Elmwood School is run by a diverse team of passionate, experienced educators and seasoned business people. The team is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the School, under the guidance of Cheryl Boughton, Headmistress. The Headmistress is appointed by the Board of Governors and is accountable to the Board.
Head of School
Cheryl is the Head of Elmwood School, a position she has held since August 2008. She has a rich and diverse background in independent education, having held progressively senior roles managing independent schools in Canada and the United Kingdom. She is passionate about the education of girls, believing “when you create an environment where girls feel at home, where they can truly be themselves, they unlock their confidence, their passion and their greatness.” Prior to joining Elmwood, Cheryl served as Deputy Head at Bedford Preparatory School in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, an independent boarding and day school for 1,100 boys. Previous to Bedford, she spent eight years working in three all-girls’ schools in the United Kingdom. Cheryl holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Education degree from Queen’s University, where she attended the Concurrent Education program. She also holds a Certificate in Boarding School Management from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, and she recently completed her Professional Master of Education degree from Queen’s University. Cheryl participates in her educational community as a member of the CIS Ontario Board of Governors and Chair of the Programs and Services Committee; a member of the eLearning Consortium Canada Board and the Finance Committee; as well as a member of the CAIS Accreditation Council. She was recently elected to join the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools Board of Trustees in July 2018.
Director of Co-curricular Learning
Prior to joining Elmwood in 2002, Kate worked at various schools in Montreal, New York, Washington and Cambridge. She was Director of Elmwood’s Junior School from 2007, and then Deputy Head from 2009, before moving to Kenya in 2012. A passionate advocate for educational development, Kate has worked with various education programs in Africa, most recently providing professional development at a girls’ school in the Maasai Mara and leading a strategic planning process at a school in Laikepia, Kenya. Kate also served as a member of the Board of Directors at the International School of Kenya from 2013 – 2015, chairing the search committee for a new Head of School. In the summer of 2015, she was excited to return to Elmwood in a new role: Director of Co-curricular Learning. Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History from the University of Oxford, a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Cambridge, and a Masters in Administration and Policy Studies in Education from McGill University.
Deputy Head, Junior School
Christine is an Elmwood alumna who was appointed as our Junior School Deputy Head in 2012. She began teaching at Elmwood in 1999 as a Grade Four teacher. Due to her previous experience working in the technology field at Industry Canada’s website—Strategis, she transferred to teaching ICT at Elmwood. She quickly moved on to teaching technology from SK to Grade 5 and has witnessed incredible changes in the program. For the past few years, she has been working as the PYP Coordinator in the Junior School as well as continuing to teach technology and library classes. She feels privileged to be able to work with wonderful girls from the Junior and Middle Schools and greatly enjoys sharing her love of reading, running, and creativity in a variety of co-curricular activities. Christine is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and holds Bachelor of Arts, B.A. in Second Language Teaching and Bachelor of Education degrees.
Director of Academics and Innovation
Meagan is passionate about education and school community—she comes by her interest in education honestly, as her parents were both High School principals, and she shares the profession of being an educator with a number of her family members. Meagan holds an Honours Bachelor degree in Psychology from Queen’s University and a Masters of Education from the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is also an IB workshop leader and school site visitor. Meagan believes in the importance of developing strong relationships and considers it a privilege to have the opportunity to spend her days at Elmwood learning alongside students and colleagues.
Meagan has worked in schools in four different countries and for the last ten years she has been very involved in areas of curriculum development, innovative learning and teaching and professional development for teachers. Meagan is excited to be at Elmwood School where the IB programmes, committed teachers and engaged students create a vibrant school community.
Executive Director of Advancement and Community Relations
Jennifer oversees our team responsible for fundraising, alumni relations, admissions and communications. She is an experienced marketing and communications professional who most recently was a partner at Mediaplus, a local advertising and marketing agency. Prior to joining Mediaplus, Jennifer was the VP Managing Partner of Publicis Modern. Jennifer’s daughter Rose is currently in Grade 4 at Elmwood.
Director of Finance and Administration
Tanja joined Elmwood prior to the 2008 – 09 school year and quickly became an integral part of the Senior Leadership Team. Tanja is responsible for financial and human resource management for the School, as well as leading the Administration, Food Services and Facilities teams. Tanja came to Elmwood from Canadian Interuniversity Sport, where she was Director of Finance and Administration. A Certified General Accountant, Tanja has leant her skills to a number of volunteer organizations, including Ottawa Therapy Dogs and the Royal Ottawa Hospital Volunteer Association. Prior to earning her CGA designation, Tanja attended Concordia University, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in Art History.
