Board of Trustees

Scott Haskins joined the Board in 2017. He and his wife, Timmie, are parents of a current 7th grader. Scott is an MCDS alum (1978).

Katherine Dinh began her tenure as MCDS's ninth Head of School on July 1, 2019. 

Prior to MCDS, she was the Head of School for Prospect Sierra School in El Cerrito, California from 2007-19. Her career in education has been spent as a teacher, department chair, division head, and charter school co-founder.

Katherine is the past Board Chair of the National Association of Independent Schools and current Co-Chair of The Principals’ Center at Harvard University. 

Abby Anderson joined the Board of Trustees in 2018. She is the parent of a 1st, 4th, and 6th grader.  She currently serves on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Kim Boswell joined the Board in 2019.

Kim and her husband, Joe, are the parents of a current MCDS 1st, 4th and 6th grader.

Prior to becoming a Trustee, Kim served on the Construction and the Buildings and Grounds Committees since 2015. She currently serves on the Development Planning Committee and the Buildings and Grounds Committee.

“Our family appreciates how MCDS instills a love of learning and the development of skills while preserving childhood.”  

Chris Buchbinder joined the Board in 2017. Chris and his wife, Nina, are parents of MCDS 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th graders.

He currently serves as co-chair of the Development Planning Committee.

"Our family enjoys seeing our children thrive in an open, accepting, and thoughtful school environment. We have had wonderful experiences with many of the teachers, our kids have formed strong peer relationships, and we appreciate the values of the broader community."

Pete Chung has been a part of the MCDS community since 2009. He joined the Board in 2015. Pete is the parent of a current 8th grader and an alum ('18). He currently serves on the Board’s Finance Committee.

As the son of an inventor, he truly appreciates transdisciplinary skills and the healthy dose of grit required to polish them. One of his favorite MCDS moments was how the second grade "Inventions Expo" taught both his children -- and their entire class -- the difficulty, determination and iteration required to succeed in the creative process. His own father could have learned a thing or two from MCDS's second grade teachers!

Alison Garrett joined the Board in 2016.

Alison joined the MCDS community in 1978 as a kindergartner and graduated in the MCDS Class of 1987. She and her husband Mark are parents of two daughters -- an MCDS 8th grader and an alum (Class of 2020). Alison has volunteered as a Room Parent, Walkathon Chair and Book Fair volunteer. She served as the Parents Association president for the 2016-17 school year.

Alison appreciates looking back on her own experience as a student at MCDS. She recalls what a wonderful place it was to be a “kid” and enjoys sharing this experience with her daughters. Alison is grateful for the stewardship of all the MCDS administrators, teachers, parents and students who strive every day to continue to make it the same place she remembers.

Holly Hagens is the parent of a two MCDS alums  (Class of 2017 and the Class of 2020) and has been a part of the MCDS community since 2008. Holly currently serves on the Development Planning Committee and is a member of the Committee on Trustees. She served as the Parents Association President during the 2013-14 school year.

Holly appreciates how much her children loved to coming to MCDS, how inspired the teachers are and the wonderful connections her family has made among the MCDS community.

Camille Hampton joined the Board in 2019. She and her husband, Matt are parents of a current 6th grader.

Sarah Smith Jones joined the Board in 2019. She is the parent of a current 4th, 6th and 8th grader and an MCDS alum (Class of 2019).

Laura Kern served as Family Association President for the 2019-20 school  year. 

She is parent of a 6th grader.

Sasha Kovriga joined the Board in 2019.  He and his wife Irina are parents of a current kindergartner and an MCDS alum (Class of 2020).

Meg Krehbiel is a parent of a current 8th grader and an alum (Class of 2019). Meg joined the MCDS community in 2013. She joined the Board of Trustees in 2015 and currently serves as a member of the Committee on Trustees, the Investment Committee, and the Audit, Legal, and Risk Management Working Group. Meg previously served as a member of the Finance Committee, the Master Plan Update Committee, the Building and Grounds Committee and a subcommittee of the Strategic Plan 2012.  

Meg appreciates the school’s continual process of integrating the most innovative advances about how children learn as well as engaging students in collaborative, real world problem-solving to deepen critical thinking and leadership. Meg is particularly interested in MCDS’s focus on building skills and habits of heart and mind and prioritizing a culture of inclusion and kindness. She is inspired and dedicated to MCDS’s founding belief that learning is joyful and a lifelong process.

