- Cherry Creek School District No. 5
- Board of Education
CCSD Board of Education
Board of Education members pictured front row, left to right: Ruthie Knowles, Angela Garland and Kristin Allan; back row, left to right: Anne Egan and Kelly Bates.
Board meetings are held monthly, usually on the second Monday of the month, 7:00 p.m., at one of the schools in the Cherry Creek School District. The Board invites citizen involvement in the schools, believing that a quality education is a responsibility all must share. For more agendas, minutes and other information, please visit the district's Board Docs page.
Director, District A
Anne Egan has had the chance to see how the Cherry Creek School District functions at all different levels.
Egan, who was re-elected as the CCSD Board of Education District A Director in November 2023, has long had a well-informed view of the district of more than 53,000 students. A former education policy advisor with Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, Egan and her family specifically moved to a home in the district for the schools. Her four children have all progressed through Cherry Creek Schools.
This experience has come in addition to longtime roles within the district – Egan has been an active member in CCSD organizations ranging from elementary school PTCOs to the Cherry Creek Community Legislative Network.
“It was important for me to give back to the district,” Egan said, adding that at one point, she had four kids in four different schools. Each found their own path to excellence within the district, and each drew on resources within their classrooms to forge their own Pathway of Purpose. “I look forward to continuing this important work for our students, with a particular focus on mental health and physical safety, teachers and innovative pathways.”
Egan certainly has the experience and the know-how to keep those issues at the forefront in her new role on the board (she earned a master’s degree from the University of Denver). Egan is used to working hard behind the scenes to maintain the district’s tradition of excellence, and she wants to bring those skills to bear in implementing the ideals and values encapsulated in the latest strategic objectives outlined for Cherry Creek’s roadmap for maintaining excellence for all, excellence for the future.
Director, District B
In November 2023, voters chose Ruthie Knowles as Director B on the Cherry Creek School District Board of Education, succeeding Janice McDonald after her board term expired. Knowles has deep roots in the community after growing up in the area and with her husband currently working as a special education teacher in the district.
"I am proud and honored to be on the Cherry Creek Board of Education, and to be the director of the district area where I grew up and moved back to raise my children. I approach this position with humility and in service to my community,” said Knowles.
A CCSD alum, Knowles attended Eastridge, Prairie, and Overland before attending college and earning a master’s degree in Social Work. Knowles and her family purposefully moved back to the same area she grew up so her kids could receive the same quality educational experience.
As a parent in the district, Knowles has been involved formally and informally through district organizations, parent engagement groups, working to increase parent connection across the Overland feeder and promote more accessible communication to parents.
Angela Garland, President
Director, District C
Angela Garland was re-elected to a second term in the board’s District C Director position in November 2023, and was appointed President of the board in December 2023.
Garland is the mother of four children, three of whom are currently enrolled in CCSD. Her résumé includes positions with the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation, district P.A.S.S. (Partnerships for Academically Successful Students), Cherry Creek’s District Accountability Committee and parent teacher organizations. All of this work with district organizations caps a career spent working closely with nonprofits and other community organizations in Colorado, Missouri and her native Nebraska.
Combined, all of this experience has offered Garland a unique perspective on the most pressing issues related to public education in general and those facing Cherry Creek Schools specifically.
“I am honored to be re-elected to the Board of Education. My first term allowed me to gain a strong understanding of the needs of various schools and our varied learners,” said Garland. “I look forward to serving, listening and learning. I will continue to work to ensure each and every student has access to opportunities provided to them as they find their Pathway of Purpose.”
Director, District D
Kelly Bates, who began her first term as a CCSD board member in the fall of 2017, brings a great deal of experience volunteering and serving in the district.
Bates has served in leadership and volunteer roles at Creekside Elementary, Liberty Middle School and Cherokee Trail High School for more than a decade, serving as PTCO President and Vice President and chairing a wide variety of events and fundraisers.
Bates earned the Wendy DeBell Exceptional Volunteer Award in 2012 and 2014, garnering recognition for her consummate work for students, teachers and the wider community. At the district level, Bates has been active in CCSD's bond and budget campaigns, as well as consistent participant in events and organizations ranging from Leadership Cherry Creek to the Parent Information Network and the Special Education Advisory Council. Bates boasts a background in education, having served as a childcare director and preschool teacher at facilities in Michigan and Ohio.
“I’ve always been passionate about education,” said Bates. “As a board member, I continue to be amazed at the incredible things happening in public education and here at Cherry Creek. Our Core Values are helping to ensure that each and every student has the freedom and opportunity to learn and engage as they pursue a fulfilling future.”
Kristin Allan, Vice President
Director, District E
Kristin Allan began her service on the Cherry Creek School District Board of Education in 2021 following several years of experience volunteering in CCSD schools and at district-level positions. A parent of two children in the district, Allan began volunteering in their classrooms when her oldest child was in kindergarten. Allan soon took on leadership roles in school and then district accountability organizations.
“The more involved I became, the more passionate I became about service to our school district,” Allan said, adding that her advocacy role for her own kids ended up expanding. “As I was going through this process, I started thinking about all of the other students. They need a voice.”
Allan grew up in New York, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and attended Brooklyn Law School. After relocating to Colorado in 2005, she worked in a firm before striking out on her own and starting her own practice about three years ago. Allan and her family specifically moved to a house in CCSD for the schools.
A practicing attorney and small business owner, Allan built up a long list of district-based roles before beginning as a board member. She’s a graduate of the Leadership Cherry Creek program, which offers participants a behind-the-scenes view of district operations, and her time as chair of the District Accountability Committee and High Plains Elementary School’s Accountability Committee offered the first steps that would ultimately lead to a position on the board.
In her current role as Director of District E, Allan brings goals and priorities that align with CCSD’s Core Values: Growth Mindset, Equity, Whole Wellbeing, Engagement, and Relationships.
“Having consistent Core Values across the different schools and demographics is so important. I frame all of my Board of Education work around those values,” she said, adding that our Core Values clearly define how everyone will work together to achieve our vision and carry out our mission. “Our values are the beginning of the story, not the end. When we operationalize our Core Values, we work to achieve excellence. When we put our Core Values into action, we allow each student to find their pathway of purpose.”
The commitment to real, effective and measurable action that first drove Allan to volunteer at her kids’ schools has persisted, and it’s now the mission she draws on to positively impact more than 53,000 students.