Administration

Mary Lou Faddick, Head of School

Mary Lou holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and History and a Masters of Arts in Literature. She has completed all her course work for a doctorate in the Humanities. A recent Klingenstein Fellowship at Columbia University has provided a challenging and stimulating opportunity to explore the world of education in the early years of the 21st Century. Mary Lou is a founder of Foothills Academy and has been with the school since 1984. A lover of poetry and writing, Mary Lou spends much of her time writing and reading. She loves being with her family, walking long distances, especially the Cornish coast, swimming in the sea, and reading to and playing with her 6 grandchildren.

Chris Covey, Assistant Head of School

Chris came to Foothills during the 2001-2002 school year. His academic credentials include a BA in Honors Political Science with a minor in Religious Studies. He has, in addition, earned a Masters in Educational Psychology. Chris is an avid traveler and world citizen having lived in Canada for 7 years and Japan for two years. Chris is an ardent reader of fiction, nonfiction, philosophy, religious texts and he writes poetry and short fiction. Currently, he is learning to play classical guitar.

Carolyn Baer, Director of Communications

Carolyn holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. For 16 years, she worked as the Assistant Director of a local private, non-profit adoption agency. She is the mother of five sons, two of whom attended Foothills Academy, and grandmother to three granddaughters - "Grandparenting is easier than parenting!," she reports. Carolyn loves to read, write, knit, quilt, travel, garden and take walks. Family and alone time are an important ingredient of each of her days and Carolyn regards working at Foothills as a coming home of sorts.

Whitney Cobb, Director of Admissions, College Counselor

Christina Crowley, Director of Development

Meg Faddick, Director of Technology

Meg has been involved at Foothills since the beginning, creating and painting the hard-to-match color "Pedagogical Peach" on the walls of what is now the library. Since then, she has been a periodic IT consultant, web designer and database administrator for Foothills. Meg joined Foothills full-time in August, 2004, after moving back to Colorado following a 21-year residency in Massachusetts, Ohio and Arizona. Her experience includes work as a network and systems administrator, digital video editor, software interaction designer, graphic designer, paramedic and orchestra conductor. Her interests include playing ice hockey, video editing, music, gadgets and geek stuff. She holds a Masters Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Bachelors Degree in Voice Performance from The Boston Conservatory.

David Schmid, Upper School Coordinator

Faculty

Kristin Aaker, Third/Fourth Grades

Mark Akins, First/Second Grade

Corrie Beauvineau, First/Second Grades

Corrie has a BA with a dual major in History and International Relations and a minor in French. She came to Foothills in 1998 and, over the years, has taught many grade levels and many subjects. Taking a year off to travel the world, Corrie returned to take up residence in First and Second grades (she "loops" teaching first grade one year, second the next). A citizen of the world, Corrie has a global perspective that she brings to the classroom. She especially enjoys time with family and time with children - and declares such time is even better if it can be spent outside. As a teacher, her special interest is in helping children think.

Jill Carstens, Early Childhood Center Director

Jill's Bachelor of Arts degree is in Journalism and Russian. In addition, she is an accredited Early Childhood teacher who did an internship in Denver at the Stanley British Primary School. Jill grew up in Wheat Ridge and now enjoys being a mom, an avid reader, and bicyclist. Journaling provides Jill with pleasure and time to reflect.

Jessica Dauchy, Grades 9-12 Math

Diane Dunne, American and World Literature & Creative Writing

Diane holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Social Work from Atlanta University. She has been a faculty member at Foothills since 1996. Diane has great interest in reading, writing, poetry, running, hiking and backpacking. She writes poetry and her poetry has been published.

Sydney Fisher, Grades 5/6 Spanish, 7/8 Choir

Catherine Forington, Fifth/Sixth Grade

Kate Garvey, Grade 2

Corey Goodrich, Seventh/Eighth Grade, Coordinator of Service Learning

Corey hails from the East where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comparative Literature with a concentration in French and Spanish. At Foothills, Corey began teaching Second Language in the Upper School and added Math, Creative Writing and coaching soccer to her repertoire. Corey has moved to the 7/8 where she teaches Humanities. Corey's interests include camping, skiing, reading, quilting and knitting.

JoAnn Hammond, Early Childhood

Sarah Hower, Seventh/Eighth Writer's Workshop

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Physics and certification in elementary education. She has been a teacher at Foothills Academy since 1995. Sarah loves skiing, reading, mothering James, biking and Greek mythology. Indeed, she considers herself a Tantalus groupie.

