Woodinville Montessori School
Function of the Board
The Board is a governing body that establishes policy, maintains the financial health of the school, and maintains and supports the institutional mission. The Board’s role is defined so as not to interfere with the day-to-day operation of the school.
In June 2022, the Board completed a 2022-2027 Strategic Plan for WMS. View the summary and goals of the plan here.
BOT Mission Statement
Woodinville Montessori School’s Board of Trustees exists to create plans, set policies and make strategic decisions that will best ensure the viability of the institutional mission for the current students’ children.
Contact Us
To contact the Board of Trustees, please call 425-482-3184 or email us at COT@WMSboard.org.
Join the Board
Become a new Trustee or Advisor! To apply to the WMS Board as a new Trustee or as a volunteer advisor providing a specific area of expertise, please complete this form. We welcome applications from our families and from members of the greater community who are willing to serve and dedicate time to WMS.
You are invited to learn more on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Bothell Campus. You'll meet current Trustees and hear about the functions and work of the Board along with member expectations and responsibilities. Please contact COT@WMSboard.org with any questions, or if you are interested but cannot attend the event.
2024-2025 Board of Trustees
Benjamin Liles
President
Benjamin Liles, a Texan, has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a M.C.S. in Computer Science from Texas A&M University. He currently works at Google as a Software Engineer. He has two children, both at WMS, with one in Middle School and one in Lower Elementary. After being introduced to Montessori in Texas, the Liles family sought out a Montessori opportunity when Google moved them to this area and they were excited to join the WMS community in 2013. Benjamin joined the Board of Trustees in 2018.
Victoria Castaneda
Vice President
Born and raised in the South Puget Sound region, Victoria moved north after high school to attend Seattle University where she earned her B.A. in English Literature and History. After a barista stint at Starbucks, she attended Western Washington University to earn her Masters in Education and has spent over 20 years working in the classroom. When it came time to send their older daughter to Kindergarten in 2015, Victoria and her husband chose WMS, and they have been active in the school community since. Victoria served for three years on the Family Alliance executive committee—one year as secretary and two years as VP. As a member of the WMS Board of Trustees, she looks forward to sharing her expertise in the education field to support the school’s mission while gaining experience in a new facet of school operations and connecting with the broader WMS community.
Brandon D'Ewart
Treasurer
Brandon D'Ewart attended Woodinville Montessori from preschool through sixth grade, and was part of the expansion of WMS from the Woodinville site to the current North Creek campus. He went on to attend the Overlake School and then achieved a bachelor's degree in Economics from Claremont McKenna College. He has worked in data science and analytics in data center construction, civil engineering, and residential tech, while currently working at Meta.
Brandon has been a volunteer on the Finance committee since 2016, and this is his first term as a full board member. For this term, he hopes to help shepherd WMS into further growth and stability by driving capital projects and increasing inclusivity and equity via work in DEIB.
Khetiwe Chitewere
Trustee
Khetiwe and her husband, Chengetayi, have been active parents and volunteers at Woodinville Montessori School since their daughter joined WMS in the Aspen class in 2016. They first saw their daughter thrive at a Montessori preschool in Byanston, South Africa and were delighted to find WMS upon their return to Seattle.
Khetiwe brings more than a decade of experience on boards focused on providing education to the amazing children in Uganda and Zimbabwe. She also brings her background as a Finance, Compliance, Governance and Marketing expert to the WMS Board. Khetiwe holds Bachelor’s degrees in Biological Science and French, a Master’s in Business Administration, and multiple professional certifications in Leadership, Compliance and Marketing.
In addition to her professional and volunteer work, Khetiwe enjoys traveling around the world with her family, with her favorite destinations being Maragoli, Kenya and the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.
Sarah Gallagher
Trustee
Sarah and her two children joined the WMS family in the fall of 2017. Having taught high school English at The Overlake School for almost two decades, Sarah knew of WMS many years before her own daughter and son became students in the Early Childhood program. Seeing her children thrive and grow under Montessori methods, Sarah has become a firm believer in Montessori education. In addition to bringing to the Board her experience as an educator, Sarah also brings her background as an attorney, having taken a brief hiatus from teaching to pursue a law degree. She holds Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) and Master in Teaching (MIT) degrees from Seattle University. Sarah has enjoyed volunteering in the classroom, and cooking in celebration of all WMS faculty and staff. In June 2018, she expanded her WMS volunteer time to join the Board of Trustees. Her daughter is now in the Upper Elementary program, and her son is in the Lower Elementary program.
