Governance
The Geneva School has defined three boards that provide leadership and support to the school in complementary ways: a Board of Governors (see below), a Board of Reference, and an Advisory Board.
The BOARD OF GOVERNORS has ultimate accountability for ensuring that the mission, vision, and values on which the school was founded are progressively fulfilled and realized in all areas of school life. The members of this board are responsible for hiring a suitably qualified head of school and empowering him (or her) to direct the operation of the school in accordance with these founding principles. Working primarily through its constituent committees, it also oversees corporate governance and finances and provides leadership for major projects that support the school vision.
John Riley
Chairman
John Riley has served on The Geneva School Board of Governors since 2003 and currently serves as board chair. He also serves on the boards of several other private, public, and non-profit organizations.
Mr. Riley founded Legacy Fund in 2006 for the purpose of investing in privately held businesses and commercial real estate. Prior to Legacy Fund, Mr. Riley enjoyed a twenty-year career in the human resource industry co-founding Transworld Services Group, one of the largest independent staffing companies in the US; Co-Advantage, one of the country’s largest PEO’s (employee leasing firms); ZeroChaos a $3.8B vendor management solution and PlanSource, a benefits administration technology company serving over 4.5 million consumers in the US. All of these companies had successful exits over that time.
Mr. Riley earned a BA in Liberal Arts from Rollins College in 1982 and in 1984 a BS in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech. He and his wife Laura met at Rollins College and have two children who attended Geneva beginning in kindergarten: Shannon (TGS Class of 2013, Furman University) and Brooke (TGS Class of 2015, Davidson College). The Riley family lives in Winter Park and they are members of Willow Creek Presbyterian Church in Winter Springs.
Michael Aitcheson
Michael Aitcheson joined The Geneva School Board of Governors in 2022. He is the senior pastor of Christ United Fellowship in Orlando. Mike was born in Miami. He received a BS in Social Work from the University of Kentucky where he played football on scholarship from 2002–2006. He has served in several ministry capacities since 2004 and completed the MDiv at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando in 2011. Mike was ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) in 2013.
Mike is married to Lucy Burgin Aitcheson of Birmingham, Alabama. She served as a neonatal nurse for five years and is currently a family nurse practitioner at Middleton Pediatrics. As a couple, he and Lucy enjoy encouraging others in pursuing God’s design for marriage through their work as “FamilyLife: Weekend to Remember” retreat speakers. They are the parents of Leah Jean (TGS Class of 2029), Annie Celeste (TGS Class of 2032), Carissa Joy (TGS Class of 2034), and Hannah Mae (future TGS Knight!). Mike enjoys people, good food, and fun conversations!
Jim Bruce
Jim Bruce joined The Geneva School Board of Governors in 2014. Mr. Bruce brings to the board over twenty years of financial and leadership experience. He has held positions as president, chief financial officer, and chief operating officer in various industries and companies. Mr. Bruce has also managed and overseen several high-net-worth family offices whose investments have included airline, automotive, marine, restaurant, manufacturing, environmental, and real estate development. In these positions, he has planned and worked through many complex operational, financial, and tax strategies. Mr. Bruce looks forward to lending his expertise to The Geneva School.
Mr. Bruce is a graduate of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He is chairman of the board of Young Life Heart of Orlando. He and his wife Amy have two children who have attended The Geneva School since 2003: Katlynn (TGS Class of 2015; University of Florida) and James (TGS Class of 2020). The Bruce family lives in Sanford, Florida, and attends Northland Church.
John Classe
John Classe has served on Geneva’s building committee since 2017 and on the board since 2019. He was the CEO / district administrator of the Reedy Creek Improvement District (now known as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District) from January 2016 to May 2023. He is now a special advisory to the board of supervisors. The District is a special taxing authority that provides all governmental services for the landowners and taxpayers within the district, which includes Walt Disney World. John’s thirty-plus-year career consists of significant experience in real estate development both as an owner/developer and as a consultant. His notable experience includes projects at Disney and Universal Studios as well as Baldwin Park and Celebration.
Originally from the Philadelphia area, his family moved to Florida and he grew up in Orlando. John earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Auburn University and returned to Orlando to begin his professional career. He is both a licensed professional engineer and licensed real estate broker.
John and his wife, Anne, have three daughters: Anna (TGS Class of 2017; Palm Beach Atlantic University), Charlotte (“Charlie,” TGS Class of 2018; Anderson University) and Katherine (“Katie,” TGS Class of 2024). The family lives in Winter Springs, and they are members of Summit Church in Orlando.
Gordon Cloke
Gordon Cloke joined The Geneva School Board of Governors in 2006, having previously served as president of the Geneva Parents Association since 1997. Gordon lives in Winter Park and also serves as a ruling elder at Saint Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Orlando.
Gordon graduated from University College (University of London) in 1986 with double first class honours in Philosophy and Linguistics and has retained an enduring passion for language, philosophy, literature, and the classics. While at college, Gordon also met his wife Sarah and dedicated his life to Christ while under the teaching of Reverend John Stott at All Soul’s Church, London. Thus were established the three-fold overlapping passions that define his life: Sarah, classicism, and the cause of the gospel.
