Alfonso has more than fifteen years of experience in grounds, landscape, and building maintenance and project management in various Bay Area companies and organizations. During his career, Alfonso has overseen many construction projects and has been an Operations Manager and an Account Manager for landscape and construction companies. Alfonso is fully bilingual in English and Spanish, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice with option in Law 

Mei-Lin is a Berkeley native and EB alumna, having graduated in 1999 after a full ten-year EB experience. She attended Berkeley High School, then went on to study at Oberlin College, graduating in 2007 with a double degree in History and French. She has worked with both children and adults in the education field, through preschool work, tutoring, and leading classes for adults working towards their GRE. Mei-Lin has worked at EB since 2012 as the Advancement Coordinator. She has a deep love for fashion and travel and is crazy about everything to do with fitness and health and can often be found at yoga, bootcamp, pilates, dance, or playing soccer.

Mirza Kopelman is the Enrichment and Athletics Director at Ecole Bilingue since 2008. He brings 15 years experience in education, starting as a music teacher in New York City for three years. In 2004 he moved to Los Angeles where he started his own after school music teaching company. After several years he and his family relocated to Berkeley. His three children have all attended Ecole Bilingue and have become part of the EB family. He is extremely passionate about the concept of learning outside the classroom, and uses this as his guiding principle in leading the Enrichment and Athletics department. He loves music, nature, and sports. You might see him playing drums with the students, running basketball workshops, or leading a dance party after school in the courtyard.

Magali was born and raised in Switzerland. In 1995 she came to study at Mills College in California. She received a BA in Early Childhood Education and a minor in Fine Arts and subsequently graduated with a Masters in Education. Magali worked at Mills College as a Teacher’s Trainer and a Lecturer for two years and in 2002, she was hired to work as the Program Director of Old Firehouse School, a preschool in Lafayette. She worked there for seven years and during her tenure worked closely with the Executive Director to open two new preschools. Magali started working at Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley in 2010 as the Dean of Student Life, then as the coordinator of Cycle 1. In 2017 she became the Head of the Preschool and Kindergarten (Maternelle). In her spare time, Magali has taught classes through Sonoma State Extension and Diablo Valley College, all focused on Early Childhood Education.

After an amazing year studying drawing and painting in Paris, Sue Campbell is excited to return as a sixth and seventh grade English teacher and eighth grade Visual Art teacher. Sue has been an independent school English teacher for twenty-seven years and held many position at the EB Middle School. She has taught English for all grades as well as Visual Art. She also has been a Curriculum Coordinator, Sustainability Coordinator, she had a leading role in creating the Middle School’s garden and annual Maker Faire. Before joining EB, she taught high school English literature and composition at Philips Andover in Andover, MA, the Punahou School in Honolulu, the Brooks School in North Andover, MA and Swiss Semester in Zermatt, Switzerland. Sue has a BA from Cornell University and a MA in English Literature from Middlebury College Bread Loaf School of English.

Ender Choo is originally from Malaysia. He was educated in a school system where Mandarin Chinese is the medium of instruction. Besides English and Chinese, he also speaks Malay and Cantonese. He completed his graduate program at Cal State East Bay and taught Chinese classes at several private schools before joining EB in 2006. He is currently teaching Mandarin Chinese and coding class. He also teaches badminton and leads a group of students doing fish tank maintenance at school during club time. He has two children: his daughter, Lisette, who graduated from EB in 2018, and his son, Ian who is in seventh grade. Ender enjoys music is currently leading singing worship in a church on a regular basis.

Originally from the Bay Area, Emilie Crofton completed her undergraduate studies in Québec with a degree in English and Communications from Bishop's University. After completing her B.A, she spent over three years in the Peace Corps living in Burkina Faso, West Africa, working as an English teacher and community liaison in the Girls Education and Empowerment program. Upon her return, she went back to school to earn a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction and teaching credential from the Bay Area Teacher Training Institute and the University of the Pacific. She has taught multiple elementary grades in independent and bilingual schools. Emilie is also an EB alumna.

