Our Leadership
Now hiring school leadership positions!
Assistant Principal (multiple positions available)
All positions begin work July 12, 2010, though resumes will be considered immediately. Compensation is highly competitive; employees are eligible to participate in the Colorado PERA retirement system and are eligible for a performance bonus above their base pay. West Denver Prep is an equal opportunity employer.
To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to: (email preferred)
Chris Gibbons, Head of School
West Denver Preparatory Charter School
1825 South Federal Boulevard
Denver, CO 80219
cgibbons@westdenverprep.org
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees at West Denver Prep is a diverse, passionate group of committed citizens who have dedicated their experience and credibility to this project. Board members include community leaders and organizers, business leaders, and members of the local foundation community. Chris Gibbons, Lead Founder of West Denver Prep, has recruited board members based upon clarity of vision, relevant skills and expertise, and a deep commitment to educational excellence. The charter designation gives the founding board autonomous budgetary control, scheduling, curriculum, and hiring decisions – autonomy that is exchanged for a high degree of internal and external accountability.
Meetings: Once a month, our Board of Trustees reviews the progress of the school. Board of Trustees meetings are public and open to all parents and community members. The Board generally meets on Wednesdays.
For more information about attending a meeting or participating in a conference call, contact Camille Howells, Director of Development & Communications at chowells@westdenverprep.org or (303) 573-2017 x 304.
2009 - 2010 meetings:
In Person Meetings – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
August 19, 2009 Location: West Denver Prep Harvey Park Campus
October 14, 2009 Location: TBD
December 9, 2009 Location TBD
March 10, 2010 Location TBD
Conference Calls – 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
September 9, 2009
November 10, 2009 (Tuesday)
January 20, 2010
February 17, 2010
April 14, 2010
May 19, 2010
Members:
MICHAEL BARKIN Michael is a Vice President with KRG Capital Partners in Denver, a middle-market private equity firm. He previously worked at Bain Capital and Bain & Company in Boston. Michael has been working with charter schools in Boston and Denver for over eight years through volunteer work and as a board member and co-founder of The Eagle Fund, a Denver based donor-advised fund that supports educational non-profits in Colorado. Michael received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and graduated from Williams College with a BA in economics. Expertise and interest: Financial Oversight, Strategic Planning.
MOIRA CULLEN As a partner at The Capstone Group, a public affairs firm, Moira advocates for education reform, higher education issues, non-profit advocacy, mental health and human services, and children’s policy issues at the Colorado State Capitol. She also spent 4 years at the Colorado Children’s Campaign as the Director of Public Affairs, where she lobbied on child health, early childhood education, and education reform legislation. Moira moved to Colorado after graduating from the University of Virginia. She earned her Masters in Social Work at Colorado State University and worked with at-risk youth, leading to a decision to enter the government relations field in order to impact change at a statewide level.
SHELLEY GOMEZ Shelley volunteered with College Summit, a non-profit organization working to increase the college enrollment rates of low-income and underrepresented students, for five years before joining their staff full-time. Her prior experience includes eight years in Colorado higher education. As a first generation college student, Shelley sees the impact educational access and success have made on her life; she hopes to “pass it on” to current students by joining West Denver Prep. Shelley received a Bachelor’s Degree from Colorado State University and is currently enrolled in a Master’s Program at the University of Colorado at Denver. Expertise and interest: Higher Education, Post-secondary Planning, Educational Access.
CHRIS HENDERSON Chris is a Denver native who attended both Denver and Cherry Creek Public Schools. Formerly a managing director at Vestar Capital Partners, Chris was appointed the Chief Operating Officer for the City of Denver. He is currently serving an appointment in Washington D.C. as the Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Economic Recovery under Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. As the “Recovery Czar” for the Department of the Interior, Henderson will oversee the more than $3 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that Interior will be investing in projects in communities, parks, and public lands across the country. Chris holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and an MBA from Columbia University. He believes passionately in the success and importance of public education and brings this passion and his business knowledge to West Denver Prep. Expertise and interest: Financial oversight, strategic planning, board development.
KIM KNOUS-DOLAN Kim recently completed a year at the Denver Public Schools (DPS) District as a loaned executive to lead the Manual High School renewal and support initiative. Prior to joining the Donnell-Kay Foundation, Kim worked on state policy issues for a member of the State Board of Education as well as the Colorado Association of School Boards. She also served as legislative aide to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), and was Associate Director of the Democratic Steering Committee. Kim is involved with mentoring high school students, actively fundraises for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and was selected as one of Colorado’s “fifty for the future” by the Colorado Statesman in 2007. Kim holds a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Colorado at Denver.
JERRY LASSOS A lifelong educator, Jerry was raised in a low-income section of West Los Angeles and committed his life to improving the quality of education in such urban schools. He earned a Bachelor ’s degree from Cal State Northridge, a Master’s degree from the University of Colorado at Denver, and served in the United States Air Force. Jerry currently works for Denver Public Schools as a professional developer after recently retiring from the Jefferson County School District . Expertise and interest: Educator professional development, multicultural education, curriculum and instruction.
ALEXANDER OOMS Alex has been involved in education reform and charter schools since 1997, when he visited the Academy of the Pacific Rim, a high-performing urban charter school in Boston, to visit a close friend who was then the principal. Over the past eight years, he has been a strong proponent of educational reform, and has both advised and served as a board member of several charter schools. He is a partner at ClearCreek Partners, a boutique investment banking firm, and also serves as an appointed member of the A+ Citizen’s Committee for Denver Public Schools. Alex holds a Bachelor’s degree from Vassar College, an M.A. from Georgetown University and a MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. Expertise and interest: Strategic planning, organizational capacity, teacher compensation and retention.
KEITH TRAMMELL Coming soon.
CHRIS WATNEY Chris is the President of the Colorado Children’s Campaign, an advocacy organization working to improve access to quality health and education for Colorado’s more than one million children. She has more than 10 years of communications and public relations experience, including serving as Communications Director for a United States Senate campaign and for eight years as a spokesperson for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and in Denver during the Oklahoma City bombing trials. In 2007, Chris was named one of “Colorado’s 50 Movers and Shakers” by the Colorado Statesman. Chris has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado.
Parent Council
Soon to be updated.
Head of School
CHRIS GIBBONS Chris is the lead founder and head of school at West Denver Prep. Chris is the former director of Denver Summerbridge, a non-profit education program providing college-preparatory academic support for middle school students from low-income public schools, and training for high school and college students to become teachers. Beginning his teaching career at the Teacher's Institute at City on a Hill Charter School in Boston, Chris initially served SummerBridge as a teacher and dean for five years before becoming a director. Fluent in Spanish, Chris holds a B.S. in Biology from Yale University and a M.Ed. from Regis University. He has completed the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship, a nationally-recognized training program for charter school founders designing uncompromising schools of excellence. Expertise and interest: Educational leadership, charter school design and best practices, educational policy.
