Sarah Flaig, President

Sarah attended Trinity University in San Antonio, TX and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Biology. She enjoyed a long career as a clinical laboratory specialist performing complex analysis of human chromosomes for the purpose of disease diagnosis and monitoring. Sarah is a native Missoulian and parent of an MIS fourth grader. Her interest in Spanish language and cultures began early as a student and continued throughout her college years in Texas - residence in New Mexico - and travels abroad. After pursuing her career in cytogenetics, Sarah returned to her hometown of Missoula in 2014. When not doing all-things 'mom', you can find her out exploring our beautiful city and state with family and friends. Sarah joined the Board with the goal of making more connections and deepening her involvement in the MIS community. She hopes to help support and plan for the lasting success of this unique school in Missoula. Our city is truly a brighter place for it!

Maree Collins, Vice President

Maree Collins, born and raised in Missoula, has recently returned to Montana after living around the country in various places, including New Hampshire, Georgia, and Florida, as well as extensive travel abroad. After earning her degree from Florida State University, Maree established her career in Human Resources and currently leads the US Employee Relations team at EY (Ernst & Young), a public accounting firm. Committed to philanthropy, Maree has held leadership positions in several organizations focused on diversity, education, and the advancement of women, including Dress for Success, Women in Technology, PEO, and Special Olympics. Maree resides in Missoula with her husband, Matt, who recently retired from military service, and their daughter, Ella, who attends MIS. The Collins family enjoys supporting the University of Montana Grizzlies—particularly the Lady Griz—and spending time together at Flathead Lake with family, friends and lots of dogs.

John DeArment, Treasurer & Past President

John and his wife are parents of two MIS alumni. John was formerly the Science Director for the Clark Fork Coalition in Missoula and was the Administrator of the Permitting and Compliance Division of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, where he managed the regulatory portion of the agency. John also worked in private consulting for many years, where he specialized in watershed assessment, water quality monitoring, and stream and wetland restoration. John holds a B.S. in economics and English from James Madison University, an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana, and is a Registered Professional Hydrologist with the American Institute of Hydrology.

Steve Siegel, Secretary

Originally from suburban Maryland, Steve attended college and started a career in journalism in St. Louis MO, before moving to Portland OR where he met his wife. They moved to Albuquerque NM where Steve started working for the science and technology company he still works for today here in Montana. Prior to that he was a technical editor and journalist - writing and editing sports and feature articles for magazines and newspapers and editing a car collector magazine. Steve holds a B.A. in English Literature.

He joined the board after having recently seen other school environments (both local and abroad), which inspired him to increase his involvement at MIS. He wants to ensure that the education offered at MIS, continues to be the best it can be. Stephen has three children enrolled at MIS, and therefore spends much of his time at school but enjoys running, hiking, camping, paddling, skiing, and getting schooled in Spanish by his children in his free time.

Nancy Andrews, Trustee

Nancy is the proud grandparent of two MIS students. Her 32-year career in education was spent as a Spanish Immersion teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools, where she helped launch the first Spanish Immersion program in Minnesota. She holds a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota and earned National Board Certification in Early Childhood Education.

After retiring, Nancy continued her work as a Teacher Emeritus, leading professional development in language acquisition and science. She remains passionate about supporting teachers and students alike and enjoys volunteering in MIS classrooms. Since moving to Missoula five years ago with her husband to be near family, Nancy has embraced the community and loves spending her time reading, hiking, and traveling.

Dean Armintrout, Trustee

Dean and his husband are parents of a current MIS student. Dean is an experiential marketing leader with experience driving global event strategy, operations, and organizational transformation for brands including Microsoft, T-Mobile, TransUnion, and now Zendesk where he leads the global experiential marketing team. Dean grew up in Columbus, Ohio, earned a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Missouri, then lived in St. Louis for several years before moving to Seattle to work for that little tech company mentioned. His husband is a University of Montana alum, and they moved to Missoula in 2023. MIS was intriguing to us for the Spanish immersion and IB program, and seeing our child thrive in this nurturing environment made Dean want to be more involved in the MIS community. He joined the board to help ensure the school continues to thrive. In addition to having a blast being a dad to an awesome kid, Dean enjoys traveling, cooking, hiking, skiing, and spending time with family and friends.  

Lindsay Benes, Trustee

Lindsay and her husband, Jake, were so grateful to join the MIS community when their son, Henry, started pre-K at MIS. While they enrolled Henry for the language immersion, it quickly became apparent that MIS' magic was not only in language, but also in the embracing community, and whole person, IB curriculum. Lindsay found herself wanting to immerse herself and their family more in the MIS culture, so jumped at the opportunity to join the board. Not long after Henry was born, the Benes family moved back to Jake's home state of Montana from Portland, OR. Lindsay is faculty at the University in the College of Nursing where she teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate programs. Her clinical research focuses on expanding access to care for socially and medically marginalized populations - particularly those who are unhoused and using substances. She has been fortunate to work with community-based organizations across Montana as she works to learn from people with lived experience of housing instability and substance use in the care design process. 

