FCS Parent Association (PA)

The Parent Association (PA) provides support to FCS and the FCS community. All FCS parents are members of the PA, which cultivates community-building through activities and provides a forum for sharing information on issues that affect our children. Meetings are held once a month in the evening. They can be held online or at the school.

2023-24 Officers:
Erin Dozier, Co-Clerk
Andrea Hill, Co-Clerk
Sara Young, Recording Clerk
Jeremiah Schatt, Treasurer
 
Jamie Bellis and Martine-Pascale Gaujean are PA Representatives to the Board of Trustees.   

PA Board General Email: fcspa1@friendscommunityschool.org

FCS Board of Trustees

The FCS Board of Trustees consists of members of local Quaker Meetings, parents, friends of the school, and a faculty member. The Board is responsible for hiring the Head of School, major policies, financial sustainability, and developing the school’s Strategic Plan. Members of the FCS Board of Trustees serve a three-year term.

Clerk of the Board, Alex Jadin:
boardclerk@friendscommunityschool.org 

Treasurer of the Board, Nitish Ranjan:


Our 2023-24 Board of Trustees (click on each name for a bio): 

List of 9 items.

  • Dave Ahl

    Dave Ahl is a parent of an FCS Lower School student. He is a Strategic Solutions Senior Manager at Yahoo where he works in digital advertising and software development. Dave has an MBA from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He attended 1-12 grade at Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, PA, and is deeply committed to Quaker education. Dave is a member of Plumstead Friends Meeting in Doylestown, PA.
  • Karen Armstrong

    Karen is an education researcher committed to identifying best practices to improve educational outcomes for students of color and students in poverty. She is a member of the Cambridge Friends Meeting, but now considers Adelphi Friends Meeting her spiritual community. She was drawn to Quakerism after witnessing time and time again how Quakers integrate their faith into social action. Karen is currently working at the U.S Department of Education in the data unit of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Her role is to support the analysis, use, and dissemination of data to inform data-driven decisions for educators and policymakers. She has a Masters in Public Policy from Duke University and a Doctorate from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.
  • Berna Artis

    Berna is an educational leader and an advocate. She has several years of experience in Quaker education. Berna has a strong passion for diversity and equity in education and actively advocates in this arena in her role as the President of the District of Columbia Association for the Education of Young Children (DCAEYC). Berna has served on various boards and committees on program quality improvement, professional development, and education policy. She loves books, the beach, and the company of friends and colleagues. Berna lives in Maryland with her son and her husband. She has a B.A. in Teaching English As a Second Language (TESL) and an M.A. in Early Childhood Education.
  • Virginia Bainbridge, Vice-Clerk

    Virginia grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and attended Wilmington Friends School from K-12. She is Clerk of Shepherdstown Friends Meeting, a former Clerk of the New London Friends Meeting in Connecticut, and has served on the Nominating Committee, Permanent Board, and Long Range Financial Planning Committee for New England Yearly Meeting. Along with a career in occupational therapy and mental health services, Virginia has been a volunteer with crisis services in the U.S. and in West Africa. In 2019 she returned to Liberia to lead Alternatives to Violence workshops and also volunteer at an orphanage and help women's groups start micro-financed businesses.  She is currently sponsoring a Liberian student at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.  Virginia has a BA in psychology from Carleton College, a certificate in occupational therapy from Columbia University, and a Masters in Public Health from Yale University. Virginia has been married for 54 years to her husband, David. They have two children, five grandchildren and one great grandchild.
  • Brooke Carroll

    Brooke is a lifelong Quaker and is a member of Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting. She is the former head of an independent school and currently works as a consultant and coach supporting small independent schools in governance and leadership. Brooke is a graduate of Bates College in Maine and has a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota.
  • Tamara Devieux-Adams

    Tamara Devieux-Adams joined the FCS community in 2016 and is a parent of two former FCS students. She and her husband, Earl Adams, Jr., are deeply committed to FCS’s mission and values, including ensuring that diverse families of varying economic backgrounds can attend. Tamara and Earl served as co-clerks of FCS’s $1.5 million Light the Way Endowment Campaign benefiting financial aid, teacher compensation and professional resources. After practicing law in the private and public sectors, she has worked in law school administration since 2006. Currently, Tamara is a Director of the Office of Public Interest & Community Service at Georgetown Law. She earned her A.B. in psychology from Harvard College, a J.D. from Boston College Law School, and a Master’s in Higher Education Administration from The George Washington University.
  • Cherokee Dunkley, Recording Secretary

    Cherokee joined the FCS community in 2015 and is a parent to one alumnus and one current student. As an FCS parent, he has volunteered as the PA co-treasurer and served on a couple of board committees. Cherokee is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan. Cherokee works at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.


