Board of Trustees
Board of Trustees
The role of the Board of Trustees is to determine and oversee policies that support the mission of the school and to ensure the school's fiscal stability This includes the hiring and evaluation of the Head of School, appointing standing and ad hoc committees, overseeing the lease and facility use, fundraising and strategic planning. Equally important, Board members serve as ambassadors for the school community.
Leland Smith, Board President
Leland, and her husband, Jared Smith, and their two children, Maeve (Lower Elementary) and Rhea (Upper Elementary), live and work on a beef farm in Halifax, Vermont. Leland holds a Master's degree in Education from UVM and completed her undergraduate degree at Skidmore College. She is an Early Childhood Consultant and has worked for Windham Childcare, and the Vermont Accreditation Project, as well as other private interests. Leland was a NAEYC validator for ten years and currently sits on the Boards of Hilltop and KidsPLAYce.
Stephen R. Phillips, Vice President/Secretary
Stephen is a graduate of Hobart College and Vermont Law School. He's a former Chairman of the Brattleboro Development Review Board and the Brattleboro Planning Commission. Stephen graduated from the Snelling Center for Government Leadership Institute and was the President and Trustee of the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center Stephen concentrates his practice in the area of business and corporate law, with an emphasis on not-for-profit corporations, land use law, and real estate practice. He is also admitted to practice law before the United States District Court for the District of Vermont. Stephen and wife Sara live in Brattleboro and are the parents of Hilltop alum Sam ('01) and Hannah ('05).
W. Bruce Fenn, Treasurer
Bruce is one of the founding Hilltop parents and is former Senior Vice President of Chittenden Bank. He and his wife, Linda Gordon, an occupational therapist, have two children that attend Hilltop: Paige (Middle School), and Ian (Upper Elementary). They live in Brattleboro.
Patrick Keppel
Patrick is the Chair of the Liberal Arts Department at New England Conservatory, where he teaches courses in Theatre Arts and Dramatic Literature and directs the NEC Writing Center. He is also the Institutional Advancement Advisor and Publications Editor for the Music-in-Education National Consortium, a national coalition of public schools, arts organizations, and institutions of higher education dedicated to creating authentic, interdisciplinary programs in music and the arts. Patrick serves as editor of The New England Conservatory Journal for Music-in-Education, and is a writer of fiction and plays. Patrick and his wife, Serina, live in Brattleboro and are the parents of Emmanuel (Lower Elementary) and Magdalena (Primary next year).
Denise Paasche
Denise is currently working as a family medicine physician at Maplewood Family Practice in Brattleboro, a private practice shared with her husband, Dr. Tony Blofson. She is a chair on the Brattleboro Hospital Clinical Ethics Committee, and a Board member of the Gathering Place, an adult day center in Brattleboro. Denise is also the school physician for the Putney School, from which she graduated in 1981. Their sons, Pete and Caleb, started at Hilltop as 3 year olds and are now in the Upper El.
Melany Kahn
Melany and her husband, Bo Foard, became Hilltop parents in 2006. Their 7-year-old son Mason and 5-year-old daughter Ally are in the Lower Elementary and Primary programs, respectively. A summer resident of Brattleboro since 1968, Melany grew up in NYC and attended Wesleyan University. She holds a Masters in Social Work from Boston College and a Master of Fine Arts in Film from The Tisch School at New York University. She is an active Guardian Ad Litum in the Windham Family Courts and worked on Congressman Paul Hodes election campaign in New Hampshire in 2006 and 2008. Melany recently chaired the Hilltop Capital Campaign to build the new Hilltop Montessori School.
Bruce Berg