Kerry Kaeding, Kindergarten

Kerry has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Masters in Early Childhood Education. Kerry began at Foothills as an intern in the Kindergarten in 2002 and moved to full-time teaching the following year. Kerry loves to hike with her beloved pooch Harry and to sail, ski, knit, run and read.

Angie Langeliers, Grades K-8 Music

Born and raised in Montana, Angie arrived in Colorado and at Foothills in 2003. She has a Bachelors degree in Music Education and while her interests include music, particularly playing the guitar and singing opera, Angie also loves fly fishing, hiking and reading. Her favorite book is usually the one she just read, but The World According to Garp is a perennial favorite.

DJ McCleary, Curriculum Technology

Hope Mukai, Grades 7-12 Spanish

Before coming to Foothills, Hope taught high school Science in Showhegan, Maine. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and Biology and lived in Seville after finishing college and until her money ran out. Hope loves to travel and hike. She has a personal goal of visiting all 50 states and is nearing her objective with only 4 states remaining on her yet-to-visit list. Hope loves the out-of-doors, especially skiing and kayaking.

Nat Oliver, Seventh/Eighth Grade

Megan Quitter, Third/Fourth Grades

Lynn Reitmeyer, Grades 7-12 Art

Lynn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in and a Masters Degree in Theater. Lynn has been at Foothills for 13 years. Her hobbies include drawing and painting, camping, geology, and archeology, and reading.

Eric Robertson, Fifth/Sixth Grades

Patsy Schmitz, K-4 Art, K-6 Spanish

Patsy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Masters of Arts in Early Childhood Education. She is one of the founders of Foothills. Her experiences in the Peace Corps in Venezuela and Costa Rica, her work with Head Start, and her many roles at Foothills Academy stand out in Patsy's memory of her many years in education. Patsy is a parent of a student who attended Foothills from kindergarten through twelfth grade. She loves to weave, read, and travel to exotic places like Poland. Patsy confesses that she also likes to garden even though this makes her "sound like a senior." With this in mind, Patsy avows that she does not "officially like to bird watch - although it seems more appealing all the time."

Donnie Walton, Grades K-8 Physical Education, Transportation Manager

Donnie has a degree in Behavioral Science. He loves being with his family, blues music, playing the harmonica, Groucho Marx, and sports. He keeps the Foothills community entertained with his creative sense of humor and imaginative, fresh ideas.

Cathy Weigum, Grades K-4 Support Teacher

Cathy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. She has been involved with Foothills Academy since 1994. Cathy has been the fourth teacher in the K-2 program and now is a 3/4 teacher. Cathy loves to be with her family, laughing, shopping and keeping up with three active children. She loves finding good childrenÕs books and taking photographs of children.

Evan Weissman and Buntport Theater, 9-12 Drama

Evan is the lead Upper School drama teacher at Foothills and part of a local, collaborative theater troupe that had their beginnings at Colorado College and has been acclaimed for their creative, collaborative original work. Other members of Buntport join Evan to teach classes, providing students with a strong foundation in acting skills and culminating with an original performance each semester. Evan writes about himself, "I am about as tall as I appear. I like reading, playing soccer, and thinking of jokes."

Tom West, 9-12 Creative Writing

Tom holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree. He has been a faculty member for 11 years. Tom loves writing fiction and poetry. He spends time sketching, reading poetry, short stories, history. He collects 19th century stamps from the U.S. and Britain. He loves outdoor work.

Staff

Cori Churchey, Volunteer & Events Coordinator

A native to Colorado and the Wheat Ridge area, Cori arrived at Foothills in the role of nanny to one of the school's families. Coming to campus to pick-up and drop-off students, she soon began to volunteer, working for the auction, assisting in the classroom, helping with fundraising activities and filling a miscellany of needs. Cori has taught preschool for 16 years; her outside-of-work interests include camping and crafts, particularly scrap-booking.

Katie Moore, Assistant Business Manager

Shelly Murphy, Office Manager

Karen Pfiffner, Librarian

Karen holds a degree in Church Music and Organ Performance. She is the mother of three children. In addition, she conducts the bell choir at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Karen has worked as a librarian and is a self-proclaimed 'computer nut.' She loves to read and do handwork of all kinds, in addition to playing baseball with her kids. Karen has written a number of pieces of music that have been published.