Principals' Training Center for International School Leadership

Course Facilitators

Bambi Betts

Bambi Betts is the Director of the Principals’ Training Center for International School Leadership (PTC) as well as the CEO for The Academy for International School Heads (AISH). She was formerly Director of Escuela Campo Alegre and has held principalships in three international schools. Bambi has been actively involved with the PTC since its inception as a course developer, trainer, and co-trainer for the Essential Skills courses. She is a leading consultant on a wide range of topics in international schools and conducts on-site training modules worldwide. Bambi has written many articles on practical ways to improve international schools and authors a regular column on the PTC pages of The International Educator (TIE).

Kevin Bartlett

Kevin Bartlett is the director of the Int'l School of Brussels, and has held prior leadership positions in Tanzania, Austria and Namibia. Kevin has been actively involved in developing international education for 20 years. He chaired the ECIS Accreditation Committee, is a trainer for the Principals' Training Center and has lectured for a number of postgraduate programmes. Kevin has a particular interest in developing learning-focused schools and, hence, an interest in curriculum. He initiated and later chaired the IB Primary Years Programme. Kevin is currently Chair of the Board of the Council of International Schools.

Nick Bowley

Nick Bowley is an Accreditation Officer for the Council of International Schools (CIS)He is the former Headmaster of Beijing City International School, the International School of Tianjin, and Icardia Int'l School in Syria. He has also held administrative positions in international schools in Tanzania and Jordan. Nick serves on the ACAMIS board and the board of the Rufiji Leprocy Trust.

Christopher Bowman

Christopher Bowman took up the post of Director of the International School of Luxembourg as of July 2007. He worked the previous two years as the Associate Superintendent with Educational Overseas Services, Ltd., with his work focused primarily in Egypt and Dubai. Prior to that, Chris was Director of the Bavarian International School, Germany and he has also served as Director of the Copenhagen Int’l School and Head of Port Moresby International School in Papua, New Guinea. He was previously an
administrator in a range of K-12 schools in the South Australian government educational system over a period of seventeen years, before serving for three years as a District Superintendent of Education. He has re-joined the ECIS Board of Trustees, having served previously as a trustee and chairman. Chris is a graduate of the PTC Essential Skills Program and has worked as a co-trainer with the PTC since 2000. He is also a trainer with the Covey 7 Habits Program, and the Conflict Resolution Network.

Carol Crittenden

Carol Crittenden is the PTC's on-site coordinator for the Summer Institutes in London.

A 2004 graduate of the PTC's Essential Skills program and worked at the American International School of Budapest, Hungary for nine years, serving first as elementary music teacher and then as Upper Elementary School Principal. Carol currently enjoys teaching elementary music in Houston, Texas.

Steven Dare

Stephen Dare is currently the Assistant Superintendent at International School Manila. He has also worked in state schools in the UK and in international independent schools in the United States and Colombia as a teacher and administrator. Starting in August, he will be working at Hong Kong Academy as Head of School. Stephen has been involved in curriculum development in international contexts for over 20 years and is a trainer for the Principals’ Training Center.

Gordon Eldridge

Gordon Eldridge is currently Curriculum Director at the International School of Brussels. Gordon was the Head of K. International School in Japan from the time the school was founded in 1997 until 2005. Schooled in Australia, Gordon originally trained as a foreign language teacher (German), and has taught ESL and history. He is currently undertaking a PhD with research focusing on curriculum implementation and is also a researcher for the Principals' Training Center(PTC), Teacher Training Center(TTC) and The International Educator (TIE). Gordon is a graduate of the PTC's Essential Skills program and has co-trained for the PTC's Summer institutes for the past five years.

Chad Fairey

Chad Fairey is the Director of Information Services at Washington International School in Washington, DC. He has been leading school technology programs for the last twelve years, first as a technology coordinator in Fairfax County, Virginia, and most recently as the Director of Technology at the American School of Paris. Originally a history teacher, he received his B.A. in History from Florida State University, his M.Ed in Social Studies Education at the University of Virginia and is currently pursuing his Ed.D. in educational leadership and administration from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. Actively involved with leadership in the US as well as in international schools, he has served as a fellow with the Library of Congress, as a member of the Curriculum Committee of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), as the chair of the IT Committee of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS), and the founding chair of the International Schools SIG of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Lee Fertig

Lee Fertig is the Superintendent of Graded School in São Paulo, Brazil. Lee has 25 years of administrative and teaching experience in a wide variety of educational settings including four international schools (in Ethiopia, Brazil, and Spain), a private school in New York City, and a voluntary integration public magnet school in Minneapolis. He is a trainer for the Principals’ Training Center (PTC), has taught in the College of Education at the University of Minnesota, and has been a guest speaker on contemporary educational issues at a wide variety of community events. He has consulted for several educational service companies, providing specialized training and project management services to K-12 schools and districts around the world. Lee’s interests in intercultural education, school-based continuous improvement, and the role of schooling in society are at the core of his educational philosophy.

