The Child’s Primary School (TCPS) is governed by a Board of Directors. The Board is responsible for:

  • Ensuring adherence to the mission, values, and philosophy of TCPS
  • Developing and implementing a long term strategic plan to promote the future success of TCPS
  • Hiring, managing, and establishing compensation for the Head of School.
  • Providing financial oversight for the school through approving the budget, establishing annual tuition rates, and appropriately managing the school’s capital assets
  • Developing, reviewing and maintaining the necessary policies to ensure the school operates in compliance with applicable legal standards and to minimize the school’s exposure to legal action

2020 – 2021 Board of Directors

Alan Lonbom
Board President

Alan has served on the TCPS Board since 2012. Prior to his retirement in 2015, he was a senior audit partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP, serving as the lead client service partner for some of Deloitte’s largest clients in the energy & utilities industry, including most recently Sempra Energy here in San Diego. Other roles that Alan has had during his career with Deloitte include:

  •  Southeast regional managing partner of the Energy Resources Group. In this role, he coordinated with national industry leaders in providing services to Deloitte’s extensive group of energy clients in the Southeast US.
  • Partner in Charge of Audit for the Raleigh/Winston-Salem office for eight years. During this period he also led Growth Companies Services for North and South Carolina, as well as served as lead partner for several large public companies.

Alan left Deloitte briefly to become CFO for a technology start up.  In this capacity, he worked with a major Wall Street investment bank positioning the company for financing.

Danielle Pacheco-Lopez
Board Vice-President
Board Treasurer

Danielle Pacheco-Lopez has served on the TCPS Board of Directors since 2015. She has over 20 years of experience in accounting and finance and is currently the Chief Financial and Operating Officer at Make-A-Wish San Diego. Prior to this role, she was the Chief Financial Officer at the San Diego LGBT Community Center where she spent 13 years. She holds a Masters of Business Administration in Financial Management from National University and a Bachelor’s of Science in Accountancy. She has been involved in political and community activism since 1994, when she co-founded the non-profit collective Revolution Rising in Los Angeles. Danielle and her husband Luis have a daughter enrolled at TCPS.

Matt Dennison
Board Secretary

Matt Dennison has served on the TCPS Board of Directors since 2017. Matt is a native of San Diego, born and raised, and the father of a current TCPS student.  He is a successful mortgage professional in San Diego, for the past 12+ years, during which time he has personally assisted thousands of clients with their home financing needs.  A graduate of San Jose State University, he brings 18 years of professional experience ranging from Sales, Marketing & Communications, Finance & Budgeting, and Business Development. Matt and his family are ecstatic with the community they’ve found at TCPS, and with the incredible growth they’ve seen in their child at TCPS. When not at work or serving the TCPS board, he is an avid seeker of live music, travel, camping, and pretty much anything having to do with the great outdoors.

Rita Ryu
Board Member

Rita joined the TCPS Board in the fall of 2016. She has over 15 years experience in process engineering, product development, brand management, and business development for both Fortune 500 and start-up companies. Most recently, Rita served on the board and provided management support for her family’s businesses while also volunteering at her children’s schools and as a court appointed special advocate for foster children. Rita holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University. She lives with her husband Matt McCormick, daughter and son (both TCPS alumni). In addition to quality time with family and friends, Rita loves traveling, cooking, skiing, dancing, and reading.

Charles Mayes
Board Member

Charles joined the board in the Fall of 2015.  He is the father of a TCPS graduate and brings over 20 years of expertise as a CPA auditing some of the largest and most dynamic companies in San Diego.  Charles has held board positions with two local non-profit organizations.  He is currently the head of Internal Audit at CUBIC, a multinational publicly traded corporation.  Charles has lived most of his life in San Diego, is a USMC Veteran, and a graduate of the University of San Diego.  He enjoys traveling, cooking, especially the fish he catches with his son, and spending time with family. Charles hopes to be effective in the execution of TCPS’s long-term strategic plan.

Sherry Risch | The Child's Primary School | TCPS

Sherry Risch
Founder

Sherry is not only one of the founders of TCPS, but was also the Head of School from 2016 – 18 and the middle school Language Arts Teacher for over 30 years. Sherry has a B.S. in Special Education, as well as Elementary Education from Miami University, Oxford Ohio. She also served on the Committee for Primary Assessment and Curriculum Development in Ohio. Sherry is the founding board member of Women’s Empowerment International, whose mission is to provide micro-credit loans to women living in poverty.

Paul Cleary
Board Member

Paul joined the TCPS Board in the fall of 2016. He is the Executive Director of GRID Alternatives-San Diego, a non-profit organization that trains and leads teams of community volunteers to install solar electric systems for families with limited resources. Paul’s non-profit experience began in the early 1990s, when he helped evaluate a rural electrification project in Guatemala. After receiving a master’s degree in international relations from U.C. San Diego, Paul worked in public health along the U.S.-Mexico border, human trafficking prevention, fundraising for an anthropology museum, and – his most challenging position yet – a short stint as a stay-at-home father. Paul and his wife Tiffany have four children- two currently enrolled at TCPS and two TCPS graduates.

Maggie Price
Founder

Maggie is one of the founders of TCPS and re-joined the Board in 2018. She earned her BA at Sweetbriar College in Virginia and American University in Washington DC.  In 1969, she began teaching. Her years in early childhood education drew her into researching school readiness and becoming trained as a Gesell developmental evaluator. Later she did graduate work in education at Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California. Forty plus years of teaching consistently offered her new challenges and great joy. Maggie says that many of the most valuable lessons she has learned in life have come from children, from her own son and countless others.

Hans Richter
Board Member

Hans Richter joined the TCPS Board in the summer of 2019. He has worked at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad since 2009. During his tenure at Pacific Ridge, Hans has served as an English teacher, Academic Dean, Middle School Head and Athletics Director. Previously, he worked at the Brunswick School in Greenwich, CT, the American Language Institute in Lisbon, Portugal, The Montessori School in Wilton, CT, and the King School in Stamford, CT. Hans received his B.A. in English from Dartmouth College and his M.Ed. from Loyola College in Baltimore, MD. He has also completed a Klingenstein Summer Fellowship at Columbia University and Montessori Teaching Certification with Association Montessori Internationale in San Diego and Amsterdam. In his free time he enjoys physical challenges, deep work, travel, and fun-loving play.

Amy Von Novak
Board Member

Amy joined the board of TCPS in 2021.  She has a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and is a physician.  Since moving to San Diego in 2001 she has worked in urgent care, as a medical writer and as a parachute rigger, and currently holds two world records in large formation skydiving.  She and her husband Bill live in San Diego and have two children at TCPS.  Amy has been an active volunteer at TCPS and regularly works in the library, at fundraising events such as book sales, and with new parent outreach.  She looks forward to helping TCPS grow and chart a course ahead in the post-pandemic world.

Donny Kim
Head of School

Donny became Head of School and joined the Board in 2018. Donny has a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of Kansas, a B.A. in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, along with a Single Subject Teaching Credential. Donny is a strong believer in life-long learning and recognizes the importance of being enthusiastic about education. He has Web Design and Graphic Design Certificates from the University of California, San Diego. He has been a part of the TCPS family since 2001. As Head of School, he is excited to be able to continue to teach in the classroom as the Grade 8 history teacher.