Summit Montessori School is a non-profit institution governed by a Board of Trustees. Trustees deeply believe in Summit’s mission and dedicate their effort and resources to serve its community. The Board is composed of current and past parents and grandparents, alumni, and individuals from the larger Boston-area who bring expertise in independent schools, finance, development, facility management, and other professional fields
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Board Committees
The Board of Trustees leads several working committees to support the school. Committees include:
• Development Committee: responsible for supporting the school’s operating budget through annual and capital fundraising
• Finance Committee: responsible for budgetary oversight and supporting analysis of the school’s financial health
• Building & Grounds Committee: responsible for overseeing the school’s physical facilities and grounds, including maintenance and capital improvements
• Governance Committee: responsible for ensuring best practices governance within the Board of Trustees
In addition, the Board works closely with members of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee, which is responsible for steering the school’s vision for DEI and recommending best practices.
Members of the Board:
Summer Shaud, Chair
Elbert Hardeman, Vice Chair
Elbert Hardeman has been a Trustee since July 2021. He is the proud parent of Sophia (UL) and Noura (LE). They reside in Southborough, MA with his wife Nicole.
Elbert is Principal Cybersecurity Advisor with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Elbert has had a 15 year career at the Federal Reserve working for both the Boston Fed. as well as the Richmond Fed. Prior to his current role, Elbert served as an Assistant Vice President of Information Technology and Resilience for the T2C program. Prior to that role, he served as the Deputy Information Security Officer (ISO) in the Federal Reserve National IT Information Security Office.
Prior to joining the Federal Reserve, Elbert worked as an IT consultant with Deloitte in New York City. Elbert also served as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Morocco, where he met Nicole who was also a volunteer. Elbert currently serves on the board of the Boston Debate League, an after-school debate program in Boston.
Elbert has earned Bachelor’s Degree in Business – Management Information Systems from California Polytechnic State University, a Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.) and a Masters in Cybersecurity from Boston College. He is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), an Assistant Professor at Boston College and is a proud Eagle Scout.
James Lennon, Treasurer
James Lennon serves as Treasurer of the Board of Trustees, now in his fourth year on the board and first as Treasurer. A Certified Management Accountant with over 25 years of experience, James currently works as a Risk & Compliance Manager at National Grid. In his role on the board, he provides assurance on the school’s financial statements and helps shape strategies that promote its long-term financial sustainability.
Active members of the Summit community since 2016, James and his wife Alicia have two children who graduated from the upper elementary program. A strong supporter of Montessori education and experiential-based learning, James welcomes all members of the community to take part in advancing the school’s mission.
Sebouh Arakelian
Sebouh and his family have been part of the Summit community for five years. He begins his service with the Summit Board for the 25/26 school year and brings with him over 2 decades experience in the IT Security field. His entrepreneurial spirit guides him to new and exciting opportunities at the intersections of personal wellness, technology and people. He is the father of a proud member of the UE classroom. You can find Sebouh coaching his son in soccer and baseball and tinkering with cars in his spare time.
Dan Bonomo
John Bower
John Bower serves as the Head of Middle School at The Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts, where he has been an educator for the past 18 years. With deep experience in teaching, learning, curriculum design, and school leadership, he has contributed to the Summit community as a member of the DEI Committee, the Head of School Search Committee, and the Strategic Planning Committee for the “Summit Together” strategic plan, among other initiatives, since joining the board in 2019.
John and his wife, Samantha, are the proud parents of three boys who have all benefited greatly from their time as students at Summit.
Emily Cardy
Sandra Duran
Matt Grasse
Andy Greenlaw
Andy Greenlaw joined the Board of Trustees in 2023 and is a parent to a current 6th grader in the Upper Elementary classroom. His family has been part of the Summit Community since 2019.
He currently chairs the Buildings and Grounds Committee, having previously served on the Development Committee.
Professionally, Andy has over 20 years of experience in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) industry, encompassing roles in client support, management, and project management. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Marketing from Fairfield University.
David Keller
Lois Pond
Trustee since 2025
Danielle Rousseau
Dr. Danielle Rousseau, PhD, LMHC, RYT-500, is a professor at Boston University with appointments in Applied Social Sciences and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She serves as Director of Education and Research at Yoga 4 Change. A licensed trauma clinician and certified trauma-informed yoga instructor, Dr. Rousseau integrates criminology, psychology, and embodied healing practices. Dr. Rousseau is a dedicated social justice educator, researcher, practitioner, and advocate. Her professional expertise lies in trauma response, rape crisis, and victim/survivor advocacy, serving individuals in carceral settings and the community. Her research and advocacy focus on trauma-informed interventions, resilience, and justice reform. Widely published and nationally recognized, she empowers survivors and justice-involved individuals through mindfulness, movement, and radical self-care. Her work bridges scholarship and practice to promote healing-centered, socially just approaches to wellbeing.
Kira Donnelly, Head of School, Ex-officio Trustee
After an extensive search, Kira Donnelly was unanimously chosen as Summit’s next Head of School. Among the many strengths in Kira’s rich background of educational and Montessori leadership, several that felt particularly notable are Kira’s child-centered and collaborative leadership style, her deep understanding of child development and Montessori pedagogy, her skill and fluency with the budgeting process and financial management, her understanding that strategic vision must be grounded in and preceded by relationship-building and immersion in the Summit community, and her demonstrated commitment to staff development and retention.
Kira is passionate about growing and supporting Montessori education. A Montessori child herself, she chose Montessori for her own children and eventually found a way to incorporate Montessori in her professional journey too. She has presented at Montessori conferences around the world and actively participates in the work of the Montessori movement. Kira has more than 10 years of leadership experience in Montessori schools, both public and private, as well as 4 years of experience as Head of Montessori Schools with >100 students.
Kira enjoys spending time with family and scrapbooking. She also reads a lot including both fiction and nonfiction about a variety of topics including Montessori, climate change, and social justice. She likes to explore new cities and nature.