  • Alex Jadin, Clerk

    Alex is a parent to two current FCS students. He is a Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Alex previously served on the board of School for Friends, taught at San Francisco Friends School and Brooklyn Friends School, and worked in the Baltimore Yearly Meeting camping program. He is a member of Friends of Meeting Washington, and is a member of the Corporation of Haverford College. Alex has a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley, an M.A. in philosophy from The New School for Social Research, and a B.A. from Haverford College.
  • Michael Levi

    Michael Levi is the parent of an FCS alum who graduated in 2010 and a member of Adelphi Friends Meeting. He has been on the FCS board since February 2018. Michael received a BA in Mathematics and Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College and a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.  Back when he worked, Michael tried to make economic data accessible and intelligible. Now that he's retired, Michael spends more time cooking, playing bridge, and scuba diving.

List of 7 items.

  • Patience Peabody

    Patience (she/her) is an FCS parent of a brave and adventurous first grader! A native Washingtonian with 20 years of experience leading and supporting organizations through strategic realignments, internal transformations, program and external affairs innovations, and governance evolutions, Patience is the Executive Director of a private family foundation that supports family engagement, K-3 literacy, and the arts. Patience’s life’s work is to disrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty for marginalized people and she believes that poverty alleviation is possible in our lifetime with a focus on cross-sector collaboration and an unwavering commitment to equity and justice by design. She is a graduate of Hampton and Georgetown Universities and a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Connect with her on LinkedIn @patiencebpeabody.
  • Chris Randall

    Chris Randle is a US Policy Director at Meta where he helps manage government relations with Congress, and advises the company on antitrust and homeland security policy matters, and federal investigations. Prior to Meta, he worked in leadership, committee and personal offices on Capitol Hill. In the House of Representatives, he was Legislative Director and Chief Counsel to Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and Intellectual Property and Civil Rights Counsel to Representative Karen Bass. In the Senate, he was Judiciary Committee staff for Senator Dianne Feinstein, and aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Chris earned his JD and BA from Howard University in Washington DC, and lives in Hyattsville, Maryland with his wife and two daughters.
  • Nitish Ranjan, Treasurer

    Nitish has two children at FCS and one in high school. He is an economist by profession. He has a PhD in finance from University of Maryland, an MBA from Indian Institute of Management and a BTech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.  He values SPICES and attempts to practice lifelong learning.
  • Neal M. Brown, Ex-Officio

    Neal joined FCS as Interim Head of School in the summer of 2023. Previously, Neal served as Interim Lower School Director for Creative Minds International Public Charter School in Washington, DC. Prior to his time at Creative Minds, he held the role of Interim Head of School for two years at Lansdowne Friends School in Pennsylvania. For 12 years, from 2008-2020, Neal served as Head of School at Green Acres School in North Bethesda. Neal is a committed progressive educator with nearly 35 years of educational experience, including in Quaker schools. He has served as a classroom teacher, consultant/coach, assistant head and head of school, and member of a board of trustees. Outside of school, Neal enjoys spending time with his family, 15-year-old Cockapoo, Stanley, and two cats, Sherlock and Watson!
  • Terrance Smith, Faculty Rep

    Terrance Smith serves as the FCS Faculty Representative.
  • Jamie Bellis, PA Rep

    Jamie Bellis has been a proud FCS parent for 8 years and has two current FCS students. She served two years as co-clerk of the FCS Parent Association and thoroughly enjoys volunteering at our community events. Jamie has worked in international higher education for 25 years, and is passionate about study abroad and issues of educational access and equity. Currently, Jamie serves as Senior Director of Operations and Special Initiatives at the Institute of International Education (IIE).
  • Martine-Pascale Gaujean, PA Rep

    Martine-Pascale Gaujean serves as a PA representative.

Located in College Park, MD, Friends Community School is a progressive Quaker K-8 day school, founded on the belief that every child is a valued member of our community. We offer a challenging curriculum imbued with strong values of equality, integrity, community, environmental stewardship, simplicity and peaceful conflict resolution, rooted in our Quaker heritage.
Friends Community School
5901 Westchester Park Drive
College Park, Maryland 20740
301-441-2100