2022-23 Board Treasurer (Term Expires 2023)
I’m the father of three Peak to Peak students (11th grade, 9th grade and 7th grade) and have been married to Sarah for the past 22 years. Our family has been a part of the Peak to Peak community for the past seven years. I am an attorney who advises public and private companies on a wide variety of transactions, including debt and equity finance and mergers & acquisitions.  For the past 13 years, I have been a partner at Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, which is among the oldest and largest law firms in Denver. I currently lead the firm’s finance and acquisition practice, which includes approximately 50 attorneys, and serve on the firm’s governing executive committee. For the past five years, I have served on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado and I am currently the Board Secretary for the organization. I’m also a huge basketball fan and a Buffs basketball season ticket holder.

2022-23 Board Member (Term Expires 2023)
Ms. Grady draws from an international background, having graduated from the German high school in Cairo, Egypt and the University of Geneva, Switzerland where she graduated with a BA in translation studies (with an emphasis on law and economics). In Switzerland, she worked for AIT, a non-profit umbrella organization of automobile clubs worldwide, organizing conferences around the globe as well as being the German language department lead. For decades, she was also involved in different aspects of her parents’ family business (German bookstore in Cairo and art publishing/photo business). Her passion around cutting-edge education and its accessibility to all learners has guided all of her pro bono work. At Peak to Peak, Ms. Grady has volunteered in classrooms, for our fundraising team, and has served for several years on the Hiring Committee as member and co-chair. Ms. Grady has three children attending Peak to Peak, and loves spending time with her family and two dogs in the great Colorado outdoors.

2022-23 Board Vice President (Term Expires 2025)

Wes Kirk is a passionate educator with over twenty years of experience in the classroom and leading large international organizations. He is a third-generation Air Force Officer who dedicated his career to delivering innovative training to thousands of students a year and empowering teammates to reach their full potential. He was handpicked to command a training squadron where I led three-hundred military instructors and professors to provide five-thousand college credits to Service Members around the world. As a staff officer, he was responsible for the budgeting and readiness of our fifty-billion-dollar international commercial transportation infrastructure. Since retiring from the Air Force, he has continued my passion for teaching as a Boeing 737 instructor pilot at United Airlines. He strives to use his educational and organizational leadership acumen to help our children maximize their success and make our community stronger and more resilient.

2022-23 Board Secretary (Term Expires 2025)

Marlene Martin joined the Peak to Peak community in 2022 when her daughter was accepted to attend Peak to Peak as a sixth grader. She is originally from Germany where she grew up and attended school and university. She and her family relocated to Colorado in 2013. They enjoy spending time outdoors, hiking, skiing and gardening. Marlene is an active member of the Lafayette community as a board member of the Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority. She volunteered in various positions at Pioneer Bilingual Elementary School and frequents the Bob Burger recreation center. In her professional life, she is an attorney advising public companies on a wide range of securities and corporate transactions. In order to pursue this dream, she obtained three law degrees from Germany, New Zealand, and the United States.

2022-23 Board President (Term Expires 2024)
I am married with one child in elementary school at Peak to Peak. I came to Colorado nearly 17 years ago to pursue my Masters in Electrical Engineering at CU Boulder. I fell in love with Colorado and after graduation worked as an engineer in Longmont for nearly 9 years. 

My family background of entrepreneurship and my passion for making a difference in the world prompted me to leave the corporate world of engineering behind to start a small business of my own. I currently own and operate a handful of assisted living facilities across the Denver metro area that provide compassionate care to individuals on Medicaid with various physical and mental health illnesses. 

My multi-faceted background has given me skills in leadership, operations management, finance, mergers & acquisitions and relationship building across varying levels of the community.

2022-23 Board Member (Term Expires 2024)

Marcus has been a software engineer, startup founder, and stay-at-home-dad at various points. His daughter started at Peak to Peak in Kindergarten and will be 6th grade for the 2022-23 school year. Marcus serves with a mindset to not become easily offended or upset, and seeks evidence for decision-making.

