Board Members

Our board is made up of very caring parents, community leaders, and dedicated supporters of City Garden Montessori. We’d like you to get to know them here.

Bob Sweeny, President

Bob is the Operating Officer in charge of the day-to-day operations of the O’Brien Law firm located in the Soulard District of St. Louis, MO. Before taking this position, Bob served in the educational field as a teacher and administration for 17 years. The last eight years of his career in education, he was the Founder and President of De La Salle Middle School in North City St. Louis, MO. He served as a board member during the exploratory years of the charter and then rejoined the City Garden School board in June of 2009. He serves as Chair of the Board of Directors. He and his wife, Grace, have one child currently attending City Garden Montessori School.

Kimberly Franks

Kimberly holds a B.A. with a dual major in Communications and Black Studies from The Ohio State University (1997) and a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law (2000). Having devoted the majority of her professional career to serving on non-profit boards, she is passionate about equal educational opportunity, developing sustainable non-profit organizations and city living. She is a Past President of the Mound City Bar Association and has served on the boards of St. Louis Bar Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union-Eastern Missouri.She and her spouse, Anthony, attend Central Baptist Church, where Kimberly is a Trustee. They have two sons who attend City Garden Montessori School.

Tom Casey, Finance Committee Chair

Tom has worked for Boys Hope Girls Hope International, a nonprofit that provides homes and education to children in need in 15 US cities and four foreign countries, much of his career. After serving 18 months as a member of the Boys Hope Girls Hope National Volunteer Corps, and then directing their wilderness adventure camp, he left to complete graduate studies and to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He returned to Boys Hope Girls Hope in 2000, and has held positions in training, new program development and transition support. In his current position as Director of Human Resources he serves as a member of the organization's leadership team. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Loyola University Chicago and an MBA, with a concentration in Public and Nonprofit Management, from Boston University. He is a Certified Senior Professional in Human Resources, a member of Christian Brothers Services Customer Advisory Board, and a past member of the Finance Committee of St. Gregory the Great Parish in Chicago, IL. A native of Chicago, he lives in St. Louis with his wife and two children, who attend City Garden Montessori Charter and preschool.

Joel Achtenberg, Secretary

Joel has been with City Garden as a board member and volunteer since the creation of the original preschool, and has continued on the board of the charter school, serving as vice president for two years. He currently is Secretary, serves on the Governance committee, and volunteers as a "reading buddy" one afternoon each week. In the community, Joel has been an active volunteer with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Special Olympics, Hostelling International, and others. Joel received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Washington University. He is in private practice as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, specializing in counseling for individuals living with chronic illness or disability. He is retired from a 35-year career in medical research data processing.

Mary Mitchell

Mary has been a part of City Garden since its founding, 17 years ago. She is a certified Montessori teacher for three to six year olds. Mary previously worked at City Garden Montessori Preschool, at which time she also served on the City Garden Board of Directors. Currently, Mary is employed by a small family business that is involved in manufacturing and real estate.

Brandon Perry, Governance Committee Chair

Brandon is a Business Development Professional with extensive experience in sales, marketing and process improvement. He has the unique experience of having worked for publicly traded corporations as well as leadership positions with local non-profit organizations. Brandon currently serves City Garden Montessori School as Governance Committee-Chair. He has served on our Board of Directors since 2009. A resident of the Shaw Neighborhood for the past 12 years, Brandon and his wife, Afua, have two children currently attending City Garden School.

Chris Geden

Chris Geden has spent the last 14 years serving youth in the St.Louis area . Beginning in a group home residential facility he honed his skills with at risk youth many who had been abused and suffered from trauma or mental illness.From the wild ride of residential care Chris would move on to direct service with Middle school youth Working for the South City YMCA as the middle school coordinator the program started off with only one school in the south city area and grew to a program that had 4 schools across the city. Chris sits on the following boards St.Louis Senior Center,Tower Groves Farmers Market and of course City Garden Montessori. Chris recently became the Community Outreach Director for another non-profit, C.E.A.M (Childrens Education Alliance of Missouri) in which he interfaces with families seeking quality education opportunities for their children.