Director of Information Technology
A creative professional and self-proclaimed computer nerd, Matt Perreault brings his in-depth knowledge as a computer programmer and technology teacher to Elmwood’s technology program. He is responsible for technology innovation and integration at the school, as well as managing our technology program and infrastructure. Prior to joining the team at Elmwood, Matt worked at The Bilingual European School in Milan Italy as their ICT Coordinator. He began his career working as a computer programmer for the Department of National Defence, helping to program web-applications, which facilitated communication for the Disaster Assistance Response Team. In addition, Matt is also one of our Junior and Middle School technology teachers. Matt holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a Bachelor of Education from Queen's University..
Deputy Head, Middle and Senior School
James believes that “Every student should have the opportunity to be outstanding” and that opportunity begins with excellence in the classroom. Prior to joining Elmwood James served as a Vice Principal at Seven Kings High School in London, recognized as one of the top twelve high performing schools in the United Kingdom. James has spoken at a number of UK-based national and regional conferences on the topics of Assessment for Learning, student leadership, and effective use of technology and has delivered international and national professional development sessions on subjects including leadership, planning for outstanding learning and technology integration. In addition, his own innovative program of student observers gained national attention in the UK. James holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom. James’ daughter Isla is currently in Senior Kindergarten at Elmwood.
Chair of Board, Chair of Development Committee; Finance Committee; ex-officio member of all Board committees.
Mr. Hudson is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HTG, Canada’s foremost logistics provider for major sporting events. He oversees strategy for each of the company’s core divisions. Mr. Hudson is also President of Aurenlay Holdings, with assets in commercial, multi-unit residential, trade show facilities, condominium development and hotels. He leads HTG’s philanthropic efforts which focus on investments in healthcare and education. He has one daughter at Elmwood in Grade 9.
Vice Chair of Board.
Dan Goldberg is President and Chief Executive Officer of Telesat. Prior to joining Telesat in 2006, Mr. Goldberg served as Chief Executive Officer of New Skies Satellites and then SES New Skies following the purchase of New Skies by SES. Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer of New Skies, he served as its Chief Operating Officer and, prior to that time, as General Counsel. Before joining New Skies, Mr. Goldberg served as Associate General Counsel and Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs at PanAmSat. Prior to PanAmSat, he worked as an associate at Washington, D.C. law firms Covington & Burling and Goldberg, Godles, Wiener & Wright and as a deputy prosecutor at the Ada County Prosecutor’s office in Boise, Idaho. Mr. Goldberg obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, graduating with highest honors, and a law degree from Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude. He has one daughter at Elmwood in Grade 12.
Treasurer; Chair of Finance Committee
Mr. Bifield is a senior finance executive with over 30 years’ experience in leadership, finance and business re-engineering in markets in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Mr. Bifield currently holds the position of Deputy Chief Financial Officer for George Weston Ltd. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer of Nortel after holding a number of senior positions throughout his career with Nortel. Mr. Bifield is a member of the UK Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Mr. Bifield is also mentor of women in business working with the Menttium Corporation. Mr. Bifield is the father of three Elmwood graduates: Sophie ’02, Kate ’05 and Alice ’12.
Development Committee.
Denise Carruthers was a founding Partner and Chief Financial Officer of The Permedia Research Group, a software company specializing in petroleum exploration. Established in 1998, Permedia was ultimately sold to a Fortune 200 company in 2010.
Denise also served from 2003-13 on the Board of Directors of the Alexandria Archive Institute, recently honored at the White House as a Champion of Change in Open Science.
Denise received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Waterloo, Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Anthropology from Carleton University, and a Doctoral Degree in Archaeology from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She was awarded the Prestigious Overseas Research Scholarship from the United Kingdom and a Carnegie Scholarship from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland to complete her doctoral research. Denise was awarded a Post Doctoral Honorary Research Fellowship from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology in 2003-2006. She has published in the journals of Levant and Antiquity.
Denise has a daughter who has attended Elmwood since JK and is now in Grade 9.
Finance Committee, Governance Committee.
Mr. Coady is a Partner in KPMG’s Transaction Advisory Services practice in Canada and he directs a dedicated team of professional business valuators. He has Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Carleton University (1987), as well as a Chartered Accountant designation (1989) and a Chartered Business Valuator designation (1993). Mr. Coady has extensive global valuation experience having acted for major public corporations in assignments based in Canada, the United States, Germany, Israel, Brazil, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Taiwan and is a recipient of the Ottawa Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Award. His daughter Erica graduated in 2014.
Mr. Howe recently joined The Taggart Group as Vice President. He was previously at Windmill Development Group, where he was responsible for all financing activities and treasury for all of Windmill’s development projects. Prior to that, he was at Broccolini Construction where he held increasingly higher levels of responsibility and spent the last five years in the role of Vice-President, Real Estate and Development for the entire company.
