officers

Adela Corrales, Country Montessori School's Administrator.

In addition, she is also a Primary Teacher in the Bumblebee classroom in the mornings. She has worked for CMS since it was founded in August of 1989. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Services and has her Primary Montessori Teaching Credential. Adela's two daughters attended Country Montessori School from 1995 until 2006, when they entered the local Junior High. Adela serves on the Board of Directors and is dedicated to ensuring that Country Montessori School continues to excel and adhere to being an authentic and traditional Montessori Institution.

 

Theodore Slocomb, President

Ted Slocomb is currently Director, New Product Planning for the largest biotechnology company in San Diego. He has worked for 16 years in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, for start-ups as well as Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of strategic planning, business development, product marketing, finance and venture capital. He joined the CMS board in order to contribute his strategic planning skills and perspective as parent new to CMS to help the school successfully fulfill its mission of leadership in Montessori education. His goals as a Board member are to assist the Board with the development of a strong and actionable plan for the future development and growth of the school and to take advantage of the school’s San Diego location, parent network and the Montessori philosophy to enhance science education opportunities for CMS students. He and his wife, Malgorzata, have two children at CMS, one at the Lower Elementary and one at the Primary level.

Ted earned an M.B.A. in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University and a B.A. in Genetics from the University of California, Berkeley.

 

Caryl Hilliard

Caryl Hilliard is the Vice President of Human Resources for Intuit’s Consumer Tax Division (TurboTax and Quicken products). She supports the company’s second largest business as well as the San Diego site, with the goal of building a high commitment, high performance organization and creating a great place to work. Caryl holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Redlands University, and has over 20 years experience in San Diego’s HR community within the banking, insurance and high-tech industries. Her son Cole, age 6, has been at CMS for three years and is just beginning 1st level in the Eagles class.. Cole’s sister, Avery age 4, is in her second year at CMS, in the Bumblebees class. Caryl’s husband Bill is an R&D manager at Eastman Kodak’s San Diego Systems Division.

Caryl has been a member of the Board for three years and is interested in continuing to contribute her HR expertise to help CMS provide the best environment possible for students, staff and parents, while gaining diverse experience and developing new relationships outside of the corporate world.

Hussam Wakil

Sam has two children currently enrolled at CMS. The older is in fifth grade and the youngest in first. He moved to the United States from Syria as a teenager and worked his way through college majoring in mechanical engineering. Sam is currently working on a B.S in business marketing. In addition he owns and operates his flooring business. Sam loves working with children and continues to educate himself on understanding their needs to better serve them and the school on the board of directors as the executive secretary. He enjoys coaching his children's soccer teams as well as playing the game and refereeing.

He believes in that: "You always get out what you put in, plant apple seeds and you get apple trees, plant acorns and you get great oak trees, plant weeds and you will harvest weeds, plant the seeds of great ideas, and you will get great individuals!" Denis Waitley

AnneMargaret

Annemargaret a San Diego native is founder and President of Child Care Companions, the Nanny Source. A Child Development Specialist since 1993, Annemargaret holds degrees in Behavior Science and Child Development. She is active in a number of organizations and serves as chair in an organization of 500 members.

Prior to founding Child Care Companions, Annemargaret worked a number of years at Miramar College guiding future primary educators while encouraging the children to develop and grow. She is a Credentialed Site Supervisor through the State of California. This allows her to continue working in the classrooms at CMS with the children as a substitute whenever needed.

From 1993, she and her husband Gary proudly watched two nephews and a niece complete their primary through elementary education at CMS. Their son became a student in 2002. Since becoming a part of the CMS family, she has managed and enjoyed volunteering whenever needed. She is willing to accept a challenge from being an ambassador to chairing the 2006 annual fundraiser.

Elected to the board of Trustees in 2006, Annemargaret serves on the Institutional Advancement Committee.

Jaide Shin

Jaide has recently relocated to San Diego and has one daughter, Avery, enrolled in CMS. She was very happy to find a school that reflects and practices with commitment and excellence the Montessori principles that she supports. She has worked in the Education field in various capacities as a teacher, administrator, and director, and looks forward to contributing to the school communicty in all capacities. Jaide holds a B.A in French Literature and an M.Ed.

Haibo Zhu

Haibo has two children attending Country Montessori School. His son, Patrick, is in Eagle, and his daughter, Shannon, is in Dragonfly. Haibo is currently working for IBM as a foundry application engineer. He has been working as an IC (Integrated Circuit) designer since for 16+ years. His previous employments include as a consultant and a field application engineer for Accsilicon Technology inc., as a senior staff engineer at Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, as an advisory engineer at IBM San Diego Design Center, as a senior engineer at Metaflow Technology Inc., which later became part of SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, as a member of technical staff at Vittesse Semiconductor Corporation. In addition to those, he has served as a founder and CEO of a startup company, LinkStar Microelectronics Inc. for a year. Haibo holds a MSEE degree from Purdue University and a BSEE degree from China.

Uma Venkatraman

is a Management Consultant specializing in driving Business Improvements through Strategy Planning, System Development and Implementation and Business Process Re-Engineering. Her previous work experiences include Senior Manager of Consulting Services at Ernst & Young, LLP and Director of CRM Consulting at Oracle Corporation. She has been a speaker at Oracle hosted conferences and OAUG (Oracle Application User Group conferences) and has facilitated CRM panels. She holds a Masters Degree in Economics and is a Certified Public Accountant. She has a 4 year old daughter at CMS. She has been an active PTC officer and co-chaired the 2007 school auction. Uma is dedicated to helping CMS achieve its full potential!

Camellia Elbanna-FitzGerald, CPA

 

Camellia has over 10 years of experience in accounting and business management. She currently partners with her husband in operating their successful consulting firm, FitzGerald Consulting International, specializing in European, Middle Eastern and emerging markets. Camellia also works with several San Diego based biomedical and
pharmaceuticals companies and offers various financial consulting services. From 2005 to 2008 she was the Assistant Controller for CryoCor, Inc. (a subsidiary of Boston Scientific).  From 2001 to 2005, she worked in public accounting for PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP as a
senior associate in the Audit and Assurance Services.Before joining the Board of CMS, Camellia volunteered from 2004-2008 as the treasurer of The House of Palestine, a non-for-profit organization that is part of the House of Pacific Relations in Balboa Park, San Diego.Camellia and her husband, Corey, have two sons, Sharief, 4 and Zayd, 6 months.  Sharief has attended CMS since 2007 and is in the Sweet peas classroom. Camellia holds a bachelor degree in Accounting from San Diego State University and is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the AICPA.

 

Juan Hernandez

 

Juan is a Senior Engineer in the Imaging & Printing Group at Hewlett-Packard.  He joined the company in Oregon in 1996 and relocated to San Diego in 1999. Over the last 13 years, he has worked in many engineering roles in all phases of product development across multiple sites and countries. Juan has also acquired significant experience in project management and business development that he believes to be useful for the school.  Previously, he worked for two years at MCNC (a semiconductor company in North Carolina) while he was a student.

Juan obtained a B.S. and a Ph.D. in Physics plus a M.B.A.

 

Edward B. O'Brien

 

Ed is an Active Duty Naval Officer serving in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.  For over 14 years he has served in many different capacities both in the United States and overseas.  He is presently employed as deputy counsel for the Commander Naval Air Forces on Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado. Ed attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, receiving a B.A. in Political Science and History.  In 1994 he graduated from the Boston College Law School with a Juris Doctor.  He is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts as well as various Military and Federal courts.  His wife Beth is also an Active Duty Naval Officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, presently serving as a circuit military judge in the Western Judicial Circuit. 

They have two children at CMS.