Alan Braun, Trustee

A recently retired Head of School who lives in Seattle, joined the Board of Trustees in the summer of 2024. His interest in global education and cross-cultural perspectives began as a child growing up in Ghana, where his parents served as medical missionaries. After completing high school at Ghana International School, he attended Earlham College (Indiana), where he majored in history, played on the soccer team, and led wilderness canoeing trips in Ontario. In 1980, he began his career in education as a middle school teacher at Quaker schools in Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, DC. After earning his Masters Degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, he joined the Peace Corps in 1988 and taught English at a university in Morocco. Alan and his wife Jenner moved to Seattle in 1991. At The Northwest School, a middle and high school in downtown Seattle, Alan served as the Middle School Director and then Assistant Head of School. In 2014, Alan became Head of School at The Valley School, a small, elementary school in the Madison Valley neighborhood of Seattle. During his tenure, he steered the school through its first NWAIS accreditation, led a capital campaign and two building projects, and strengthened the school’s commitments to diversity, justice, and inclusion. He was also active in NWAIS, helping with school accreditation visits, serving on the Board of Governors, and chairing its Standards and Practices Subcommittee, where he worked closely with Julie Lennox. He retired in June 2013 and is enjoying having more time with family and friends and for traveling, cooking, playing soccer, reading, and playing in a steel drum band. 

Erin Cooper, Trustee

Erin and her husband, James, are the proud parents of three current MIS students and three rescue dogs. Erin received her BS in zoology from the University of Maryland and later continued her graduate studies at San Diego State with a focus on Elementary Education. She spent a dozen years after grad school teaching in grades 2 through 5 with a special passion for special education and math. Erin was inspired to join the board after experiencing the magic of MIS, the immersion model, and the IB curriculum as a parent and volunteer. When she isn’t volunteering or doing parent duties, you’ll find her hiking, biking, skiing, camping, and building projects no one asked for with as many power tools as possible.

Keegan Eisenstadt, Trustee

Keegan is a passionate climate activist who has worked on a number of greenhouse gas mitigation projects in the tropical rain forests. He was most recently the founder and CEO of Clear Sky Climate Solutions where he is actively involved in the design and implementation of numerous forest-carbon climate change mitigation projects, including avoided deforestation and degradation (REDD), reforestation, and improved forest management. Keegan and his wife are proud parents of an MIS alum and a current middle school student.

Ryan Hansen, Trustee

Ryan is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Ledger Collective, a company focused on acquiring and growing small businesses that provide bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll services for other small and mid-sized companies. Previously, Ryan was the founder and CEO of Pathlabs (formerly LumenAd), a tech-enabled services business recognized as the 29th fastest growing company in the U.S. by Inc. 5000 in 2019. Pathlabs was later acquired in one of the largest M&A deals for a startup in Montana’s history.

Ryan is passionate about building sustainable businesses that put people first, combining long-term strategy with operational excellence. He brings experience across M&A, leadership development, and scaling service-based companies, as well as a deep commitment to supporting small business growth and community impact. Ryan and his wife live in Missoula with their two children, who attend MIS.

J. Bowman Neely, Trustee

Bowman and his wife are parents of a current MIS student. He is a graduate of New York University, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Montana School of Law. As a lawyer Bowman has experience working on intellectual property, publicity rights, public-private development partnerships, and renewable energy among other matters. Bowman has served as a trustee on the boards of several arts and environmental organizations including Washington Laywers for the Arts, Henry Gallery Association, the Arboretum Foundation, Stewardship Partners, and St. Timothy’s Memorial Chapel. Bowman enjoys playing tennis, swimming and skiing with his family.

Kitty Ordway, Trustee

Kitty is a grandmother of three MIS students. She has been involved in independent school governance for over 30 years and has traveled and lived globally. Kitty was initially intrigued by the IB program and the Spanish immersion offered at MIS. Global awareness is important to her, and when Kitty saw this principle in action at MIS, she was eager to get more involved herself.

Kitty currently teaches an MIS after school art class called “Animals Around the World.” She is known as “Grandma Kitty” around campus and loves to get spontaneous “hallway hugs” when she is in the building. Her class is based on the premise that there is no right or wrong way to sculpt animals, there is only a difference in style. She encourages students to develop their own style as they learn about familiar and exotic animals.