Nancy Craft

Nancy was born in Dallas, Texas and moved with her family to Virginia Beach at the age of one and a half. She completed her secondary education at Princess Anne High School and graduated with a diploma in professional nursing from the Norfolk General School of Nursing in 1963. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Health from Old Dominion University in 1978 and in 2003 completed 30 years of federal civil service work as a professional nurse, primarily with the Navy. In 1975 she began attending Quaker Meeting and joined the Meeting in 1978. She is currently a recorded elder of the Meeting, a volunteer at the school, and a part-time Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing Consultant. She was a member of the School Committee for nine years in the 1980s and 1990s and returned to School Committee in 2001.

Patrick Gould

Patrick was born and raised in Oregon and has been a member of the Society of Friends since 1985 when he joined Multnomah Monthly Meeting in Portland.  Now a member of Virginia Beach Monthly Meeting, he joined the School Committee in 2007.  Patrick lives in Portsmouth, VA with his wife Margaret and two children, Emma and William in a 200-year-old farmhouse that was originally on the Elizabeth River.  His educational background includes a B.A. from Saint John's College in Annapolis, MD, a M.Litt from Saint Andrews University in Scotland, and a Ph.D from Brown University in Providence, R.I.  He has taught philosophy at Virginia Wesleyan College since 1994.   Sailing is his main avocation.  He is deeply committed to the principles of Quaker education and to the Quaker process of governance.

John Linsly

John is a Virginia Beach native. He attended Virginia Wesleyan College and the College of William and Mary. He has been involved with Virginia Beach Friends School since 1994, joining the School Committee in November 2005. An active volunteer at the school, John’s daughter, Hannah is in third grade and his son Keenan graduated in 2008. After many years in the adventure travel industry, focusing on trip planning and group leadership, John is currently a registered principal with Independent Financial Group, LLC, a broker-dealer based in San Diego, CA

Nancy Nixon

Nancy relocated to Virginia Beach from Eastern Long Island, NY in 1981. She has attended the Virginia Beach Friends Meeting since that time.  She grew up in New Suffolk, NY and obtained her RN at New Rochellle Hospital School of Nursing, NY.  She practiced nursing for twenty-six years before switching careers to obtain a Master's Degree in Social Work.  Nancy has recently retired from Social Work and now works with her husband in their family business Trafton's Chocolates.  Together they have five grandchildren who keep them quite busy.  She was formerly a School Committee member in the 1990's and rejoined School Committee in 2006.

Alice Twining

Alice Twining is a native of rural Maryland. Her family belonged to the Society of Friends from the 1700's until 1920.  Her son, Aaron Twining Myers, attended  Virginia Beach Friends School from K-12 and has a BS and MS  from Brown University.  Alice is a clinical psychologist and educator and is currently the Clinical Trainer at Response Sexual Assault Support Services of the YWCA. She retired from private practice in 2000 after twenty-five years. She has taught at four universities and is on the faculty of the Training Institute of Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. Alice wholeheartedly believes in the philosophy and values of Quaker schools.

Lisa Wynkoop

Lisa was born and raised in northern Maryland. She attended the University of Maryland and Christopher Newport University where she received her B.A. in social work and B.S. in psychology. She worked as a medical social worker for Bayside and Norfolk General Hospitals before receiving her Doctor of Chiropractic in 1996. Lisa has a family practice in Virginia Beach with her husband, Steve, where she specializes in the care of pregnant women, infants and families. Lisa's son, Thomas, began his schooling at Virginia Beach Friends School in the Cottage and is currently in the fifth grade. Her love for the school has led her to be active at the school as a volunteer, and as treasurer of the Friends School Community Association. She became a member of School Committee in November 2004 currently serving as clerk.

Andrew Young

Andy has been involved with Virginia Beach Friends School as a parent, School Committee member, and as a faculty member.  He completed a Master's Degree in counseling from Old Dominion University and has worked with teenagers in clinical and school settings for over 25 years. He completed his undergraduate and graduate work at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, where he met his wife, Pat Phelan and started a family before moving to the Beach in 1988. They are parents of four and grandparents of seven.  A member of the Society of Friends for more than 30 years, he serves the Meeting as an elder, has served the School Committee as its treasurer and clerk, and is currently clerk of the Committee on Spiritual Life.

Linda Smith

Linda was born in New Jersey. She attended Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) and graduated with a B.A. in Elementary Education and a Reading Specialist Certification. In 1995 she graduated from Beaver College, PA (now Acadia University) with a masters in Early Childhood Education and Supervision. She has over 25 years of experience teaching elementary aged children. She came to Quakerism in 1985 at Gwynedd Meeting in Pennsylvania and taught at Abington Friends School (and her two daughters attended there) for several years before moving to Connecticut, where she transferred her membership to the Hartford Monthly Meeting. She and her husband moved to Chesapeake in September 2007 and Linda has transferred her Meeting membership to VBFM. She has a strong commitment to Quaker education, its principles and philosophy.

Billy Almond

Billy is a local, born and raised at the north end and attended Friends School from 1958 – 1961. Billy attended prep school at the Peddie School in Hightstown , NJ . He graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture with Distinction in 1978. Billy worked for the Norfolk architectural firm of Shriver and Holland Associates for 21 years and then became a partner with the site design firm of WPL in Virginia Beach in 2000. Billy is a member of the Advisory Board to the School of Architecture and Design at Virginia Tech. Locally, Billy is extensively involved in the Virginia Beach Community serving the city on the Resort Advisory Commission and the Green Ribbon Commission for many years. He is on the executive committee of the North Virginia Beach Civic League and is the Chair of the Board of Managers for the Hilltop Family YMCA

Kathy Ryan

Cheryl Dronzek 

Cheryl was born in Wuerzburg, Germany and raised on military bases throughout the world. She received her B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Texas Christian University and her M.S. in Computer Science from Florida Institute of Technology while working on the Space Shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center. She spent twelve years testing and preparing Space Shuttles and Delta rockets for launch, during which time she was awarded a Silver Snoopy from the Astronaut Corps and became an Astronaut Candidate herself, before family considerations led to a transition to another home and another career.  She is currently a managing partner of an engineering firm providing facilities maintenance management consulting services to clients such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Park Service.  She has taught classes for clients as well as university students and middle school teens.  Cheryl's son, John, began his schooling at Virginia Beach Friends School in the Middle School and is a member of the class of 2010.  Her passion for learning and teaching led her to be active at the school as a volunteer.  2009 is her first year on School Committee.