Faculty/Staff

About our Teachers

Kindergarten Lead Teacher - Kim Gerlitz
Kim has been with SES since it’s inception in 2005. She is an experienced and certified elementary school teacher, mostly in kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classrooms. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and studied abroad in Sweden at the Vaxjo University. Kim has been active in: various church volunteer organizations, as a summer camp counselor, nursing home assistant, and was recipient of a prominent leadership award and the Aliss Scholarship grant. Kim holds a State of Colorado teacher's License with endorsements in Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Kindergarten Assistant Teacher - Meghan Epstein
Meghan graduated this past May from Colorado College with a BA degree in Biology and a minor in Spanish. She has completed some education courses and is interested in teaching as a profession. In addition to her academic studies, Meghan was program leader at the YMCA of Boulder Valley and has been active as: intern with Fundacion ABEL in Quito, Ecuador, and worked with special needs children aged six months to six years; Refugee and Asylee Program Intern for Lutheran Family Services in Colorado Springs; translator for DO Care in Guatemala; math teacher for Casa de La Esperanza in Longmont; and as volunteer for the Longmont Holiday Basket Program, which assisted low-income Spanish speakers to purchase toys for children.

First Grade Lead Teacher - Jodie Bratten
Jodie joined SES in 2008 as its first-first-grade teacher. She graduated summa cum laude from Whittier College in California where she was awarded Outstanding Distinction in her child development major. At graduation she was also awarded the President's Scholar Athlete of the Year. She has studied abroad at the University of Wollongong in Australia and was Graduate Teaching Fellow at Broadoaks Children's School in California. After returning home to Denver, she took additional training to become Colorado certified through the Stanley British Primary preparation program for teachers. At Graland, she taught kindergarten and second grade. Jodie finished her Master's degree in Educational Psychology in May 2008.

First Grade Teacher Assistant - Karis Shockley
We welcome Karis back to her secong year as teacher assistant while she pursues her graduate school aspirations. Karis Fox Shockley was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. She moved to Denver in 2008 after graduating from C.U. Boulder with a B.A. in arts and sciences. She received her degree in speech language and hearing sciences with a minor in linguistics. Karis has always been passionate about acting, singing and dancing. She has shared these talents for the past ten summers as a camp counselor for a children’s theater group. Last year, she was at a Montessori school in Denver, where she worked with children ranging in age from six weeks to six years old. Karis is the oldest of five and loves going home to Boulder to see her family.

Second Grade Lead Teacher and Faculty/Student Support Administrator- Kim Frantz
Kim has thirteen years of classroom teaching. She left the classroom and stayed home for a number of years when her children were young and attended Colorado Academy. While in the classroom, she was nominated for Colorado State Teacher of the Year by the Littleton School District, and she was selected by her district to teach in-service classes to fellow teachers, selected as a master teacher to supervise student teachers, and served in many other impressive leadership roles. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Kim will assist the Head of School as a support mentor for teachers and students.

Second Grade Teacher Assistant - Vanessa McAll
Vanessa attended the Trinity School of Texas, an Episcopal Primary through 12^th grade school in Longview, and graduated Salutatorian. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Oklahoma with a BA degree in Music Arts, with a concentration on voice. Performing as a singer/songwriter after college and living in Nashville, she made ends meet by working in an insurance brokerage office and as a veterinarian’s assistant. Then came Scotland. Although you might immediately identify Scotland as the birthplace of golf, as most well informed people do, its cultural roots can also be connected directly to American Bluegrass music. Vanessa attended The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and graduated with a Certificate of Higher Education in Scottish Music and Voice. During that year and a half of study, Vanessa worked as a teacher assistant at the Emmanuel Christian School in Oxford, England, where she helped her lead teacher set up class for the day’s activities (children aged six-eight years old), took half the students for math and reading activities, worked one-on-one with students who needed extra help, taught a weekly music lesson, and supervised lunch and recess.

Third Grade Lead Teacher - Jeana Kettner
Jeana has excellent qualifications that fit the profile of an outstanding third grade teacher. She holds a Colorado State Teacher’s License, grades K-6, and graduated from CSU with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies. Jeana is midway through her Master of Arts degree in Teaching and Learning at Regis University. She has experience in teaching and working with children in kindergarten through fifth grade. She taught fifth- and sixth-grade students on health and science through the auspices of the University of Southern California, and was lead teacher and assistant director of the Primrose School in south Denver, and was a kindergarten support teacher at Graland before that school turned to interns. She has been attending the Regis graduate program full time this past year.

Third Grade Teacher Assistant - Brad Tarr
Brad received his Bachelor of Business and Economics degree from the University of Iowa in 2003, and from then to the present he has worked at the Highlands Ranch Community Center as swim instructor and swim instructor trainer. After entering Metropolitan State College, Brad received his Elementary Licensure this past May. He did his teacher practicum in 4^th grade at Harrington Elementary in Denver and student teaching in 4^th grade at Stein Elementary in the Jefferson County Public Schools. During the summer, Brad works as Unit Leader at Camp Manitou for Boys in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine. While not assisting Jeana in third grade, Brad will apply his financial training to assist Walter with “business office’ tasks.