Mr. Howe is a seasoned executive with over 10 years of financial, operational and negotiating experience within the real estate and construction industries. He is recognized as a leader in the Ottawa market, who was directly responsible for the meteoric success of a new entrant to the market culminating in market leadership in real estate development just eight years later. Mr. Howe has led the development of over three million square feet of real estate and construction in the office, industrial and residential sectors representing over $1.0 B dollars of economic activity and was recognized as one of Ottawa’s Top 40 under 40. He has one daughter at Elmwood in Grade 8.
Peter Hume was a Councillor for the City of Ottawa for over 23 years. During his time on City Council, Peter chaired the Environmental Services Committee, the Planning and Environment Committee and the Planning Committee, and sat on the boards of a number of organizations, including the Municipal Pension Centre of Ontario, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation. Since leaving the City of Ottawa, Peter has been working as an urban strategist for HP Urban Inc., a strategic advisory firm specializing in urban planning, urban development and environmental affairs.
Peter holds a B.A. Honours degree in Economics from Carleton University. His daughter Helen graduated from Elmwood in 2017.
Development Committee.
An alumna and former Elmwood School Head Girl, Ms. Jacobson serves as Vice-President of Dove Tale Collections, an importer/distributor of exclusive fine foods. A graduate of Queen’s University, Ms. Jacobson has worked in progressively senior marketing, business development and public relations roles. Ms. Jacobson has made a name for herself as an entrepreneur since graduating from Elmwood, earning nominations for the YWCA Women of Distinction Award and WBN Canada’s Top 100 Women Award.
Development Committee.
Gayle McClelland is a self employed PMP certified project manager and event specialist. Along with 10 years of continuous engagement with the World Wildlife Fund- Canada on their oceans and arctic programs, she was the lead for the US Climate Action Centre at COP23 in Bonn, Germany in 2017, and recently was engaged by Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors (NY) to lead a 5000 mile, 21 day cross US “Freedom to Breathe” tour focusing on the intersection of climate change and climate justice. Other recent clients include the Carleton University Architectural School, the Canadian Association for International Development Professionals, Ottawa 2017, the Canadian Electricity Association, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (Industry Canada). She was the board and governance resource for the Canadian Health Food Association from 2014-2018.
Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Gayle spent 14 years in a senior management role as the High-Performance Director at Skate Canada and was the liaison with the Canadian Olympic Committee, Sport Canada and Own the Podium. In 2006, Gayle was the team leader for figure skating for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. Gayle also sits on the board of Changing Minds, an Ottawa based mental health charity.
Gayle has an honours degree in Kinesiology from York University (Toronto), as well as certificates in Sport Administration, Coaching and Project Management. She is a member of the International, Canadian and US Olympic Academies. She has one daughter in Grade 12 at Elmwood.
Secretary; Chair of Governance Committee.
Ms. Palumbo-Sugunasiri is General Counsel and Director (Mutual Legal Assistance and Cyber Unit) in the National Litigation Sector of the Department of Justice Canada. In this role, she oversees all matters concerning international judicial cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of transnational criminal offences, including cybercrime. She is a recognized expert in the areas of extradition and mutual legal assistance. She advises the Federal Minister of Justice in these areas of the law and appears on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada in extradition cases before the Canadian courts. She represents Canada in bilateral and multilateral treaty negotiations and in various international fora (G7 Roma-Lyon Group, G20 Anti-Corruption Group, Commonwealth nations) on counter-terrorism, anti-organized crime and anti-corruption initiatives.
Ms. Palumbo-Sugunasiri provides training and instruction to police and prosecutors in these areas of law. She holds degrees in Law and Political Science from the University of Ottawa. Her daughter has attended Elmwood since Junior Kindergarten, and is currently in Grade 8.
Finance Committee
Miranda Shepherd is a Chartered Accountant (UK) and Certified Internal Auditor working as a Director for the Government of Canada. Over her tenure with the Government, she has held various positions within Internal Audit, Quality Assessment and External Oversight Liaison. Prior to joining the Federal Government, Miranda worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in the UK and Toronto as well as for Deloitte in Ottawa.
Miranda graduated from the University of Warwick (UK) with a Bachelor of Science (Honours). She attended Elmwood for eight years (1987 – 1995) and has served as a member of the Elmwood Finance Committee for the past six years. Miranda is an outdoor enthusiast with two young children, Benjamin and Katelyn.
Since her appointment by the Board of Governors as our eleventh Head of School on August 1, 2008, Ms. Boughton has managed the day-to-day operations and long-term strategic direction of the institution that was established by visionary educator Theodora Philpot more than a century ago.
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