Jeremy Liegl joined the Board in 2020.  He currently chairs the Audit Committee and serves on the Finance Committee.  He and his wife, Julie, have daughters in the 3rd grade and kindergarten.    

Jeremy values how well MCDS meets each student where they are and how the school proactively partners with families to support children and help them develop their skills and resilience. 

Melissa Ma is the parent of an 8th grader. She has been a part of the MCDS community since 2012. She currently serves on the Development, Finance and Investment Committees. Melissa and her family appreciate the inclusiveness of the MCDS community, the parents’ commitment to building connections both at and outside of school, and how the students learn to love learning.

Rashmi Yadav Marya is the parent of two MCDS students -- a 6th grader and a 7th grader. Rashmi, her husband Varun, and their family became part of the MCDS community in 2013. She joined the Board of Trustees in 2016.  Rashmi currently serves as Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is also a member of the Finance Committee. 

Rashmi appreciates that MCDS develops the whole child by focusing on habits of mind, community service, and mindfulness hand in hand with core academic skills. She loves that MCDS instills in children a strong sense of self and love of learning.

Ravi Paidipaty joined the Board in 2020. He and his wife Elizabeth are the parents of a current kindergartner and second grader.

Charlotte Haas Prime ('92) has considered herself a member of the MCDS community since she started kindergarten in 1983. She graduated from MCDS in 1992, but returned after college to teach 6th, 7th and 8th grade Spanish as well as serve as an advisor.  She remained in that role for 7 years.  

Charlotte returned to MCDS shortly thereafter to serve her first term as a member of the Board of Trustees from 2008-2014. While on the Board, she co-chaired the Student Support Services committee and served on the finance, admissions, strategic planning and recruiting committees. Charlotte and husband Josh are parents of a current 1st, 3rd grader and 6th grader.  

Lisa Sawyer joined the Board in 2020. She currently serves as the Family Association President.  Lisa and her husband Philip are parents of a current 5th grader.

Dina To and her husband, Joe, are parents to three  sons (an MCDS 6th grader, a 7th grader, and a 4th grader).

MCDS’s commitment to empowering each student to find their place in this world and to lead with compassion and inquiry, is one of the many reasons why Dina joined the Board in 2020.  
 

Helen Spalding joined the Board in 2017. She is the parent of three MCDS alums (Classes of '94, '96 and '00) and the grandparent of a current MCDS kindergartner.

She has served on the board of numerous Bay Area and national non-profits and for profit boards including Summer Search, Drew School, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Medical Research Institute, Catholic Charities and the Chronicle Publishing Corporation.

While a parent at MCDS she was involved with co- running the Community Service Club, working on the 8th grade play, co-chairing several major fund raisers and serving as class parent on numerous occasions. She is thrilled to once again be involved with MCDS.

Jeff Spaulding  joined the Board in 2018.  He is the parent of a current 5th grader and a 7th grader.   He currently serves as co-chair of the Community Development Committee.

Chris von Eckartsberg joined the Board in 2016. He and his family have been thrilled to be part of the MCDS community since 2011. Chris and his wife, Colleen are parents of a current 7th grader and an alum (Class of 2019).

Chris serves as co-chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee and as member of the Master Plan Update Committee. Chris is honored to have served on the Board of Trustees since 2016.

As an architect, Chris believes in the power of an environment’s context, culture, and community to inspire. He is deeply grateful that his children are able to be lifted up each day by the magical place and people of MCDS.

Brad Weaver joined the Board in 2020. He has served as Head of School at Sonoma Country Day School since 2009. Prior leadership roles include Division Head at Shore Country Day School (Beverly, MA), Director at the American International School of Libreville (Gabon), and Assistant Principal at Grady Middle School (Houston, TX).

Being the two country day schools in the North Bay, SCDS and MCDS have frequently shared ideas and had faculty and leadership visit each other’s schools. Brad values the balanced and inclusive approach to children’s learning at MCDS, and the thoughtfulness expressed in the mission, vision and values and shown in long range strategic planning. He is honored to join the board and excited to support the school continuing to grow and thrive.

Brad and his wife Jeanne have two high-school age children. 

Ben Zack joined the board in 2019. He is the parent of an MCDS 3rd, 5th, and 8th grader. He serves as Co-Chair of the Development Planning Committee.