The Clokes have four children, all educated at The Geneva School—Alex (TGS Class of 2006, Samford University), Fran (TGS Class of 2008, Furman University), Lily (TGS Class of 2013, Grove City College) and Moira (TGS Class of 2015, Jacksonville University)—and three grandchildren. When their youngest child graduated in 2015, the Cloke children had completed forty-seven Geneva school years! In 2016, their granddaughter Abella (TGS class of 2030) began her Geneva career.
Gordon has worked as a professional software developer and executive on both sides of the Atlantic, having moved with his family from England to Orlando in 1992 while working for Xerox Corporation. He currently serves as senior portfolio manager at ServiceNow, providing a global technology platform designed to make the world of work, work better.
Robert Ingram
Rev. Robert “Bob” Ingram returned to the Geneva board in 2023. He is an honorably retired teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, having served for about seventeen years in two pastorates. He was the senior vice president of Ligonier Ministries from 1986–1995. In 1991, he led the formation of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Winter Park, Florida, and in 1993 he and his wife and Dr. and Mrs. Sproul were part of the founding members of The Geneva School. He was chairman of the Geneva board for most of the first ten years, and then he was headmaster of Geneva from 2003–2020. He was chairman of the board for the Society for Classical Learning and now, in retirement, consults with new and existing Christian classical schools across the country and in Canada. He is also the program advisor for the Reformed classical education minor at Reformation Bible College where he serves as an adjunct faculty member and mentors students in their calling as teachers. Bob is a graduate of The College of Wooster (Ohio) and has two master’s degrees from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and an additional master’s degree in Christian higher educational leadership from Geneva College (Pittsburgh).
Bob and his wife, Marjean, are delighted that both of their daughters have worked at Geneva. Sara (Cain) was the admission coordinator from 2002–2008, and Katie (Deatherage) has served as the director of advancement since 2011 and her two daughters have attended Geneva. Marjean has volunteered in numerous ways as a discipleship group leader, counselor, mentor to younger mothers, board member in the earlier years, and as a participant in the community life of the school for thirty years. Bob and Marjean are actively involved members of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Orlando.
Sona Jho
Sona Jho joined The Geneva School Board of Governors in 2022. She is the chief creative officer of Sockeye Media LLC, which she founded with her husband, Harry, in 2002. Sockeye produces Mother Goose Club, a literacy series for preschoolers, which has amassed billions of views and millions of subscribers across its family of channels. Sona has won five Emmys and six Tellys for her work on Mother Goose Club and other educational programming. Mother Goose Club’s programs, songs, and apps are distributed worldwide on virtually every digital platform, including YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and Pandora. Sona previously worked as the educational producer at Nashville Public Television. She received her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College before going on to Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where she received her master’s in educational and instructional technology.
Sona and her husband, Harry, have four children ages 18–10, three of whom are currently enrolled at Geneva: Augustine (TGS Class of 2024), Marcus (TGS Class of 2026), and Severus (TGS Class of 2029).
Christine Johnson
Christine Johnson joined the Geneva board in 2019. Along with her husband Joe, they have been Geneva parents since their oldest son Taber ‘24 entered K4 in 2010. His brother and sister, Trenton ‘26 and Tate ’29, followed over the next few years.
Christine was born and raised in Central Florida and currently lives in Orlando. She met Joe at a Northland Church college group and they married in 2003. Northland is still her family’s church home to this day. She earned her undergraduate degree in business administration finance from the University of Central Florida and worked in the personal and commercial insurance industry for over ten years before becoming a full-time homemaker.
Christine loves people and especially the community at Geneva. She values the great relationships she has with parents, faculty, and administration, and cherishes the open lines of communication that Geneva fosters. All in all, Geneva feels like home, and it is an integral part of their life as a family.
In her free time, Christine loves spending time with her family, entertaining, traveling, playing tennis, and volunteering in a variety of capacities, including passionately supporting The Geneva School, its faculty, and student body.
Stan Kinnett
Stan was officially welcomed as a TGS board member in September 2020. As general counsel and executive vice president for AssuredPartners, Stan works with two of the world’s largest and most sophisticated private equity firms to execute on a leveraged acquisition strategy in the insurance-brokerage space. He was part of the five-person team that founded AssuredPartners in 2011 and has been instrumental in building the company to one of the fifteen largest and fastest-growing insurance brokers in the world, with over two hundred offices in the US and UK. Stan also leads the twenty-person legal department that he has recruited and developed since 2011. He has been a corporate and transactional attorney since 2005, after receiving his BA in International Relations & Global Affairs, with honors, from Eckerd College and his JD, with honors, from Stetson University College of Law.
Stan and his wife, Erin, met in Spanish class during their junior year of high school, shortly after Stan moved to Ohio from New Delhi, India. Erin and Stan have five children—Gabriella (“Ella,” TGS Class of 2024), Naomi (TGS Class of 2026), Stanley (TGS Class of 2028), Mable (TGS Class of 2030) and Irene (TGS Class of 2033)—and have loved being actively engaged in the Geneva community since 2016. Stan is an avid amateur golfer and loves to travel with his family. The Kinnett family lives in Winter Park, and they are covenant members at NewCity PCA in Orlando.
