Board of Trustees

Andy Nakahata is the father of an 7th grader and an alum (Class of 2019), and has been a member of the MCDS community since 2010. Andy has served as a Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Finance Committee, member of the Executive Committee and member of the Investment Committee. Andy also led the Long Range Financial Planning Task Force and previously served on the Indexed Tuition Task Force.

Andy's greatest appreciation of MCDS is for the engagement and thoughtfulness of the MCDS 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 7th 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!

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 3rd grader and a 5th 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 kindergartner, 3rd grader and 5th  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 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th 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."

Simon Frankel has been an MCDS parent since 2007. He is the parent of a 7th grader and two alums (Class of 2016 and Class of 2019). Simon currently serves as  Chair of the Audit Committee. He has also served on the Buildings and Grounds Committee. He loves the open spaces and open minds at MCDS.

Stephen Galloway and his family joined the MCDS community in 2005. He is the father of a three MCDS alums ('14, '16 and '18).  

Stephen joined the Board in 2013. He chaired the Arts Advisory Council and also served on the Strategic Plan Alignment Committee and the Master Plan Update Committee. “What amazes me is how, for all of my three very different children, the faculty always seem to be teaching directly to them at their level.”

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 have daughters in the 8th and 7th grades. 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.

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 kindergartner, 2nd grader and 5th grader. 

She is very much looking forward to her return to the Board of Trustees, this time as an alumna and a current parent. 

Camille Hampton joined the Board in 2019. She and her husband, Matt are parents of a current 5th grader.

Holly Hagens is the parent of a current 8th grader and an alum (Class of 2017) 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 love to coming to MCDS, how inspired the teachers are and the wonderful connections her family has made among the MCDS community.

Scott Haskins joined the Board in 2017. He and his wife, Timmie, are parents of a current 6th grader. Scott is an MCDS alum and currently serves as co-chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.

Laura Kern serves as PA President for the 2019-20 school  year.  She is parent of 5th grader.

Sasha Kovriga joined the Board in 2019.  He and his wife Irina are parents of a current kindergartner and an 8th grader.

Meg Krehbiel is a parent of a current 7th grader and an alum (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.

Melissa Ma is the parent of a 7th 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 5th grader and a 6th 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.

Jon Murchinson has been a part of the MCDS community since 2011. He and his wife Julie are the parents of an 8th grader and a 5th grader.

Jon currently serves as co-chair of the Committee on Trustees and on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. He previously served on the Head of School Search, Finance, Affordability, and Communications Committees and was a member of the STEM/I&C Advisory Council. Jon and his wife co-chaired Kite Day in the fall of 2013.

He loves that MCDS instills in children a love of learning, teaches them to be compassionate and expressive, and nurtures in them a sense of respect and responsibility for the world in which we live.

Sarah Smith Jones joined the Board in 2019. She is the parent of a current 3rd, 5th and 7th grader and an MCDS alum (2019).

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

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 4th grader and a 6th 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 6th 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.

Karen Wright joined the Board in 2018. She served as Parents Association President for the 2018-19 school year. 

Karen is the parent of a current MCDS 7th grader and two MCDS alums ('14 and '18).

Ben Zack joined the board in 2019. He is the parent of an MCDS 2nd, 4th, and 6th grader. He serves as Co-Chair of the Development Planning Committee.