John Delautre, Head of School
Born in south Florida, John Delautre attended elementary and high school in Louisville before pursuing his education at Western Kentucky University (B.A., Religion and Philosophy), Vanderbilt (M.A., Medieval History), and Princeton Seminary (M.Div., Theology).
Over a 29 year career in independent schools, John has taught grades three through twelve, been a middle school counselor, and served as Admissions Director, Department Chair, and Division Head. Before coming to St. Francis, John worked at The Town School (New York, NY), The American Boychoir School (Princeton, NJ), The Marymount School of Paris (France), Kent Place School (Summit, NJ), Miami Country Day School (Florida), and The Hutchison School (Memphis, TN). A passionate advocate of progressive education, John's personal interests include sports, cooking, popular music, and all things French. His wife, Anne, is a former modern dancer and collegiate dance instructor. Daughter Natalie is a current 7th grader and Charlotte is attending Vassar College.
St. Francis School Board of Trustees 2010-2011
In any independent school, the board is the guardian of the school's mission. It is the board's responsibility to ensure that the mission is relevant and vital to the community it serves and to monitor the success of the school in fulfilling its mission.
The Board of Trustees of St. Francis School is committed to following these good practices. The board meets bi-monthly during the school year. For information on trusteeship, please contact the Board or Trustee Committee Chair.
Bernie Abner is serving his fifth year as a trustee and is serving on the Fiduciary and Facilities Committee. He and his wife, Sara, have two sons, one of whom graduated from St. Francis and is now a sophmore at YPAS. The Abners have been part of the St. Francis Family Since 1996. Bernie has an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Louisville's Speed Scientific School. He currently works for C & I Engineering.
Suzy Bagga has been a trustee for seven years. Suzy served as Board Co-Chair for three years and also chaired the Trustee Committee and the Mission & School Life Committee. She was Co-President of the Preschool Parents Association for two years. Suzy received a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. from the University of Illinois. She and her husband, Ranjit, have two children at St. Francis. Gilman is in 7th grade and Grace is in 4th grade.
Bonita K. Black is in her second year as a trustee. She chairs the Trustee/Governance Committee and is on the Executive Committee and the Fiduciary Committee. She and her husband, Ray Rivera, have one son, Scotty. Scotty is currently in Kindergarten at St. Francis Goshen. Bonita received a B.A. from the University of Kentucky and J.D. from Harvard Law School. Bonita is a member of the law firm Frost Brown Todd LLC and has been practicing law for more than 20 years. Bonita also serves on the boards for Make-A-Wish, Community Foundation of Louisville and the Heuser Hearing Institute IRB Committee and is active in her Church. In her spare time Bonita loves to fish, garden and play with her cats, Dorian and Spencer.
Adam Chambers
Liz Cole
S. Gordon Dabney, Jr, Treasurer is serving his second year on the SFS board. He is currently the Chair of the Fiduciary Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. Gordon and his wife, Lori (former SFS Trustee) are the parents of two SFS students, Samantha, 8th grade, and Page, 7th grade. Gordon is a native of Louisville and is employed in BB&T’s CREO Group (Commercial Real Estate Owned), responsible for the management and sale of commercial properties throughout the state of Kentucky and parts of Tennessee the bank has acquired through foreclosure and/or similar actions. He has served on several local non-profit boards including the Crane House, Salvation Army, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana. He enjoys hunting, fishing, golf, running, and biking.
Lisa Fleming, Chairman is serving in her third year on the Board of Trustees. She is married to Joe Ware, a contractor, and has one son, Wyatt, who has attended St. Francis since his two-year old preschool class and will be in the fourth Grade in Fall 2010. Lisa is a maritime and transactional attorney with her own practice. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hanover College, where she currently serves on the Leadership Council of the Center for Business Preparation; and a Juris Doctor from University of Louisville School of Law. She is also actively involved in college Greek organizations, specializing in risk management issues on college campuses. She serves as House Corporation President for a large sorority house based at Hanover College.
Catherine Fogarty
Rob Frederick is in his fourth year as a trustee and is chair of the Mission and School Life Committee. He and his wife, Amy, have two daughters at St. Francis School. Caroline is in third grade and Lucy is in kindergarten. Amy is an active volunteer at St. Francis, having served as co-leader of the Pre-School Parent Association and on the Eagle Gala Committee. Rob is a VP of Corporate Responsibility at Brown-Forman. He has a BA from Duke University and an MBA and MS from University of Michigan. He also serves on the boards of Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest and Kentucky School Garden Network.
