Mary E. Pennock K-6 School

Welcome to the Staff at Mary E. Pennock

Principal -Valerie Ortega - - - 720 685 7501

  • Hobbies: Softball, Fishing, Camping, Sewing
  • Favorite Movie: Braveheart 
  • Favorite Book: Where the Red Fern Grows
  • Education: M.A.-Administration & Supervision Univ. of Phoenix
  • B.A. in Elementary Education/English Adams State College

Assistant Principal - Kristopher Bennett - - - 720 685 7502

  • Hobbies: Fly Fishing, Guitar, Woodworking
  • Favorite Movie: Lonesome Dove
  • Favorite Book: Grapes of Wrath
  • Education: University of Denver
  • Interesting Facts: One Dog, Grethe (German Shepherd)

Psychologist -Danielle Drish - - - 720 685 7635

  • Hobbies:Knitting & Crocheting
  • Favorite Movie: The Wedding Singer
  • Favorite Book: Where the Red Fern Grows
  • Education: Education Specialist Degree (Ed.S) in School Psychology
  • Univ. of Northern Colorado
  • B.A. in Psychology-Fort Lewis College-Durango, CO
Resource -Jeanine Richmond - - - 720 685 7500
  • Hobbies: Bike Riding, swimming, hiking
  • Favorite Movie: Forrest Gump
  • Favorite Book: Any medical thriller written by Robin Cook
  • Interesting Facts: Grew up in Northern California, and have two pet birds
Resource -Ginger Shaw - - - 720 685 7540
Resource -Meg Stoner - - - 720 685 7540
  • Hobbies: Photography, travel, history (US, WWII), Skiing, camping, biking, hiking
  • Favorite Movie: The Sound of Music
  • Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird, Diary of Anne Frank
  • Interesting Facts: I love Curious George
Counselor -Susan Leiserson - - - 720 685 7541
  • Hobbies:Snowboarding, painting, being with friends & family,
  • Traveling (when I can), Hiking, camping
  • Favorite Movie: Anything that makes me think or laugh!
  • Favorite Book: So many to choose from!
  • Interesting Facts: Grew up in NY, I'm getting married next summer!

About our Staff

Pennock is the educational home for over 40 of the highest quality teachers, and over 30 of the best support staff around. Anyone who has ever stepped foot into a school can tell you that it is the people who make the difference. I am very proud of the people that work in this building and the difference that they make for your child. We can safely attribute our success as a school to the great people that work within this building.

On the above links you can find each grade and teacher's email addresses, phone extensions, and eventually pictures and home pages for our each of our staff members. We want you to get to know the people who work with your most valuable possession on a daily basis, and we are excited to work with each of you. Please don’t hesitate to call, email, or communicate with our staff. We believe that strong parental partnerships and consistent communication. Please help ensure that your child’s needs are being met.

Despite being highly qualified, our staff is also equally committed to learning. We believe that the single best thing that we can do to improve our school is improve the quality of our staff. We take extraordinary efforts to improve upon our teaching daily, and our staff works until all hours of the day preparing for and supporting your children. Currently, we have school wide professional learning around the best instructional strategies, we spend a great deal of time analyzing student data, and we talk about individual students and how we can better meet their needs. We take time to observe and learn from one another as we teach. We coach one another and offer feedback, and we are always looking for better ways to assess and communicate student progress.