2022-23 Board Member (Term Expires 2023)
David considers himself a Coloradoan as he spent 93% of his life living in this region. He is a married man with two active children and a loving wife. He used to spend time outdoors camping, hiking and mountain biking travelling to different parts of Colorado. But now, his main focus is on work, family and taking care of the house. He enjoys working on many side projects when it comes to fixing the home. He enjoys fishing as his new hobby and looks forward to the days he can take the kiddos fishing. He also enjoys cooking while discovering new recipes online and watching a few of his favorite YouTube channels like ‘Outdoor chef life’ and ‘Fisherman’s Life’. Beyond that, he is a parent who is always concerned about what the future holds for both of his children.

Executive Director of Education

Jennifer joined Peak to Peak in 2022. She has been supporting educational improvements for over 20 years. Her educational career began as a teacher at Maury Elementary School in Alexandria, Va., one of the first schools on the east coast to be reconstituted. In 2010, she moved to Boulder, Colorado and began working for Denver Public Schools (DPS).  

Jennifer ran an educational consulting company that supported school districts as they engaged in turnaround and succession planning efforts. Prior to this work, Jennifer was the Deputy Instructional Superintendent for DPS for the Office of School Reform and Innovation. She was also the Director of Leadership Development for Aurora Public Schools from 2017- 2022. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and has completed the DPS Ritchie Program, a collaborative partnership with DPS and The University of Denver. Jennifer had the honor of engaging in the KIPP Leadership Design Fellowship (KLDF) and the Relay Graduate Program in New York City. These programs enhanced her ability to lead professional learning opportunities through collaborative interactions with effective school reform leaders across the county. KLDF enables district leaders to develop their strategies for leading successful schools in their districts. These strategies focus on shared practice among leaders to enhance leadership pipelines and leadership development programming.

In her free time, Jennifer enjoys exploring the Denver art scene and hiking with her family and dog.

Executive Director of Operations

Biography coming soon!

Elementary School Principal

Melissa Christensen grew up living in Texas, New Mexico, and Idaho before attending college and eventually landing in Colorado. Ms. Christensen joined Peak to Peak in 2002, teaching kindergarten, first grade, and third grade before moving into administration. Prior to serving as the elementary principal, she worked as a member of the Induction team, teacher mentor, and consultant for the Center for Professional Development. Ms. Christensen graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University with a double B.S. in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education; she earned her principal licensure and M.Ed. in Educational Leadership with high honors from Regis University. Some of her favorite things are young children, warm weather, and homemade cookies. She is an accomplished pianist and flute player, and has served for many years as an advisor in community groups for children and youth.

Middle School Principal

Clara Quinlan received a B.A. from Hope College in Psychology and Environmental Ethics, an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Montana-Missoula, and earned her M.A. in Educational Leadership with principal licensure through the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Within Peak to Peak’s community, she has served as an English instructor, grade-level leader, extended trips coordinator, Indigo Education Company liaison, ERT lead, high school assistant principal, and now the proud principal of the middle school community. Over her career, she has been honored to receive the Boettcher Foundation Educator Award, an Impact on Education Award, and two Most Inspirational Teacher Awards. She continues to chase after educational travel opportunities for all student age groups with her own travel pursuits - most recently, Alaska, Morocco and Tanzania. She also enjoys reading and writing poetry, exploring the Colorado wild with her dogs and eating fine cheese.

High School Principal

Mr. Mathews was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He earned a BA in International Affairs from Lewis and Clark College, and both an MA in History and an Ed.S. (Specialist in Education) degree in Administrative Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Colorado at Denver. His work in international relief and development included stints living and working in Senegal and Uzbekistan. Mr. Mathews then sought an alternative teacher license, served as an adjunct professor for the University of Colorado at Denver while teaching at Peak to Peak, and became the school’s social studies department chair and an Advanced Placement teacher before transitioning to become the high school assistant principal, and then high school principal. Mr. Mathews has been recognized by Boulder Valley’s Impact on Education Foundation with a lifetime achievement award, and also supports new charter school principals and administrators as a mentor with the Colorado Department of Education.