The Brentwood School Board of Directors is made up of volunteers from area businesses, the community and educational leaders. The Board of Directors are Trey Sheppard, Chair; Ken Bibb, Vice Chair; Brian Wright, Treasurer; Michele Strickland, Secretary; Michael Atkinson; David Brooker; Kevin Cobb; Neshelle Bailey; Lee Lord; Cliff Sheppard; Stephen Everett; and Lindsey Noggle.
Effective governance is an imperative foundation for a healthy independent school. A 12-member Board of Directors (Trustees) has the fiduciary responsibility for the school and sets the policy for the operation of the school. The Head of School is the Chief Operating Officer and carries out the policies of the Board. Listed below are Brentwood's Board of Directors and a brief biography.
Mr. Trey Sheppard, Chair
Mr. Sheppard graduated from Brentwood School in 1995 and from Georgia Southern University in 1999 with a Bachelor's degree in Business/Finance. Mr. Sheppard is Vice President of Howard Sheppard, Inc. He serves as the Vice Chairman of the Citizens Bank of the South and is Past Chairman and current board member of the Georgia Southern University Athletic Foundation. On the state level he serves on the Technical College System of Georgia State Board representing the 10th Congressional District and is a board member of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association. He is active in his local community serving on the Washington County Development Authority and is a member of the Sandersville Rotary Club. Trey began serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors in the 2025-2026 school year.
Trey and his wife, Emily, have four children, Ford, Anne Marie, Emerson, and Jones and are active in the First Christian Church of Sandersville.
Mr. Ken Bibb, Vice Chair
Mr. Bibb received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee and has been a member of the Brentwood Board of Directors since the 1998 - 1999 school year. He has been Vice Chairman of the Board since the 1999- 2000 school year.
Mr. Bibb is President of the George D. Warthen Bank. He is a past President and member of the Sandersville Rotary Club. He also serves on the Oconee Fall Line Technical College Board.
He and his wife Deana have three daughters: Callie, Kessler, and McFerrin. They are active members of the Sandersville Methodist Church.
Mr. Brian Wright, Treasurer
Mr. Wright is a graduate of Brentwood School (Class of 1991) and received his Bachelor's Degree from The Georgia Institute of Technology.
Brian is a partner of Wright and Wright, P.C., a past Rotary Club President, and a past Brentwood Alumni Council President. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children, Mary James, Will, and Carrie and are members of the Sandersville Methodist Church.
Mrs. Michele Strickland, Secretary
Mrs. Strickland graduated from Brentwood School in 1988 and from Georgia College in 1992 with her Bachelor's Degree in Middle Grades Education. Mrs. Strickland furthered her education at Georgia College by graduating with a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership in 2000 and a Specialist's Degree in Educational Leadership in 2003. She has been a member of the Brentwood Board of Directors since March 2016.
Mrs. Strickland taught at Brentwood from 1992-2006. At that time, Mrs. Strickland went to work at Oconee Fall Line Technical College, and she is the currently the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the college. Mrs. Strickland is married to Lee Strickland, a 1984 graduate of Brentwood. They have two children, Sarah Elizabeth (Class of 2013) and Benjamin (Class of 2016). They are members of the First Baptist Church of Sandersville. Mrs. Strickland serves as Church Clerk and is a Sunday School teacher.
Mr. Michael Atkinson
Mr. Atkinson is a graduate of Brentwood School (class of 1983) and received degrees from North Georgia Technical College and Athens Technical College. He is President of Atkinson Oil Company, past President of Bio Trans Intermodal, past President of the Sandersville Rotary Club, past Director of Georgia Oilman's Association, and past President of the Twin City Country Club. Michael is also a 2008 graduate of Leadership Georgia.
He and his wife, Kelly, and their two daughters, Ellie and Kate, are members of the Sandersville Methodist Church.
Mr. David Brooker
Mr. Brooker received his Bachelor's degree from Georgia Southern University in 1992. He is a 1999 graduate of the Georgia Bankers Association's and University of Georgia's School of Banking. David is also a 2002 graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. He is a graduate of Brentwood School (class of 1987). Mr. Brooker has been a member of the Brentwood Board of Directors since the 2007-2008 school year.
