Our Board
The Board of the International Association of Progressive Montessorians is presently made up of volunteer professionals, called Directors. The Directors are elected for two-year terms and meet once a month. As laid out by the School Act, the Board sets policies for the operation of the school, hires the school administration to implement these policies, and monitors the operation of the school through these policies. The Board also creates, in cooperation with the staff, strategic plans for the school and establishes the annual budget (including tuition fees).
The Board conducts much of its work through committees. These committees, which are comprised of Board members as well as Society members or staff members who have been invited by the Board to participate, allow a greater avenue for discussion and research that what is possible in regular Board meetings. These committees are Management, Education, Finance, Buildings and Grounds, Personnel, and Long Term Planning and the committees report back to the Board with their recommendations each month.
Although staff members and parents of students are not allowed to be Directors on the Board, the Board looks to the parent and staff community for advice, expertise, and potential Board membership once your son or daughter is no longer enrolled in the school.
Meet the Board
Robert des Trois Maisons has been a Director since 2015 and has been the board chair since 2021. He has an M.A. in Theology from Oxford University and a B.C.L. and LL.B. from McGill University. He is a member of the Bars of Quebec and New York and of the Law Society of British Columbia. He has worked in private practice in Montreal, as in-house counsel for Alcan in Montreal and Sydney, Australia, and as Vice President, Legal Affairs of the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. Now retired, Robert enjoys reading and travelling.
Marilyn Sandford has been a Board Director since 2015 serving on the Board’s Education and Long Term Planning Committees. She comes from the public school system where she was for 35 years a teacher, school counsellor, and school administrator at the secondary level in the Cowichan Valley. Marilyn throughout her career also worked with the school district, college, teachers, students and parents in Career Education. Marilyn enjoys spending time with friends, her family and especially her son.
Henry Ogwudire
Biography coming soon
Dana Marchant has been a Director since 2022 serving on the Education Committee and the Personnel Committee. She comes from the public education system where she was for 31 years as a district behavioural consultant. Her role encompassed K thru 12. Dana supported school teams, individual teachers/students in their classrooms, safety planning, District designation review committee for Ministry of Education supplemental funding, a member of the Critical Incident Response Team, district training for Nonviolent Crisis Intervention, and Violent Threat Risk Assessment. Now retired, Dana enjoys spending time with family, friends and travelling to warm places.
Jean Thomson has been a Board Director since 2020 serving on the Board’s Personnel, Education and Scholarship Committees. She has been a Montessori teacher in Victoria for 20 years and continues to teach part-time. In addition to teaching Montessori, Jean has taught ESL to new immigrants and corporate executives. She enjoys spending time with her family, in particular her grandchildren, gardening, biking, baking, and reading.
Debra Mackie
Biography coming soon