Amer Karim
Trustee
Amer Karim became a WMS parent when his daughter was enrolled in Fig. His son followed soon after and they are both in Upper Elementary now. He started volunteering as a Parent Ambassador and segued into serving on the WMS Board of Trustees, where he served for 5 years before taking a leave of absence due to health issues.
Amer lived in several different countries as a child and experienced different education systems across Asia, Europe, and North America. The core lesson Amer learned from his experiences was that traditional mainstream education systems were sorely lacking in many ways. When he came across the Montessori method, he was immediately drawn to its focus on helping develop the whole child. With all the challenges our children are inheriting, the world needs a different perspective, and perception, of how to deal with these challenges. He believes WMS does an excellent job of helping its students to develop the skills needed to face those challenges.
Professionally, Amer's background is in Cybersecurity and Privacy and he has been working in the technology industry for over 3 decades. He currently serves as an advisor to the Fred Hutch Patient Engagement Program and on its Patient and Family Advisory Council.
Susan Locke
Trustee
Susan Locke is an experienced Montessori educator and administrator and is currently Director at Bellevue Montessori School. Susan was introduced to Montessori through her daughter’s experience at Northwest Montessori in Seattle. She received her Primary certification from the Montessori Institute NW in Portland and a M.Ed. from Loyola University. Susan was a Head Montessori Teacher for 18 years on Mercer Island before moving into administration with LePort Schools in California. She is passionate about the Montessori method and brought her prodigious skills to the WMS board beginning in June 2019. Her voice will help ensure the continuity of our Montessori program and support our mission to provide a strong Montessori education to our children’s children. A native of Seattle, Susan is an enthusiastic traveler and enjoys spending time with her family and walking everywhere!
Ross Miller
Trustee
Ross is an experienced investment and wealth advisor and has previous experience as a cybersecurity consultant and naval officer. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2006 with a B.S. in Information Technology, and a specialization in National Security Affairs.
Ross discovered his passion for nonprofit support with Music Center of the Northwest, where he participated in launching a capital campaign, search and hiring of an Executive Director, grant writing, and board recruitment. Ross and his family joined Woodinville Montessori in the fall of 2020 at the recommendation of his oldest daughter's Early Childhood teacher at West Seattle Montessori School.
Sabrina Moss
Trustee
Sabrina Moss began her journey with WMS when her eldest son joined as a toddler and became a “Figlet” in the Fig class. Her younger son also adopted the same title when he joined the school as a toddler, and both have thrived at WMS. Having taken a two-year leave to move abroad, her family returned to the area to continue at WMS where her sons are now in Upper Elementary and High School.
Sabrina has worked at colleges and universities in Admissions and International Education, and worked with educational systems around the globe. She believes in comprehensive education and distinctive methodology and finds that WMS equips students for the future with progressive approaches and a supportive culture. Sabrina has a double bachelor’s degree in International Business and French, and a master’s degree in Education; she now runs her own consulting company.
Reilly Ochs
Trustee
Reilly Ochs is a WMS parent of a daughter in Maple class. Reilly volunteered on the WMS Auction Committee in 2023-24 and is thrilled to now serve as a Board member. Reilly looks forward to bringing socioeconomic perspective to the Board through her career in residential real estate and education in Political Science. Reilly was born and raised in the PNW and attended The Overlake School. In addition to professional life and parenthood, Reilly is an amateur competitive showjumper and enjoys equestrian sports and the outdoors with her husband, Miguel, and their daughter.
Yuanfang Zhou
Trustee
A passionate educator and community leader, Yuanfang holds a Master’s degree in Education and an EMBA in Economics Management. She began her professional journey as an elementary school teacher after college. After transitioning to the real estate industry she assumed an executive management role, working on strategic planning and financial management in the Greater China region.
Soon after moving to PNW in 2008, Yuanfang embraced the opportunity to engage with the local Chinese community and the education associations as a volunteer. She joined the WMS community when her elder son enrolled in EC program, and quickly found alignment in her family values with school's mission. She became even more involved when her younger boy started in the toddler program. Since then, Yuanfang has been actively contributing to family alliance, event planning, and connecting WMS with the local Chinese community. Yuanfang is passionate about the Montessori philosophy and wishes to bring her diverse experiences and her commitment to education to the WMS board.