David is Chief Executive Officer & President and Board Member of Citizens Bank of The South, Vice Chairman of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, President of the Washington County Historical Society, past Treasurer of Brentwood's PTO and Alumni Council, Treasurer of the Washington County Alliance for Literacy, Board Member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of the Georgia Bankers Association Retirement Services Board, Trustee of Georgia Southern University's Foundation and member of the Sandersville Rotary Club.
He and his wife, Anne, are members of the First Christian Church of Sandersville.
Mr. Kevin Cobb
Mr. Cobb is a 1979 graduate of Brentwood School. He received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Georgia in Agricultural Economics. He is the Vice President of Ag Lending at Queensborough National Bank and Trust Co. Mr. Cobb is the past chairman of the Farm Service Agency county committee and the past president of the Twin City Country Club. He and his family are members of Friendship Baptist Church where he serves as a deacon and Sunday School teacher.
Mr. Cobb and his wife, Allison (Brentwood Class of 1984), have four children: Trevor, Tucker and Morgan, who are Brentwood graduates; and Jordan Grace, who is a current Brentwood student.
Mr. Cliff Sheppard
After graduating from Middle Georgia College, Mr. Sheppard received his Bachelor's degree from Georgia Southwestern College. Mr. Sheppard has been a member of the Brentwood Board of Directors since the 1988-1989 school year, including Vice Chairman of the Board from 1995-1999 and Chairman of the Board from 1999 until 2025.
Mr. Lee Lord
Mr. Lord, a life-long resident of Sandersville, served in the Georgia Army National Guard from 1970 through 1976. He has worked in state and local government since 1972. He served as County Administrator for the Washington County Board of Commissioners from 1983 through 2010.
He and his family are members of the Sandersville Methodist Church, where he served as Sunday School Secretary and as a member of the Finance Committee. He has previously served on the Administrative Board.
Mr. Lord and his wife, Bett, have two children, Adam (Class of 1998) and Fran (Class of 2002) and have three grandchildren currently attending Brentwood.
Neshelle Bailey
Neshelle Bailey is a graduate of Washington County High School and received her Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Accountancy from Georgia College & State University. She is the Controller at Thiele Kaolin Company, a past Treasurer of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, and a member of The Guild of Washington County.
Neshelle and her husband, Jonathan, have two children currently at Brentwood - Megan, class of 2028, and Alaina, class of 2030. She and her family are active members of the Sandersville Methodist Church where she serves as the Chair of the Finance Committee.
Lindsey Noggle
Lindsey Noggle was raised in Auburn, Alabama and is a graduate of Lee-Scott Academy. She received her Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood, Elementary, Special Education, and Collaborative Teaching from Samford University in Birmingham, AL. She continued her education at Augusta State University and received a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She has experience teaching preschool through fifth grade in various general and intervention settings in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. She is a former Brentwood teacher and is actively involved in several local community service organizations.
Lindsey and her husband, Loren, have lived in Sandersville since 2010 and are members of Sandersville Methodist Church. They have two children, Mitchell and John, who attend Brentwood.
Stephen Everett
Dr. Stephen Everett is a 2003 graduate of Brentwood School. He received an associate's degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and went on to receive a doctorate from the University Of Georgia College Of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. After graduation, he returned to Sandersville and became a partner at Sandersville Veterinary Clinic, where he had originally worked throughout high school. In 2018 he was named one of Georgia Trend Magazine's '40 under 40'. He was honored as Large Animal Veterinarian of the Year for the state of Georgia in 2020 and is a Leadership Georgia Class of 2021 graduate. He is Chairman of the Board for First Love Kids, Inc., a non-profit ministry for under privileged children in the community and is a member of Sandersville Methodist Church, where he teaches Sunday school and leads the youth boys small group.
Dr. Everett and his wife Kati have three children, Cole, Rue and Ward, all students at Brentwood School. In his spare time he enjoys hunting and fishing with his kids and working in his pecan orchard.