Scott Gregor is in his fourth year as a trustee and serving as Chair of the Facilities Committee. His son, Riley, is a current freshman at St. Francis High School. Scott is president/owner of Buffalo Construction and has been in the construction business for over 24 years. In his spare time Scott enjoys attending Riley's sporting activities and playing golf.
Richard Herrmann, CFA - Richard is the parent of Grace, a SFS 6th grader, and 6 year old Matt. He is an Investment Principal with The Glenview Trust Company. He began his investment career in 1995 with Hilliard Lyons as a financial consultant before moving to the Investment Management Group (later renamed Hilliard Lyons Asset Management) as a portfolio manager and equity analyst. Additionally, he was Director of Portfolio Strategies and a portfolio manager for INVESCO-NAM, where his duties included managing institutional investment accounts and three AIM brand mutual funds. Richard received his BA and MBA degrees from the University of Louisville. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the Louisville Society of Financial Analysts and holds the CFA charter. He has served on several local boards including the Klein Family Learning Center.
Audrey Kline, Vice Chair is serving in her third year on the board. She and her husband John have one daughter, Rebecca, who is a second grader at St. Francis. Rebecca’s black Labrador Retriever, Boots, rounds out the family. Originally from Massachusetts, Audrey has a Ph.D. in economics from Auburn University. She joined the faculty at the College of Business at the University of Louisville in 1993, where she is currently Associate Dean. She also serves on the Human Resources committee at Metro United Way, Louisville.
Patrick R. Lancaster, IV ( P.R.) is serving his fourthyear as a member of the Board of Trustees; he is also serving as a member of the Facilities Committee and Advancement Committee. He and his wife Beverly have three daughters attending St. Francis: Ciana (8th), Shelly (5th) and Natalie (3rd). All the girls have attended St. Francis since kindergarten. P.R. has been a custom home builder for over twelveyears and owns Lancaster Built Homes, Inc., as well as Lancaster Development and Limestone Builders, Inc. His favorite pastimes include spending time with his family, boating and scuba diving. He is also an avid Nascar fan.
Tracy Wachtel Lattis is in her first year as a St. Francis Trustee. She is the co-chair of the Advancement Committee and a member of the Mission of School Life committee. She was previously an ex officio St. Francis trustee member for 3 years where she served on the Advancement Committee and was President of the Parent's Association. Her family includes her husband, Mark Lattis, a son Aaron, 6th grade, and a daughter Sydney, 4th grade. Tracy received her B. A. degree with a major in Marketing and Finance and a minor in Psychology from Georgetown College. She was a varsity Volleyball player for 4 years at Georgetown. Before becoming a stay at home mom, Tracy worked in Management for the Kroger Company. She is currently a Sunday School teacher at her church and coaches Volleyball. Tracy's hobbies include tennis, volleyball, reading and biking with her family.
Robin LeMastus is in her seventh year serving on the Board, during which time she has been a member of the Mission and School Life, Trustee and Executive Committees. She has one child, Jackie who is a seventh grader, but who started her St. Francis life as a Lady Bug in the two year old class at the Pre-School. Originally from Speedway, Indiana Robin received both her B.A. and J.D. from Indiana University. She has practiced law in both the private and public arenas including serving as a Staff Attorney for the Jefferson Family Court, a Trial Commissioner for Jefferson District Court, and a Domestic Relations Commissioner. Currently she works in the Domestic Relations area as a contract attorney assisting other attorneys in research and writing.
Kim Mackin, Secretary is in her sixth year serving on the Board of Trustees. She is currently serving on the Executive and Advancement Committees. Kim served as the Parent Association president for the 2005-2006 school year and was a member of the Mission and School Life committee. She and her husband Jeff have two daughters. Katherine graduated from St. Francis and is now a senior at Sacred Heart. Caroline is a current eighth grader.
