Our Board of Trustees
The board is responsible for the legal and financial health of the school and its members actively support and promote the school’s mission, vision, strategic goals and policy positions. Board members serve on multiple committees with the collective goal of ensuring that our school continues to run effectively and to prosper and flourish now and into the future. Read our Orchard Valley Bylaws.
Feeling called to serve or to learn more about the work of our Board or its committees? Please contact Board Chair Annie Martin at annie.m@ovws.org for more information.
ANNIE MARTIN - Co-Chair
Hailing from Gettysburg, PA, Annie Martin has been a resident of Vermont since fall 2013. Annie has been an investigator supporting federal government contracts across the East Coast for nearly 18 years and is currently employed by CACI.
Annie has been active with the Orchard Valley Waldorf School since fall 2016, when her now-6-year-old son, Keaton, entered the inaugural year of Sweet Clover Nursery (formerly known as Little Lambs). When Keaton moved on to the Grace Farm Campus for Farm and Forest Kindergarten in fall 2019 and her now 3-year-old daughter, Kellen, joined SCN, she became active in Parent Council and the Auction Committee for the school’s annual on-line fundraiser, which she co-led this year.
Annie received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Mary Washington College (now the University of Mary Washington) in 2004. In her spare time, Annie enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and traveling.
PRAIRIE RUTH-DAVIS - Co-Chair
My wife Anna and I both have a deep background in Waldorf Education, as students and as the children of Waldorf educators. I believe strongly in this supportive environment and am committed to having my daughter Maddy, currently in third grade, attend the Orchard Valley grades program as far as it goes. The Waldorf school I attended as a child provided a foundation on which I built my adult life. I want to do my part to help Orchard Valley thrive so that it is available for my family and for others who value it.
I am drawn to the campus and land of Orchard Valley; connection to the land and animals is an integral aspect of Waldorf education. I have spent the last nine years running every aspect of a small residential construction business. I utilize this experience to help improve the buildings and land that are so important to our school.
AMANDA CHURCHILL KIPP - Secretary
Amanda is a licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of working in child welfare and youth development (both in state government and non-profit settings) and nearly as many years of experience with program management. Amanda is a lifelong Vermonter, parent to a preschooler, and spouse to a Waldorf alum. Amanda and her family enjoy hiking, camping, skiing, skating, and gardening.
TYLER KIMBERLEY - Treasurer
Born and raised in Worcester, VT, Tyler Kimberley attended the Green Mountain Waldorf School kindergarten through grade 6 before attending U-32. Tyler’s experience at Green Mountain Waldorf School during his childhood provided a first hand experience to many of the benefits of a Waldorf education during the early years of a child’s development.
After graduating from U-32 in 2004 Tyler went on to Champlain College where he received a Bachelor’s of Accounting in the Spring of 2008. Tyler has been conducting/managing financial statement audits, single audits, and preparing information returns and tax returns since graduating in the Spring of 2008.
Tyler has been active with the Orchard Valley Waldorf School since the fall of 2022, when his now 5-year old son, Jackson, entered into the Apple Tree class. In his spare time you will find Tyler skiing with his son, hiking around Vermont and New Hampshire, and traveling.
LISA MASE
I emigrated to the States from Italy as a pre-teen and moved to Vermont in 1997. I have lived in Montpelier for 22 years and feel so blessed to have found a community with similar values to the ones with which I was raised. I am a nutritionist and herbalist as well as a translator, poet, homesteader and parent.
Our daughter will enter third grade in the fall. When she started with Ms. Marianne at age 2.5, I could never have imagined that we would continue in the Waldorf community. Now, I cannot imagine it any other way. The connection to nature, reverence for the aliveness of all things, seasonal celebrations, whole foods, and the spiritual fortitude that our entire family gains from being part of this community permeates and enhances our daily lives in all the most meaningful ways.
Prior to opening my nutrition practice 13 years ago, I co-founded a federally funded business development non-profit where I served as a business advisor and grant writer (Vermont Women's Business Center). I then co-founded and operated a worker-owned cafe (Langdon Street Cafe). I went on to co-found and serve as apothecary manager and board-staff liaison for an educational non-profit (Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism). I have served on the justice team for the Farm to Plate Network and Food Solutions New England since 2011. I also help Marianne Perchlik offer the nutrition portion of the childbirth education programs she offers through OVWS.
I have experience in board governance, non-profit management, educational institutional management, business development, grant writing, fundraising, sustainable food systems, farming, herbalism, and health.
JAMIE RENNER
I live in East Montpelier with my spouse, Kristin, two girls (Anna, 6, and Emmy, 4), two dogs, cat, and occasional chickens. I grew up in New Hampshire, went to Middlebury College (’02), American University Law School (’07), and now work as an Assistant Attorney General at the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.
My family loves all-things-outdoors—gardening, hiking, canoeing, biking, camping, apple and berry-picking, taking care of animals (chickens & horses), swimming, stargazing, skiing, skating, sledding, etc. On the indoor front, we like imaginary play, art, music/singing, cooking/baking, (play) wrestling around, laughing, and getting ready to go outside.
In my non-existent free time, I’m interested in philosophy, religion, science, writing, reading, the idea of living a meaningful life, concepts of death, and how it all fits together.
In 2012, I paused being a lawyer to perform a year of AmeriCorps Service at the Central Vermont Council on Aging. I now look forward to marrying volunteerism with maintaining and improving the world my children grow up in.
MATT DIGIOVANNI
After welcoming our daughter to the world in 2022, my wife and I knew an outdoor, experiential education was a priority for her childhood, and thus were thrilled to enroll her at the OVWS Sweet Clover Nursery. My daughter, Callan, has been in the Sweet Clover Nursery program since she was three months old, and has truly flourished under their care. I believe our experience with the program comes with opportunities that I’d love to share with the Board and work through together. I believe the Sweet Clover and Grace Farm programs would benefit from a stronger connection.
MARIA LEON
As a licensed acupuncturist and certified parenting coach, I find fulfillment by supporting families in their wellness and parenting journeys. I have been involved with Orchard Valley Waldorf School since 2017 and have two children enrolled in kindergarten and third grade. I have contributed to the OVWS community through parent education, development, and parent council leadership. I have lived and worked in Waldorf inspired Camphill Communities in New Hampshire and Sydney, Australia. Waldorf education has been part of my life since I was a child and attended Waldorf School of Lexington, MA. I look forward to learning more about Orchard Valley’s governance, challenges and vision.
