School in the Woods Montessori School is a non-profit corporation governed by a Board of Directors. As with all private, independent schools, the Board is a governance body that does not handle the daily operations of the school. The responsibilities of the Board include long-term strategic and policy planning, fiduciary oversight, fundraising, and the employment and support of the Head of School. The Board is made up of Montessorians with past experience in the classroom and school administration, as well as community members who are interested in supporting the school and filling the role of the Board as further outlined in the bylaws. Each board member serves a 3 year term. The Head of School is an ex-officio member of the Board.
Board of Directors
Marilyn Bredar
President
Marilyn Bredar is the mother of 3 (mostly) grown children who all attended Montessori preschool and Pre-Kindergarten. She is a huge fan of Montessori training as she has witnessed children — both her own and others — develop a love of learning while establishing creative, cooperative and disciplined academic styles gained through the Montessori system. She has served on the board for Children’s Garden Montessori School, Littleton High School IB Parent Association and Denver Soccer. After graduating from Fort Lewis College with a degree in geology she worked for Chevron, Sinclair Oil and Knight Piesold. She has taught skiing for the past 15 years at Winter Park where she attempts to implement a few Montessori ideas in her lessons!
Read MoreAmy Corrigan
Vice President
Amy is a native of Colorado, growing up in the suburbs of Denver where her parents and sister still reside. She returned to Denver in 2009 after having been gone for over ten years while she attended both undergrad and graduate school, followed by entering the working world in interior design on the east coast. Amy moved back to Denver with her husband, Peter, to be closer to her family and then ultimately have her own brood, Byers 11, Cici 10, Laney 7, Minnie 5. Amy and Peter’s children are enrolled at Graland Country Day School. Amy graduated with a BA from Mercer University in Georgia, and then a masters in Interior Design from the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. She went to work for the internationally recognized firm of Thomas Pheasant, and worked directly with the founder himself on projects throughout North America. Upon moving to Denver, Amy opened her own firm, Amy Corrigan Interiors, specializing in both residential and commercial projects. Amy is a partner at Coronado Real Estate, a multi-family real estate company. Nonprofit work and their specific causes have served as a civic duty that Amy feels passionate about in giving back to the communities they serve. Upon her return to Denver, she immediately engaged with the Denver Botanic Gardens and ultimately served as the co-chair with her sister at their annual fund raiser, The Fete de Fleurs. They were successful in breaking the fundraising ceiling at the event while breaking the previous record by a margin of 25%. With all four children attending Graland, Amy has shown a passion for getting involved in her children’s education. She has naturally ascended the path of volunteerism at Graland from room parent, annual fund committee, Chair of the Annual Fund, Chair of the Birch Street Bash, Board member to Co-Chair of the successful $10mm Inspire Campaign. The importance of independent education and thus the support of the institution was instilled in Amy by her parents. She has volunteered in all aspects of every independent school her children have attended in Denver. At Graland, she has served as room mother, Annual Fund committee, Chair of the Annual Fund, Chair of the Birch Street Bash, Board member, Development Committee and recently culminating as a Co-Chair of the successful $10mm Inspire Campaign. In addition, her and Peter’s two youngest children, Laney and Minnie, attended The School in The Woods, matriculating in the first class at Melody’s home. Amy and Peter served as the Chairs in the school’s inaugural and successful “Open the Doors” campaign. School in the Woods has a very special place in the heart of the Corrigan household. The foundational building blocks to learning that were instilled in Laney and Minnie, as well as the overall experience with the amazing teachers and curriculum at the School was a life altering experience to set those children up on a path for a love to learn. BA Mercer University MA Corcoran School of the Arts & Design
Read MoreMerel Wilson
Secretary
Bio to come
Read MoreKatie MacWilliams
Treasurer
Katie MacWilliams was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the combined blood management businesses of Terumo Transfusion and Caridian BCT (until March 2012). The combined organization, with revenues of nearly $1 billion, is the world’s leading supplier of products and services designed to meet the growing worldwide demand for high quality blood components, therapeutic apheresis and transfusion medicine. Previously a division of Gambro AB, a global medical technology company based in Stockholm, Sweden, Caridian BCT was purchased by Europe-based private equity investors in 2006 and then acquired by Terumo Corporation in 2011 for $2.6 billion. Terumo Corporation is a Tokyo, Japan-based global medical device company with annual sales of more than $4 billion. As Caridian BCT’s CFO, Katie had responsibility for all finance functions, was executive sponsor of the company’s strategic planning process and was a key player in both the 2011 sale of the company and the post-acquisition integration of the two blood management businesses which now conducts business in more than 90 countries as Terumo BCT. Additionally, Katie is a board member of the Selected Funds (a mutual fund family) and a board trustee for the Clipper Fund. She is Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of both the Executive Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee for both fund entities. Katie is also a trustee of The Denver Foundation, a board director of both the Denver Scholarship Foundation and Rocky Mountain Public Media and also serves as an advisory board member of the Center for Women’s Health Research at the Anschutz Medical Campus of University of Colorado. Katie is a past president of the Women’s Forum of Colorado, past board member and Treasurer / Finance Committee Chair of Denver-based Warren Village and a past board member of The Gathering Place. She is also a past advisory board member of the Executive Fellows program at the Daniels School of Business at Denver University. During 2014, Katie completed a ten-month assignment as the interim CEO of the University of Colorado Foundation, reporting directly to the Foundation’s Board of Directors. She returned to the Foundation as its interim CFO during the first quarter of 2020. MacWilliams has more than 30 years of finance experience across various industries. Her expertise includes international business, corporate finance, capital markets, enterprise risk management, investor relations, mergers/acquisitions, business integration and corporate governance. Prior to joining Caridian BCT in 2008, MacWilliams held finance leadership positions at Coors Brewing Company (1996 – 2005), including Corporate Treasurer and division CFO. Prior to Coors, she worked in capital markets at several large global banks (Union Bank of Switzerland; First National Bank of Chicago) and in various finance roles at Ford Motor Company, Sears and PepsiCo. MacWilliams received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois and her M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Read MoreMelody Patton
Head of School
Please find details on the Faculty and Staff page.
Read More