Dace Maki is in her fourth year serving on the board. She is serving on the Trustee Committee and the Advancement Committee. She is a former St. Francis student as well as St. Francis High School graduate. She went on to get a degree in Environmental Science at the University of Denver. She is from Louisville and grew up on a farm in Prospect, KY. She is currently on the board of the Brown-Forman's Family Committee. Dace also does Labrador Retriever and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Rescue. She and her husband Ben live in Crestwood, KY and have three children. Their daughter, Arabella, is in fourth grade at St. Francis Goshen, son Hawkins is in the Junior Kindergarten and Izzie is in the 2 year old program at the preschool. Besides enjoying being a mother and wife, Dace likes riding, fly fishing, cross country and alpine skiing, tennis, gardening and surrounding herself with animals and open space.
Lee Middendorf
Mark Norman joined the board in 2006 and currently serves on the Fiduciary and Trustee Committee. He is married to Kelly. They have four children; Joshua, Sean, Alycia and Sophia, who is in 6th grade at SFS. Mark worked for UPS for 38 years, retiring in 2010. He has a life-long involvement with the Boy Scouts and is presently the Lincoln Heritage Council Advancement Chairman and Assistant Council Commissioner. He studied physics at the University of Florida.
Mike Risley rejoins the Board of Trustees this year, having previously served as a trustee from 1998 to 2004. During his prior service on the Board, Mike worked on several committees and held the position of Vice-Chair. Mike and his wife, Lynn Miller (an active volunteer at the school), have two sons: James, who is in the sixth grade, and Michael, a St. Francis graduate (class of 2004) who now is a junior at Centre College. Mike is an attorney and a member of Stites & Harbison, where he has practiced for 27 years. Mike is serving on the Trustee/Governance Committee and the Fiduciary Committee. Mike is a member of the Ecclesiastical Court of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, teaches sunday school at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, and serves as Counsel for the Better Business Bureau of Louisville. Mike is an avid sports fan and enjoys playing golf, but readily admits that he is not very good at it.
Scott Schwartz is in his first year as a Trustee. He is on the Fiduciary committee and the Facilities committee. He and his wife Kim, have three children: Chelsea, Bentlea and Carter. Bentlea is in the second grade at St. Francis. Scott is a St. Francis alumni and received a B.S. from the University of Florida. Scott is an owner of Schwartz Insurance Group and has been with the family business for 20 years. Scott also serves on the Advisory board for the Dream Factory. In his spare time, Scott plays golf, plays with the kids, and fusses over the yard.
Dave Simpson is currently serving in his second year as a SFS Trustee. He and his wife Sandie both teach at the University of Louisville, where Dave is Chair of the Department of Urban and Public Affairs, and directs a Center for Hazards Research, and Sandie is a Professor in Psychology and directs the Biobehavioral Research Laboratory. Their three children, Jonathan (7th), Thomas (5th), and Mellie Kate (2nd), love St. Francis and will be completing their fourth year at the school. In addition to other academic and community service, Dr. Simpson has served on the Chance School (Louisville) Board of Trustees, and has been Cubmaster of Pack 701 in Crestwood, Ky for four years. When possible, the family enjoys travel, most recently a four week stay in southern California.
Alexandra Thurstone ’80 is an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees. Alexandra is in her sixth year as an ex-officio member under an agreement reached by the Boards of St. Francis School and St. Francis High School that each school’s Head should serve as an ex-officio member of the other school’s Board. She is currently the Head of St. Francis High School, of which she is also an alumna (Class of 1984) and is in her eighth year in that capacity. Alexandra’s undergraduate degree is from Harvard College in Biological Anthropology and she has an MBA in marketing and finance from the University of Chicago. Alexandra and her husband Andy, who is currently the Varsity Soccer Coach at SFS, have two sons – Andrew is a 6th grader at St. Francis School and Gray graduated from St. Francis School in ’10, and is now a freshman at St. Francis High School.
Cassandra Zimmerman
Trustee Emerita: Dace B. Stubbs
Non-voting members: John Delautre, Head of School, Dace Stubbs and Denise Ragland
Parents Association representative: Denise Ragland
Student Council
The main purpose of the St. Francis Student Council is to represent the student body, to promote a culture of cooperation and respect among all St. Francis community members, to cultivate a sense of loyalty and school spirit, to provide service opportunities for students, and to grow leadership qualities in the young people of St. Francis.
The Student Council meets weekly, and all participants have weekly jobs such as changing the lettering on the school sign and helping to distribute the daily school snack. Representatives bring ideas and concerns from their grade-level peers, and help to brainstorm options and solutions. They are a voice for their classmates, and learn how to effect positive change in a collaborative climate. New representatives are elected each September.
