Bob Gilchrist
Board Position: Vice Chair, Governmental and Local Relations
Email: gilchristrs (at) state.gov

Robert Gilchrist arrived in Tallinn as Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy on August 17, 2010. A twenty year veteran of the U.S. Career Foreign Service, he has served numerous postings in Washington and abroad including Director of Nordic and Baltic Affairs in the U.S. Depmtment of State (2007-2009); Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq (2006-7); Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania (2003-2006); Special Assistant to Deputy Secretaries of State Richard Armitage and Strobe Talbott (2000-2002), with responsibility for the Middle East, the Western Hemisphere, and Africa; Desk Officer for Haiti (1998-2000); Watch Officer in the State Department Operations Center (1995-1996); Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela (1993-1995); and Consular Officer at the U.S. Embassy in London (1990-1992). Outside of the State Department he has served on secondment as a Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Congressman William Delahunt of Massachusetts (2002-2003); and as an International Observer at the Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping mission in the Sinai Desert, Egypt (1996-7). He has received multiple Superior Honor Awards, Meritorious Honor Awards, and other notable recognitions throughout his State Department career.

A native of Florida, he received an MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville; and a BA in Politics from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He speaks Spanish, French, and rusty Romanian. Prior to arriving in Tallinn, he studied Estonian in an intensive language program for 44 weeks, an effort he hopes to build upon during his three-year assignment in Estonia.

Stephen A. Montgomery, Esq. 

Terms of Office: November 2011 – November 2013
Board Positions: Governance Committe-Chair
School Ties: son Zeb in Reception
Email: stevem (at) ise.edu.ee

Stephen is an American citizen, holding multiple degrees including a B.Sc. degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and a J.D. in Law. He is a licensed and active attorney in the U.S. and certified to teach in several states for preschool through grade 6, as well as Mathematics through Grade 10. He also holds several graduate certificates in technology and gifted and talented education. Stephen believes that continued learning and growth never ends.

Currently, Stephen is the fifth grade teacher at ISE. He encourages his students to be the role models for the entire elementary school. He instills within them the knowledge and responsibility they will need to succeed not only in school, but for the rest of their lives.

Stephen originally came to Tallinn in 2002 as a classroom teacher and as the PYP Coordinator. He successfully led the school through the rigorous initial accreditation of the Primary Years Program. He left in 2005 to attend law school and practice law. He worked in a large defense firm practicing insurance, employment, and immigration law and also spent a year representing children in court that were abused and neglected. He continues to advise people in Estonia and the Baltic states on U.S. immigration law. He returned to ISE to spend more time with his son, Zebulon.

Stephen has travelled extensively and is always looking forward to a new adventure. In his free time, Stephen enjoys spending time with his family and friends, reading, cooking, and completing home improvement projects.

Stephen wishes to serve the Board with his unique skill set of having an educational and legal background. He has invested a lot in the school and wants to see it succeed and grow. He believes that community harmony and cohesiveness is the key to this school’s success and strives to represent the parents and teachers well, while keeping the best interests of the students as his primary focus.

Megan McClain, M.S

Board Positions:
School Ties: Biology and Environmental Systems Teacher
Email: meganm (at) ise.edu.ee

Connie Godfrey
Terms of Office:  May 2012 to May 2014
Board Positions: Board Chair
School Ties: Daughter, Jamie in grade 9 , Adrian in grade 11
E-mail: cornelia.godfrey@bmeia.gv.at

Venkata Iyer Subramanian

Terms of Office: May 2012- May 2014
Board Positions: Treasurer
School Ties: son in grade 12, Ashwath and daughter in grade 6, Anjali
Email: venkata@baltispoon.ee