John Garrison was named 13th President at San Marcos Baptist Academy on July 1, 2008. He arrived with 33 years experience as a University Dean, Associate Vice President, and graduate faculty member at Texas State University, in addition to teaching and administrative experience at the secondary school level. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.Ed. from the University of North Texas, and a B.A. in English from McMurry University.

Dr. Garrison has served for more than 20 years as a facilitator with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in the accreditation of a host of colleges and universities around the country, and has served as a consultant and grant evaluator for the United States Department of Education. He has been active in state and local leadership roles, serving as President of the Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators; founder and charter President of the Hays/Caldwell Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention; and charter member and President of the Rotary Club of Greater San Marcos. Dr. Garrison and his wife, Carol, have been active members of the First Baptist Church of San Marcos for more than 30 years.

With 27 years of experience at San Marcos Academy, Mr. Monty Lewis brings a wealth of knowledge to the position of Interim Executive Vice President. Mr. Lewis started at SMA as Bookstore Manager and Purchasing Agent in 1982. He oversaw the construction of Davidson Hall during his first year at the school. Mr. Lewis went on to serve as business manager and treasurer before being appointed as Interim Executive Vice President in the summer of 2009. Mr. Lewis holds a BBA and MBA from Hardin-Simmons University. He was Manager of the University Bookstore and Director of University Purchasing at Hardin-Simmons from 1976-1982 and also participated in the Management Training Program at Montgomery Wards from 1974-76. Mr. Lewis and his wife, Angela, live on the Academy campus.

 

Kate Robbins was appointed as Director of Human Resources in October of 2008, and in May of 2009, was asked to serve as the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs as well. Prior to her arrival at San Marcos Academy, she served for 27 years in various positions in the Division of Student Affairs at Texas State University. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication and a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Texas State University. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Intern with NBC Certification. She provides career counseling and other counseling services on a volunteer basis at Texas State University one day each week.

Ms. Robbins has been active in both the San Marcos and the Wimberley communities. Currently, she serves as a facilitator in Bridges to Life, a restorative justice program for incarcerated individuals. She is a member of the Cypress Creek Church in Wimberley and is on a Heart Group leadership team.

Harold "Snuffy" Smith has over 30 years experience in education in the public and private school sectors. He has served as teacher, coach and administrator at various times in Victoria, Waco and San Marcos. He was a head coach and athletic director at San Marcos High School and has spent the past eight years in the Admissions Department of San Marcos Academy. He was appointed to the position of Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and Athletics in the summer of 2009. Mr. Smith holds a B.S. degree from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State) and the M.Ed. degree from the University of Houston. He is a long-time member of First Baptist Church, San Marcos.

Bob Bryant has served in private school education for 27 years. While serving as a teacher-leader, during seven of those years, he trained and supervised assessors for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the most rigorous teacher certification process in the country, recognized by 43 states. For the NBPTS, he was selected to establish the benchmark cases for Early Adolescent Generalist certification. In turn, he provided training sessions for NBPTS certification candidates for San Antonio ISD. Mr. Bryant has facilitated accreditation for schools with SACS, ACSI, ICAA, and ACTABS. Also, he served with TEA on an intervention visit at Dallas ISD. As such, he has become a recognized authority on accreditation and school improvement. Most recently, he has been recommended as a facilitator for Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Mr. Bryant holds the B.A. and M.A. degrees in Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Bob Bryant has served in private school education for 27 years. While serving as a teacher-leader, during seven of those years, he trained and supervised assessors for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the most rigorous teacher certification process in the country, recognized by 43 states. For the NBPTS, he was selected to establish the benchmark cases for Early Adolescent Generalist certification. In turn, he provided training sessions for NBPTS certification candidates for San Antonio ISD. Mr. Bryant has facilitated accreditation for schools with SACS, ACSI, ICAA, and ACTABS. Also, he served with TEA on an intervention visit at Dallas ISD. As such, he has become a recognized authority on accreditation and school improvement. Most recently, he has been recommended as a facilitator for Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Mr. Bryant holds the B.A. and M.A. degrees in Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Mr. Dale Nave is Chairman of the English as a Second Language Department and Director of the International Program. Mr. Nave received his BS Degree in Dairy Science from Texas A&M University in 1980. He served as a County Agent-Agriculture for Fort Bend County, Texas, until he returned to the Texas A&M, Animal Science Department-Dairy Section in the position of Research Associate-Experimentalist. In this capacity, he co-authored 10 scientific research papers (Journal of Dairy Science) in nutrition and genetics.

In 1986, Mr. Nave began his career as a teacher by attending Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) to complete his certification. He is certified to teach in 10 subject areas. His first teaching job was for the Comal Independent School District at the Teen Connection Alternative School for "at risk" students in New Braunfels, Texas. Later he taught for the Wimberley Independent School District, Wimberley, Texas, where he established the Alternative Learning Center for Emotionally Disturbed students. In 1999, Mr. Nave began working for San Marcos Academy as the Director of International Students and English as a Second Language teacher. 2010 finds him in his 22nd year of teaching.

Mr. Nave has varied interests, including safety, safety training and field medicine. He has taught Driver Education at various commercial schools but has taught the course almost continuously at SMA since 1988. He was an Emergency Medical Technician for the Wimberley EMS from 1993-1996 and served on the WEMS Board of Trustees from 1994-2009.

Mr. Nave aspires to learn languages and to teach them. He has been a perpetual student of Spanish for many years and studied French in high school. Through his work at SMA, he has learned greetings and functional expressions as well as some of the culture of China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Japan. He has traveled in these countries as well as in Europe and widely in Mexico. All of his efforts and learning are aimed at hopes of making the world a better and more peaceful place by following the path of Jesus Christ.

Richard "Max" Smith is the current occupant of the Jack and Bobbie Byrom Endowed Chair (for 2008-2011). He serves as chairman of the mathematics and science departments, is the permanent sponsor for the Junior Class, and is a former recipient of the B.A. Copass, Sr., Award for Teaching. Now in his 26th year of teaching, Mr. Smith has spent the last 13 years at the Academy, serving as Assistant Principal for 3 years, Commandant of Cadets for 4 years (during SMBA’s mandatory military days), and as a math and science teacher for the past 5 years.

Mr. Smith graduated from Texas A&M in May 1972 with a BS in Mathematics. He spent 4 years in the Texas Aggie Band, serving as one of the drum majors during senior year. He graduated in 1981 from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS, with Master’s Degrees in both Divinity and Christian Education. He served as Student Body President during his last year there.

Commissioned as a Distinguished Military Graduate and Second Lieutenant in May 1972, Mr. Smith has 30 years of military service, with 10 years in Active Army and 20 years in the US Army Reserves, retiring at the rank of Colonel in 2002. He was away from SMBA during one year of his tenure, deployed to Sarajevo, Bosnia. He was required to retire just before his unit’s 1st deployment to Afghanistan.

Mr. Smith has served as Pastor and Elder in 4 churches since 1981. He has been an Elder for Dayspring Fellowship, a Reformed Baptist church in Austin since 1990. H also serves on the Board of Trustees for Providence Theological Seminary, located in Colorado Springs, CO.

Mr. Smith and his wife, Ann, have four children, including two sons who are SMA graduates.