Aurelia Filato is originally from Marseilles, Provence in south of France. She holds a degree in history from the University of Aix-en-Provence and taught history and geography for 13 years in middle school in Paris. She moved to Berkeley to start a new adventure in 2013 and started to teach at EB as a History-Geography teacher (4th to 8th grade). Aurelia is passionate about French culture, sustainable development, history and art. During her free time, she loves to travel, visit museums, listen to live music and dance.

Florian comes from Franche-Comté, in the east of France. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and holds teaching credentials since 2006. He spent his first five teaching years in France, working mostly in pre-K to grade 2. He then furthered his experience by teaching at the elementary level at the Lycée International in Los Angeles for three years. His last four years have been spent in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in an International Baccalaureate bilingual school. He believes the most important goal in teaching is to ensure each student enjoys learning and that they can apply their learning to the world around them. He promotes the use of inquiry and reflection to allow students to think outside the box and express their own personality.

Gabrielle Hedlund is from Oakland, CA. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from U.C. Santa Cruz. Gabrielle worked as a technology journalist for nearly a decade before moving to the business side of technology, building sites in the early days of the Internet. Later, she transitioned to teaching, earning her credential at CSU Hayward. Gabrielle taught English at Castro Valley High School for several years, then took time off to raise her two children and live in NYC. She joined the EB Middle School staff in 2015 where she teaches sixth through eighth grade English. Gabrielle and her husband, Marc, have two children at the Lower School.

Anne Kuhry is a native from France and holds a bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Strasbourg. She obtained her teaching credentials in France and has taught music in French elementary and middle school for 17 years. Anne is a songwriter and has traveled to the US many times. She looks forward to sharing her passion for music with EB students.

Hannah has been teaching 3rd grade English at EB for many years, and is also part of the Student Support Team as an English Support Specialist.

Originally from Philadelphia, Heather started her teaching career at the International School of Luxembourg before moving to Paris to teach English. In 1990, she moved to San Francisco and has been teaching english at the French American International School for 28 years. Heather holds a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Boston’s Wheelock College and an MA in Second Language Education from McGill University in Montreal. She is fully bilingual and lives in Berkeley with her Quebecois husband and daughter. 

Corinne is originally from the Aquitaine region in France. She holds an engineering degree in Fluid Mechanics and has worked in defense electronics before moving to the Bay Area in 1994. When Corinne joined EB as a Math in French and Computer teacher in 1997, she taught fourth through eighth grade, which allowed her to watch her students grow into young adults. Since 2013, she’s been exclusively at the middle school as the Math in French teacher and as the technology coordinator. Corinne has two daughters, both who graduated from EB. Clémence, her oldest, is a Boston University graduate with a degree in advertising and works for this industry in San Francisco. Aurélie will graduate in 2018 from McGill University with an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science degree. When not at school, Corinne trades her compass and protractor for dance shoes. Most weekends, she can be found on a dance floor as she is part of a salsa company and performing in various events around the Bay Area and nearby regions.

David Pruess is an EB Alum who attended College Preparatory School, then earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Economy at UC Berkeley. He spent the last year teaching French at the German School in Emeryville. David has taught English at EB (in 6th and 7th grade) in 2017-2018. We are excited to have him back as our International Track French teacher this year and as our 6th-grade social studies teacher as well. David is passionate about chess and has designed the chess curricula at Chesskid.com and Chess.com. He is the father of two children.

George Speckman comes from St. Monica School in San Francisco, where he began teaching middle school science in 2016. During summers from 2015-2018, he taught Physics to incoming 9th graders at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep. He values hands-on scientific exploration in his science classes and has a history of establishing working relationships with other local science communities such as the USF Chemistry Department, the Golden Gate Audubon Society, and Point Reyes’ Science at the Seashore. George has a Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and Master of Arts in Theology.

