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Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is a non-profit governing body consisting of parents and community members established to oversee the implementation of the school charter as approved by the Utah State Office of Education.

The school is seeking new board members to volunteer on the Governing Board. Please review the Board Position Announcement. 

Board Position Announcement
Wendy Eastman
Wendy Eastman

Board Chair

Wendy retired from Ogden School District where she was a Special Education teacher and then the district Behavior Specialist.  She is currently the Behavior Specialist for Oneida School District in Idaho.  

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Logan Kashanipour
Logan Kashanipour

Board Member

Logan Kashanipour was born and raised in Northern Utah. She earned a bachelors degree in public relations from Weber State University and a masters degree in human resource management. She currently works in procurement for the Department of Defense. 

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Nancy Lindeman
Nancy Lindeman

Board Member

Nancy Lindeman has been a special educator since 1978. She recently retired as an AMS TEP program director at the Institute for Montessori Innovation at Westminster College. Nancy holds a master’s degree in educational leadership. She has founded and directed a Utah public Montessori charter school and two private Montessori schools.

Nancy is a recent AMS Board member and holds Montessori EC, EI-II, and Administrators certificates. Currently, Nancy is a doctoral student in the Montessori Studies Program (EdD) at UWRF.

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Stepanie Loud
Stepanie Loud

Stephanie Loud is the retired owner of a large heavy highway civil construction company, with many years of leadership experience. She has participated as a board member on both local and national level boards. Stephanie was honored as Utah’s Women Owned Business of the Year and has been Interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, January 30th 2014 concerning lending in a recession to small businesses and its effect on growth. (Front Page). She has an MBA with an Emphasis in Finance.

Her background in finance and business management will be an asset to our Montessori school community.

April Bench
April Bench

Board Member

April Bench holds certifications as an Early Childhood Montessori Assistant and a Utah Paraprofessional. She is a retired paraprofessional with experience at Maria Montessori Academy and in the Ogden School District. April is passionate about the Montessori philosophy and its positive impact on students’ lives. She values the exceptional sense of community that Montessori education fosters—one that is truly immeasurable.

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Board Meetings

Board meetings are held the 2nd Thursday of every month.

Maria Montessori Academy follows the Utah Open Meetings Act and meetings are open to the public. Meeting information is posted at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance on the Utah Public Notice Website, along with previous meeting materials.

Meeting minutes are also made available to the public by request. To request a written copy of board meeting minutes or an audio recording of an open meeting, please email your request to the administration.

Regularly scheduled board meetings may allow for public comment. Time will be limited in order to conduct business in a timely manner and will follow the Public Comment Guidelines.

Financial Oversight

The Governing Board oversees the financial health of the school and reviews budgets regularly. Budgets are adopted by the Governing Board and published on the Utah Public Finance Website. The Audit and Finance Committee is comprised of the Board President and the Financial Coordinator.

In accordance with Utah Code Ann. Section 53G-7-309, the governing board receives a budget report each month. The budget report includes the following information: (i) the amounts of all budget appropriations, (ii) the disbursements from the appropriations as of the date of the report, and (iii) the percentage of the disbursements as of the date of the report. The current budget report is available for public review and previous reports are available by request to the administration.

Stakeholders of Maria Montessori Academy may report concerns of fraud, waste, abuse, or non-compliance directly to the School’s administration or board. Alternatively, stakeholders may report such concerns directly to the Utah State Board of Education through their Public Education Hotline at (801) 538-7813. Full contact information for the Public Education Hotline can be found here.