Meet Our Executive Team
Carroll Classical Charter School is governed by the Carroll Learning Alliance, Inc. (CLA), a non-profit organization whose mission is to collaborate with the educational community to empower families with exceptional academic opportunities. Operating under established by-laws, CLA is led by an Executive Board of Directors responsible for providing strategic oversight and guiding the school’s mission and vision. This collaborative governance ensures accountability and a steadfast focus on delivering a high-quality classical education to our students.
Kimberly Zentz, President
Kimberly Zentz is a Carroll County resident with three (3) young children, one who currently attends Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS). Kim retired at 39 after a decade in corporate sales to become a stay-at-a-home mom. Together with her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, minor in Marketing, and a passion for education public policy, Kim advocates to improve educational outcomes and expand educational options for all Carroll County families. Ms. Zentz exemplifies civic engagement and through her experiences and active community involvement has developed an extensive combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make a difference in her community. Ms. Zentz also currently serves on the curriculum council for CCPS. All of which she will apply to the start up and operations of the charter school.
Bryan Thompson, Vice-President
Bryan Thompson holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a minor in mathematics from Drexel University. Mr. Thompson is the founding Vice President of the Carroll Learning Alliance. With over 24 years of experience as an information technology business owner, Mr. Thompson has successfully managed business operations and provided executive consulting to organizations ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. He has extensive experience leading skilled teams both domestically and internationally. A resident of Carroll County for 13 years and the parent of four (4) public school students, Mr. Thompson has been actively involved in several community initiatives related to the public school system. He served on the Family Life Curriculum Council for three years, including a term as chair. Initially, his role is to manage the websites and provide technical support, as well as leverage his experience as a business owner to help navigate the operations of starting and running the charter school.
Tom Neumark, Volunteer Charter School Consultant
Tom Neumark started the Frederick Classical Charter School, currently ranked by U.S. News as the #2 middle charter school and #1 elementary charter school in Maryland. He is a national top 10 finalist for the bi-partisan Moonshot for Kids contest to improve education. He has trained Maryland teachers in computer science instruction, written for the Maryland Public Policy Institute, and is a regular opinion columnist for the Frederick News Post. He has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master’s in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins. He works for Microsoft and has over 23 years of experience in education policy. His role is to guide CLA through the intricate process of opening a charter school, identify lessons learned from his own experience opening Frederick Classical Charter School, and serve as a sounding board capable of identifying resources or subject matter experts, as needed throughout the process.