Specialty Teachers
Music and Choir Director - David Bell
David is Choir Director at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Denver. A Colorado native, he is a graduate of Fountain Valley School and Colorado College, both in Colorado Springs. At CC he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in music, and took his Master of Arts degree in Music and Composition from the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, MA. Prior to returning to Denver, he served as Choir Director for St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Marblehead, MA. He has numerous performances to his credit as tenor with the Boston Russian Choir, Cherry Creek Chorale, Colorado Opera Festival, Colorado Springs Chorale and the Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble. He has won numerous awards, including the David and Karen Smith Cowperthwaite Prize for Excellence in Music while attending Colorado College. In addition to leading a prominent Episcopal Church choir, David also directs the Golden Concert Choir, a volunteer adult choir. David loves to teach, and directing a choir is his perfect milieu.

Art - Karen Kelly
Karen is a gifted artist and teacher and is ideally suited to foster our mission and focus on the arts. She has extensive experience teaching art to students age three through adult. She has established highly successful art programs for over 20 public and private schools in the metro Denver area. Karen has created and implemented art curricula and age-appropriate art projects around famous past and current artists, cultural studies, architecture, landscapes, animals, still life, etc. For seventeen years, Karen was the owner/director/instructor of a fine arts school in Littleton, which she sold in 2007. She has an undergraduate degree from Colorado State College and a graduate degree from the University of Northern Colorado, and has studied ancient architecture and sculpture in India.

Physical Education – Rachel Levine
Rachel is in her second year at SES and fills several important positions. She graduated with degrees in biology and psychology from the University of Vermont, and she is currently studying Anatomy and Physiology in preparation for graduate studies in the field of medicine. She was taught first grade for Americorps in Northern California. Rachel loves Colorado and all the outdoor/indoor sports it offers. Important to her are family, friends, children and Vermont.

Chaplain / Faith Studies / Spanish - The Rev. Susan Greenwood
Mother Susan came to Colorado in 1969 to begin a teaching career. She has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and a Masters in Reading for Second Language Learners. She retired from her career as a bilingual elementary art and reading teacher in 2006 in order to go to Episcopal seminary. She attended the General Theological Seminary in New York City where she discovered that grandmothers could learn new tricks and earned a Masters of Divinity Degree. She was ordained priest in the Diocese of Colorado in 2006. Mother Susan loves spending time with her family, playing with her two pet bunnies, reading and sometimes dressing in a gorilla suit. Mother Susan will also apply her decades of experience and her language fluency by teaching Spanish. Prior to her ordination to the priesthood, she taught Spanish and bilingual education.

Enhanced Learning Program - Patricia Mulligan
Patricia had a distinguished career in education before retiring from Eugene Field International Baccalaureate Elementary School in Littleton in 2008. She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado and Denver University respectively. Prior to that, she worked at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Department of Child Psychiatry, Day Treatment Program. Patricia works with a small handful of students in our Enhanced Learning Time, which meets for an hour or so three days a week. She is wonderfully helpful with our students and is a great resource for the faculty.

Special Program - Sue Johanning
Sue is a graduate of Colorado State University, with a BS in Commercial Physical Education. She has a Masters degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Colorado, Health Science Center and is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Suehas developed and implemented numerous exercise and sport specific programs for adults and children, emphasizing injury prevention. After three years of teaching physical education at SES, Ms. Jo, as she is widely known, will lead students, parents invited, in a new “character-building” program once a month.

Administration

Head of School / C.E.O. - Walter McCoy
Walter began teaching in Orleans Parish Public Schools, taught history at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, chaired the History Department at Casady School in Oklahoma City, was Headmaster of the Wightwood School in Branford, Connecticut, and Head of School at St. Francis Episcopal Day School in Potomac, Maryland. Walter has two Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Secondary Education in Social Studies and a Master of Arts degree in History Teaching from the University of New Orleans. He has accomplished postgraduate studies in Latin American History at Tulane University. Walter's wife, Carolyn, also an experienced independent school educator, served St. Elizabeth's as school principal during the early start up years.

Assistant to the Head of School and Director of Extended Day and After School Enrichment Programs - Danice Giles
Danice came to us from Marietta, Georgia, where she taught for nearly 30 years at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in Atlanta. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas University in Elementary Education with a major in Special Education. Danice holds Georgia and Colorado teachers' licenses with endorsements in Middle, Elementary, and Early Childhood Education. She was formerly the Director of the Horizons Student Enrichment Program in Atlanta, and is continuing that commitment with the Colorado Academy Horizons Program in Denver.

Development Director - Ramsay Stabler
Ramsay has worked in independent schools since 1979, as a teacher of history, math, and English; coach of various sports; head of the middle school; headmaster of St. Anne's Episcopal School in Denver from 1994until 2006. He received his BA in history from Williams College (MA) and his Masters in School Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University (NY). He has served on the board of a varietyof local non-profits, including St. Elizabeth's School. He and his wife, Holly, have been married for 29 years, and they have four sons.

Office Manager / IT /Communications and Assistant to the Developent Director - Joseph Schwairy
Joe has a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Services in counseling, mental health, and non-profit administration from Metropolitan State College in Denver. He is an experienced and skilled graphic designer, computer guru, impeccable organizer, and humorist extraordinaire. Joe joined Walter and Carolyn at SES in 2006.