Board of Directors

The founding Board of Directors of the CHIME Institute was comprised of parents of CHIME students and California State University, Northridge (CSUN) faculty and community representatives. With the organization’s growth, the Board has been expanding and evolving to bring in specific expertise and skills, i.e., business management and finance. The Board currently has representation from the fields of education, business management, law, marketing, and community activism.

Patrick Smith, President - psmith@chimeinstitute.net

Patrick Smith joined the Board in 2000 and served as chair of the board from 2000 to 2006 and as president of the CHIME Institute from 2004 to 2006. His association with the CHIME Institute began in 1996 with the enrollment of his son Daniel in the CHIME preschool program. He and his wife Delia are founding parents of the CHIME charter schools, and four of their five children are either attending or are graduates of the schools.


Mr. Smith is a partner at Beltran, Beltran, Smith, Oppel & MacKenzie, LLP, and a practicing attorney for over 25 years. His practice areas are varied, but focus on public interest litigation, including civil rights law, education issues, and criminal defense at all levels. His primary focus involves the representation of families with members who have disabilities, involving educational and other service related issues, juvenile law, and adult and juvenile criminal defense. His practice has included and continues to include appellate representation before the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and all state appellate courts. His trial practice is national and includes work before the California Office of Administrative Hearings and state and federal court, including courts in CA, TN, CO, NE, TX and IL. He is a lecturer and author for attorney Continuing Education programs in California on civil rights and education. Previously, he was an associate at the law firm of Klass, Helman & Ross specializing in civil rights, business litigation and transactions, and criminal defense. He has also served as law clerk to the Honorable Robert M. Takasugi, Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and as an attorney in the Los Angeles County Public Defender Office and in the United States Department of Justice Honors Program.


His community service includes having served as vice president of the board of directors of the Dubnoff Center, a nonpublic school, and as a member of the board of trustees for the Williams Syndrome Foundation. He teaches religious education at his local church.


Mr. Smith has a bachelor’s degree in English from Northern Arizona University and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Southwestern University School of Law.

Keisha Carroll


Dawn Hamilton


Kate Kodet


Beth Lasky


Joshua Mark, Interim CFO

Joshua Mark joined the Board in 2007. He and his family have been active members of the CHIME community since his daughters entered kindergarten. Heidi, his wife, is a weekly volunteer in the girls’ classrooms, serves on the Parent Association Board (membership coordinator), and is CHIME’s volunteer librarian. Mr. Mark is also on the Parent Association Board focusing on increasing the school’s revenue through various fundraising programs. For example, under his coordination, participation in the eScrip/Grocery Loyalty Program increased from 75 to over 400 participants with funds to the school from this program growing from $400 a year to $10,000. Other Mark Family members who are active in the CHIME community are his mother, a former preschool teacher, who volunteers weekly in the art teacher’s room and his father, former LAUSD assistant superintendent for special education, who has volunteered services in a variety of capacities for both the school and the institute.


Mr. Mark is the executive director, Special Event Production, Creative Services, and the director of sustainability for FOX Broadcasting Company. His responsibilities include handling the technical production and logistics for FOX’s corporate meetings, sports hospitality programs, premier parties and special events. Prior to working at FOX, he worked for several other television production companies as an associate producer, production coordinator, and other positions on such television shows as Saved By the Bell, City Guys, California Dreams, and Grace Under Fire.


He received a B.F.A. degree in design, production, and stage management from North Carolina School of the Arts and an M.F.A. in producing from the American Film Institute.

Marc Polansky, Secretary


Matt Rinnert


BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE 2025-2026

MONTHLY MEETING OF THE CHIME GOVERNING BOARD OF DIRECTORS BEING HELD AT – CHIME 19722 COLLIER STREET, WOODLAND HILLS, CA 91364 UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED

  • 8/12/2025
  • 9/2/2025
  • 10/7/2025
  • 11/4/2025
  • 12/2/2025
  • 1/6/2026
  • 2/3/2026
  • 3/3/2026
  • 4/7/2026
  • 5/5/2026
  • 6/9/2026


Calendar Board Meeting Dates 2025-2026


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2016

 


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2017


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2018


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2019


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2020


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2021

 


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2022

 


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2023


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2024


Board of Directors Meeting Agenda/Minutes 2025


Learn about everything at CHIME

The CHIME Institute, a nonprofit organization established in 1990, is a national leader in the development and implementation of a unique model of inclusive education.

Through collaboration with educators, and community partners, CHIME PD provides resources, training, and ongoing support to help schools create a culture of inclusion where all students feel valued and supported. By promoting best practices in inclusive education, CHIME PD aims to improve outcomes for students with disabilities and create a more equitable and inclusive educational system for all students.

The CHIME Infant and Toddler Programs in operation since 1991 provide center- and home-based services to families with young children (birth to 3 years of age) who are at risk for or who have existing developmental problems.

The CHIME Institute Preschool Inclusion Program is unique in its provision of a multidisciplinary, developmentally appropriate programming and support for inclusion in a general education setting for children with disabilities.

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