Lorelei holds a Masters in Education and studied cinematography before spending a year abroad in Australia. Throughout her career, Lorelei had an extensive educational experience in Preschool. Her goal as a teacher is to make the students feel good about coming to school. She really enjoys working on projects that bring the students together and engage them in their learning.

Sylvie Thomas-Droz holds a Masters of Science in chemical engineering and spent 12 years working as Senior Chemical Engineer at Membrane Technology and Research in Menlo Park, CA. During her time there she felt drawn to the field of education and in 2016 began as a math and science tutor at Mountain View High School. In 2017 she enrolled at San Jose State University and completed her requirements for her teaching credential this spring. This past year she taught at Lincoln High School in San Jose as a high school chemistry teacher. She looks with enthusiasm towards pairing with Ms. Pluche next year as they work together to build upon the high standards for math education at EB.

 

Elodie Voleau holds a certificat d’aptitude professionnelle pour les aides spécialisées, les enseignements adaptés et la scolarisation des élèves en situation de handicap (CAPA-SH) and has three years of experience working as a support teacher at a Paris middle school. Since 2016, Elodie has been teaching French in the Lower School, and has been part of the Support Team, helping individualized instruction for students who need it. For the last two years, she held the position of French as a Foreign Language teacher at EB. Elodie loves to understand how students are learning and give to all students the same knowledge by using multiple approaches so they can find the one that fits them.

Carla Maia earned her BA in Clinical Psychology from Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada in Lisbon, Portugal and her Masters in Sports Psychology from Universidade do Minho in Braga, Portugal. She began her career working with young athletes at Sport Lisboa and Benfica and has worked as a School Counselor at the Carlucci American International School in Lisbon and The American School of Sao Paulo (Graded) in Brazil. She is well versed in social expectations of the United States, Europe, and Latin America, which makes her uniquely positioned to work in an international institution like EB. She is praised by her peers as being a leader in defining behavioral expectations and finding ways to motivate students to improve. She is highly compassionate, caring and involved with the school community.

Pauline brings her great passion and expertise to the Lower School Art program as an Art Coach. She has extensive classroom experience and has studied art both in the US and in France, at the Ecole du Louvre. Pauline holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater, Dance and Poetry. She has completed her art education by attending professional development each year at the SFMOMA, Asian Art Museum, the Jewish Museum, DeYoung Museum and the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Pauline looks forward to sharing her passion for art and her approach with her colleagues and the Lower School students.

Nghi is an American citizen with Chinese and Vietnamese origins. She has been residing in Oakland since 1979 and joined Ecole Bilingue’s Business Office in 2002. Nghi has held various positions in the finance field (accounting, finance representative, payroll administrator) with various companies in the San Francisco and Bay Area since 1982.

 

Vanessa Lerude is originally from Orleans in France. She graduated from INALCO ("Langues’O") in Paris, with a Bachelor degree in Japanese, and in French as a Second Language (FLE). After graduating, she moved to Tokyo where she worked as a French teacher for almost five years and thoroughly enjoyed living in Japan! She met her husband there and she moved to Seattle, Vancouver, and now Berkeley. She has been working as a bilingual customer service coordinator and front desk agent in the travel and hotel industry since 2011. In her spare time, Vanessa practices fitness and does volunteer work at the Berkeley Humane shelter, next door to EB. New to Berkeley, she enjoys being able to ride her bicycle everywhere, which is rare in the US!

Lilia grew up in Algeria where she studied biology before moving to America in 2013. She is now studying biotechnology at Berkeley City College. She started working in the aftercare program at EB in 2018 and worked in the mini camp at Le Camp d'Été as a Teacher's Assistant. In her free time Lilia enjoys spending time with her husband, Nassim, exploring new places, running, reading science books, she also loves to cook and bake. Lilia loves helping children grow and learn and watching them enjoy their childhood and school experience. She is looking forward to bringing her passion of working with children to the EB team.

Jano Porter has been part of EB since 2013 overseeing lunch in the preschool, as well as after school.