Board of Directors

Board Meetings
Parnassus' Board of Directors monthly from 7-9 PM. Next scheduled meetings are:

Jan. 17
Jan. 24 - Special Meeting: Approval of Line of Credit
Feb. *
March 13
April 10
May 8
June 12
July - No meeting

* Feb 14, Candidates Forum; Feb 28 Annual Meeting/Election at Parnassus location. Annual meeting starts at 7pm.

Meeting dates are subject to change. Additional meetings might be added. Updates will be posted on the website and at school. 

Please see attached for procedures to address the Board - Procedures to Address the Board

All meetings at Parnassus Preparatory School location.

While we have listed here a few people involved in the process, there are many others providing significant assistance and support.  In addition, charter schools are free to determine their own governing structures, which include parents and teachers as active members. That means you!  

Parnassus is about you, committed parents and teachers interested in offering students the highest academic standards.  We appreciate everyone's involvement and welcome anyone interested in participating in the development of Parnassus.

Laura Bottenfield  - Board Chair 
Laura Bottenfield holds a B.A. in International Relations with a minor in marketing from the University of St. Thomas and a Master of Business Administration with an International Business concentration from the University of Minnesota , Carlson School of Management. Currently, Mrs. Bottenfield is a SVP, Global Program Manager at Syncada from Visa, a recently created joint venture between U.S. Bank and Visa. Mrs. Bottenfield has visited several classical charter schools and classical private schools. She has observed classes at these schools, has seen first hand the results of the rigorous classical curriculum and the trivium teaching methods, has engaged in many discussions with experts in the field, and continues to conduct extensive research about classical education. 

Shane Cropper - Director
Shane Cropper holds a BS from the University of Maryland in Management Studies with a Minor in Math and an MBA from the University of Iowa with a finance concentration.  He has 4 years of experience in the US Military where he spent most of that time living in Germany .  After leaving the military and getting his MBA he has spent his time here in Minneapolis in a variety of finance and strategy roles for different companies including Target, BioScrip and Best Buy.  He is currently employed at Best Buy as in internal consultant.  Mr. Cropper has held a variety of teaching roles throughout his career.  These started with tutoring math as an undergraduate, evolved into being an instructor while in the US Military, continued as a Teaching Assistant while in graduate school and continues today where he frequently holds formal and informal business acumen and finance training for employees of Fortune 50 companies.

Greg Friess - Treasurer & Vice Chair
Greg Friess holds a B.A. in both Economics and Political Science.  He earned an M.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he also worked as a teaching assistant.  He has 4 years experience at NSP company (now Xcel Energy) in financial analysis and regulatory filings including developing and supporting short and long term forecasts. His focus on educational issues includes classroom volunteering and serving on the community financial advisory committee for the Osseo School district .  Mr. Friess believes that charter schools are one way to offer additional educational choice to families in the northwest suburbs.  And that additional choice will be a key to improving the education of all the kids in the area.  

Barbara Rose - Director
Barb Rose, teacher since 1997, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Bemidji State University with a major in Elementary Education, minor in Art, and an emphasis in reading.  She earned her Masters degree in Teaching and Learning from St. Mary's in 2001. After teaching at Birch Grove School for the Arts in Brooklyn Park for most of her career, she has now joined the Parnassus team as the 4th grade teacher. Mrs. Rose is passionate about implementing the Classical Education model and the difference it can make in the academic growth of her students and her own son and daughter.  In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering at her church as a bible study leader and member of the worship team. She also enjoys artistic endeavors such as photography and scrapbooking.

Heather Ross - Director
Heather Ross has a B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota with majors in History and Political Science and a Master of Education degree from the University of Minnesota . Mrs. Ross’s experience with 7-12 education includes teaching in both public and private high school settings. She has volunteered in schools at every level and is a former member of the University of Minnesota History Club . Mrs. Ross holds a MN Teaching License and brings a wealth of teaching and education experience to the start-up team.

Kenneth Zigrino - Secretary
Kenneth Zigrino has a J.D. degree, cum laude, from the Syracuse University College of Law and a B.A. degree, with honors, in English Literature from SUNY at Buffalo . Mr. Zigrino has extensive experience in the private practice of law with an emphasis on corporate, securities and business law transactions for small to large clients. His services include initial formation, corporate compliance, commercial real estate, extensive negotiation and drafting of contracts, business litigation, bankruptcies and dissolutions.

Advisory Role:
Kurt Schneiber - CEO, Syncada from Visa
Mr. Schneiber has over 20 years of business experience including business development, marketing, leadership, and management. Prior to joining Syncada in January of 2010, Mr. Schneiber spent over 15 years at Citibank managing different divisions from consumer products and student loans to global transactions services. In addition, he  is passionate about education, classical education specifically, (The Great Books is part of his collection) is an avid reader (he is tackling a list of 100 books every human being should read!), has lived abroad in many countries and has experienced first hand different education methods and its impact on his children. He is excited about Parnassus’ mission and goals, has accepted a role at Parnassus Board of Advisors, and will kick-off Parnassus first official Board meeting as a charter school with a presentation and discussion on “Leadership & Board Governance” based on John Carver's governance model. Parnassus ’ Board is honored to have Mr. Schneiber’s expertise and guidance.

Dr. Jeremiah Reedy earned his bachelor's degree in Italy, a master's degree in Classics from the University of South Dakota (1960), another master's (1964) and a Ph.D. in Classical Studies from the University of Michigan (1968) where he specialized in classical philology and comparative linguistics. He taught Classics at Macalester College from 1968 to 2004 and served for nine years as chair of the department and for fifteen years as coordinator of the Humanities Program. Dr. Reedy was the co-founder and the founder of two charter schools in Minnesota both based on Core Knowledge.  

Dr. Roger Prestwich has an extensive background in developing curriculum and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level for over 20 years. Since 2001, he has held the position of Professor and Director of the International Business Program at Metropolitan State University. Dr. Prestwich has served on many boards including Minnesota World Trade Association, Midwest Global Trade Association, St. Paul/Minneapolis Committee on Foreign Relations, and American Committee on Foreign Relations. His educational background consists of: M.Phil. in International Relations, University of Cambridge, England (1984), Ph.D. in Geography (minor-Economics), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1971), M.A. in Geography (minor-Economics), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1968), Graduate Diploma in Education, University of Sheffield, England (1965), B.A. (Econ.) Honors, University of Sheffield, England (1964)