Jason Mages
Jason is currently a vice-president of sales at Match-Up Promotions, a print and promotional-product company in Longwood, Florida. Before entering the marketplace, Jason taught high school and coached basketball and golf for five years. With a degree in economics and social education from Florida State University and an MBA from Belhaven College, Jason is a lifelong learner who has always valued education and has come to love Christian classical education over the last two decades.
Jason serves on the Geneva Parents Council and the Covenant College Parent Council. He strives to serve others first to the glory of God as well as investing time, talent, and treasure in the instruction and equipping of young people.
Jason and his wife, Meg, have a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Anna (TGS Class of 2022). Anna currently attends Covenant College (Lookout Mountain, GA). They live in Winter Park and are members of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Orlando, where Jason serves as a deacon. Jason enjoys all sports, teaching high school Sunday school, hiking, traveling, and spending time with his family and friends.
Elise Maynard
Elise Maynard joined The Geneva School Board of Governors in 2019. A native Texan, Elise attended the University of Texas and earned a degree in elementary education. Along with her husband John and four children, she moved to Central Florida in 1997 in no small part because of Geneva. Beginning with the enrollment of her four children that fall, she has been involved with the school in countless ways ever since: as a mom, teacher, administrator, volunteer, wife of a former board member, and now as a grandparent. With a passion for teaching, Elise has taught in the grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric school at Geneva and has an informed appreciation of the school’s philosophy of education. She has watched Geneva grow from its fledgling beginnings to the established institution it is today. She brings to the board the heart of an educator, and she desires to use her gifts to help guide the future direction of the school.
Elise and John currently live in Maitland. Their four children are all married with children of their own, and the oldest of her nine grandchildren is currently enrolled at Geneva (class of ’32). Being a Geneva grandparent is a new and exciting role that she is blessed to enjoy. Elise and John have attended St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Orlando since 1997 where she is actively involved in leading women’s Bible studies.
Lotsie Pappas
Lotsie Pappas joined The Geneva School Board of Governors in 2024. Her passion for education led her to pursue a multiple-subject teaching credential and a master’s in education from Pepperdine University. Over the years, Lotsie has loved witnessing the heart, intentionality, and depth of learning that Geneva offers.
Lotsie and her husband, Nick, met through a chance encounter at a Los Angeles Angels baseball game. Nick owns a custom fiberglass manufacturing company. They currently live in Winter Park with their three children, who attend The Geneva School: Brylie (’29), Graceyn (’31), and Trenton (’35).
Lotsie enjoys playing tennis, traveling, getting to know people’s unique stories, and growing deeper into who God is calling her to be. She has loved the community that she has met at Geneva and is passionate about the school and its vision.
David Robbins
David Robbins joined the Geneva board in 2022. He is the president and CEO of FamilyLife, a ministry to marriages and families in over one hundred countries. He and his wife, Meg, are passionate about cultivating safe and candid spaces for families to grow together in Christ and impact their corner of the world. David and Meg have teamed together to serve the rising generation in a variety of roles and locations over two decades of ministry, including working with college students in Western Europe and Atlanta and launching Cru’s city ministry to twenty-somethings in New York City.
David and Meg met while attending The University of Mississippi. They currently live in East Orlando with their four children, Ford (TGS Class of 2024), Mim (TGS Class of 2026), Roe (TGS Class of 2028), and their native New Yorker, Mac (TGS Class of 2034).
Dayle Seneff
Dayle Seneff joined The Geneva School Board of Governors in 1998 and has served on various committees during those years.
Her own commitment to Christian education stems from her belief that cultural change comes from transforming the habits and dispositions of ordinary people, particularly children. “When we nurture habits of goodness,” she says, “we nurture hope for the future.”
A resident of Winter Park, Mrs. Seneff has five children, the youngest of whom (Jonathan) graduated from Geneva in 2009 and went on to study at Wheaton College. She also currently has grandchildren at The Geneva School.
Brian Smith
Brian Smith joined The Geneva School Board of Governors in 2023. He is a lawyer and shareholder at Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, PA in Orlando and currently serves as an elder at Orangewood Church (PCA) in Maitland.
Brian graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in finance before obtaining his JD from Stetson University College of Law. Between undergrad and law school, he completed a year of study at Reformed Theological Seminary in Oviedo. Brian’s law practice is devoted to eminent domain, representing property owners affected by governmental takings as well as select condemning authorities.
He met his wife, Rachel, while in the Finance program at the University of Florida. Rachel went on to earn her MBA from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, and currently serves as the director of investor relations for Conversus, a StepStone Company. Rachel and Brian have three children at The Geneva School: Spencer (TGS Class of 2027), Oliver (TGS Class of 2029), and Eleanor (TGS Class of 2032).
Laura Grace Alexander 