for The Steadman Clinic and Steadman Philippon Research Institute where she has worked for the past six years. Kate received her BA from Gonzaga University and her JD from the University of Notre Dame Law School. Kate and her husband, Joel, live in Eagle Vail with their two children. Their daughter attends CGL.

  • PATRICK DAVIS

    Patrick works in residential wealth management mortgage banking with U.S. Bank in the Vail Valley. He comes to the CGL board with 20 years of sales and marketing experience and leadership in the mortgage banking and hospitality industries. He earned a BS in Hospitality Management from Colorado State University. Patrick and his wife Colleen have lived in the Valley since 2015. He has two children at CGL

  • WALLACE FRANK

    Wallace brings experience in public and private higher education fundraising to the board of directors. He attended Occidental College and earned a degree in Economics. Wallace and his wife Annique have lived in Vail since 2010 and are current CGL parents.

  • KRISTA MILLER

    Krista has a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management and works as the Town of Vail’s Human Resources and Risk Management Director.  After raising her children here in the mountains, she has been a long-time supporter and volunteer for early childhood education programs in the Vail Valley.  Krista serves on the board on behalf of the Town of Vail, which provides capital and in-kind support for CGL in recognition of the importance of ECE for the Vail community.

  • BETSY OTIS

    Betsy is a kindergarten teacher at Red Sandstone Elementary School and has taught primary grades for the past ten years. She attended the University of Mississippi for undergrad and graduate school and holds a Master of Literacy. Betsy and her husband Patrick reside in Avon with their two boys, both CGL students.

  • MOLLY RABIN

     

  • JESS SZMYD

    Jess is a kindergarten teacher at Vail Mountain School and has been teaching K-2 for the past nine years.  She has a Master’s from CU Denver and has two children attending CGL.

  • CELINE VERPLOEG