The OMS Montessori Board of Directors is guided by the best interests of students, teachers and staff.
The Element and OMS Board of Directors includes: five Parent members, four External members, one Staff Representative (non-voting member), The Head of School (non-voting member), The Director of The Element High School (non-voting member). The Board of Directors is tasked with ensuring both The Element and OMS achieve long-term, sustained realization of the vision of our schools.
Parent Directors bring their passion and a desire to see their child’s school evolve with the children. External Directors bring specialized skills, knowledge and objectivity to the Board. The Head of Schools, The Element High School Director, and the Staff Participant bring corporate history and their deep understanding of Montessori principles and how they impact OMS and the students.
The positions are staggered such that one third of the Board is elected each year. The Executive Officers of the Board (i.e. President, Vice President and Corporate Secretary) are elected by the Directors every year.
The Board operates under the Carver or Policy governance model. In this model, the Board sets policies for the operation of the school, hires a Head of Schools to implement these policies, and monitors the operation of the school through these policies. The Board also creates strategic plans for the school.
The Board of Directors looks to the parent community for advice, expertise and potential Board Membership. You do not have to be a member of the Board of Directors to participate in projects being developed by a Board Committee. If you have a particular interest, please let any member of the Board or the school administration know
President of the Board
Vir Advani has been a parent director on the OMS Board of Directors since July 2021. He is currently serving as Chair of the Board, and supports the Finance Committee, Remuneration Committee, and Board Development Committee. Vir will be leading the formation of the OMS Foundation and will eventually chair the Foundation once it has been established. He has a son in the Chickadee (Toddler) class.
Vir has worked in the finance sector for the past 7 years in a variety of roles including risk management, supply chain finance, corporate treasury, foreign exchange trading, and asset based lending. He is currently Vice President at Royal Bank of Canada’s Corporate Client Group where he manages a $1 Bn portfolio of corporate and commercial loans across Canada and the US. Previous to his work in finance, Vir worked as a civil engineer at J.L. Richards & Associates where he designed and administered municipal infrastructure projects for the City of Ottawa. He has a Bachelor’s of Engineering from Carleton University and a Master’s of Business Administration from Queen’s University.
Vice President of the Board
Jenna Wood joined the OMS board of directors in October 2022. She is one of three non-parent board members.
Jenna is a Principal at Colliers Project Leaders; Canada’s largest project management firm. Over the last 15 years, she has directed teams through due diligence and feasibility studies, design, procurement, construction, move management and program management assignments. Jenna has a degree in Civil Engineering. She is a Project Management Professional and Risk Management Professional.
Jenna has first-hand experience with Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build, and Construction Management delivery methodologies for projects ranging from small $0.5M renovations to $200M new-build projects. She is adept at Stakeholder Management and is particularly adept at procurement strategy development as well as project planning.
Secretary of the Board
Cheryl Stallabrass joined the OMS board of directors in September 2023 as a parent director. She supports the several committees and is currently serving as secretary of the Board. Cheryl’s daughter is in the Warbler Casa class.
Cheryl has 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, holding a variety of leadership roles in risk strategy, product strategy. In her current role, she leads project teams of 200+ people to deliver complex bank technology changes, while ensuring change management tactics are executed to support employees in bank branches and call centers across Canada to comply with legislative changes.
Cheryl has a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo.
Duncan Rayner is Vice President of Temple Scott Associates (TSA), a leading government relations and public affairs firm. He provides government and public relations counsel to a wide range of domestic and international clients, including Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, industry associations, charities and not-for-profit organizations, and public entities.
Duncan joined TSA after several years in the political sector, serving as a Senior Advisor to former Progressive Conservative (PC) Leader Peter MacKay and as Director of Operations for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Duncan holds a B.A. from Bishop’s University and an M.A. from Dalhousie University. He is frequently invited to speak on government relations to conferences across North America.
Duncan is a native of St. George, New Brunswick.
Mary Kubesh has been on the OMS board of directors since September 2022. She is currently serving as the chair of the Governance Committee. She has a daughter in the Snowy Owl Upper Elementary class and is herself an alumna of OMS.
Mary has been with the Government of Canada for 12 years, and is currently the Senior Advisor to the President of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, where she provides strategic advice to guide informed decision making on major projects in support of sustainable development in Canada. Previous to her work for the Government of Canada, Mary worked in scientific knowledge translation through her positions at science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education outreach organizations (Acuta & Let’s Talk Science). She has a Bachelor’s of Zoology and a Master’s of Developmental Biology from the University of Toronto.
Jessica-Ann Boiron joined the OMS Board of Directors in 2024 and has a daughter in the Oriole class.
Jess is a former Bay Street corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur and real estate investor.
Through her entrepreneurial pursuits she has overseen over $500M in real estate transactions and her group of companies has grown to be one of Canada’s largest residential property acquisition firms. Jess specializes in the acquisition, stabilization and management of properties in a mix of asset classes, including residential apartment buildings, mixed-use commercial properties and short-term cottage rentals.
Beyond her entrepreneurial pursuits, Jess shares her legal and business expertise as an Adjunct Professor at Carleton University where she teaches Business Law at the Sprott School of Business.
Jess holds a Bachelor of International Business from Carleton University, a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business.
Outside of her professional endeavours, Jess enjoys travelling, staying active and cherishes spending quality time with her daughter.
Director of the Element High School
Sarah started her career at OMS as an assistant in a Lower Elementary class. With the help of a sponsorship agreement from the school Sarah did her Elementary Montessori training at Washington Montessori Institute. Sarah worked for many years as a Lower Elementary teacher and later moved on to teach in what was then our Junior High program, grades 7 & 8. Sarah was a member of the Montessori High School committee that brought The Element High School into operation. Sarah is currently the Director of The Element High School.
Sarah has a diploma from Algonquin College, studied in the Concurrent Education program at Queen’s University and has a Bachelor of Arts, in Psychology, and a Bachelor of Education. Sarah has a Master’s Degree in Education from Loyola College as well as AMI diplomas in both Elementary and Adolescent Montessori Teacher Training. Sarah is also certified by the Ontario College of Teachers.
Aaron was born in Toronto and raised in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Aaron graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in history and political science from the University of Victoria in 1996, and he completed his AMI Elementary Montessori teacher training in Bergamo, Italy. Originally a Montessori student, he has been a Montessori educator for 25 years. Previously working at Nanaimo Montessori School and Bishop Hamilton School, Aaron has worked at OMS Montessori since 2002. He has been part of the OMS facilitators teams for 14 years and joined the OMS board 2 years ago. Aaron’s two sons are former OMS students from the Snowy Owl class. In his spare time, Aaron coaches soccer and works out. He enjoys watching his kids play sports.