Cathy Funk

In addition to working with the Principals' Training Center, Cathy Funk has served on the WASC board of EARCOS, as a presenter at regional conferences and as a consultant in the EARCOS region. Cathy was the recipient of the National Distinguished Principal Award in 1990. After a long career in Asia, Cathy retired as Middle School Principal of Taipei American School in June, 2008. She now resides in Portland, Oregon.

Nikki Gundry

Nikki Gundry is the PTC's on-site coordinator for the Summer Institutes in Miami.

Based in the U.S. in Tennessee, she is a music and drama teacher who has helped coordinate Principals' Training Center programs since 1998. Nikki is also the Corporate Advertising Coordinator for The International Educator (TIE), an educational newspaper and website serving international schools worldwide.

Ji Han

Ji Han is currently the Principal at the Baden Campus of Zurich International School. Before stepping into administration, Ji spent 10 years teaching elementary and middle students in California and Zurich. She holds a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership and has been working as an international school administrator for the past 10 years. Ji’s career in international education includes a broad range of experiences as a workshop leader and educational consultant. She has worked extensively with the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program and Council of International Schools on curriculum development, review and evaluation.

Patricia Handly

Throughout her 30+ years in education, Pat has held many different positions both in the US and overseas to include elementary teacher, school psychologist, college lecturer, elementary school principal, and, most recently, educational consultant and teacher trainer for Houghton Mifflin International and Great Source Professional Trainers Group. As a principal, Pat worked in three different International Schools in the Caribbean. In her role as consultant, Pat has traveled to more than 25 countries working with teachers to develop English language literacy programs for speakers of other languages. Pat has been associated with the PTC since 1991 as a participant, site coordinator, co-trainer for the Assessment course and Creating Effective Schools Course, For the past four summers, Pat has been a lead trainer for the Instructional Supervision Course.

Mark Klein

Mark Klein is an Attorney at Law in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania and the Superintendent of Schools in Council Rock School District, Pennsylvania. He has been an adjunct professor for both Lehigh University, and Delaware Valley College in conjunction with their Education Leadership Programs. He has previously been nominated for both the National Distinguished Principal Award and the National PTA Education of the Year award. Mark has also been featured in both a documentary “Are We Educating Our Children for the Future” and Cable Access Programming “The Rights of Children”. Mark has presented Law seminars for Lehigh University.

Sasha Marshall

After leaving her three and a half year post as the Head of K. International School Tokyo, Sasha Marshall has returned to the classroom this year as a Grade 5 teacher at the International School of Dhaka, Bangladesh . She has a broad range of experience as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, trainer and evaluation team member in international schools. Sasha is a Primary Years Program trainer for the International Baccalaureate as well as a team leader for the International Baccalaureate Authorization Teams in the Asia Pacific region. Before leaving Australia to work overseas nine years ago, Sasha held the role of Education Advisor – Learning Technology, for Queensland Education. In this role she worked with schools and teachers across Queensland. Sasha has been involved in the planning, support and implementation of a K-12 inquiry based, concept driven curriculum and is extremely interested in the development of whole school continuums of international education.

John Mikton

A Swiss citizen from Geneva, John is an Apple Distinguished Educator. He is currently the Director of Information Technology at the International School of Prague. John has worked in Tanzania, China and Japan at International Schools. He has been a classroom teacher, IT Specialist, IT Coordinator and IT Director. Previous to this John worked in television and print advertising in Switzerland and the United States. John presents as a keynote speaker, and workshop facilitator at international school conferences and also works as a consultant. John runs http://beyonddigital.org and has a keen interest in the impact of Web 2.0 on facilitating and managing IT systems to support student learning.

Susan Napoliello

Susan Napoliello spent eleven years in international schools serving as principal in Venezuela at Escuela Campo Alegre and in Malaysia at the IS Kuala Lumpur. She began her career in California where she held positions as a classroom teacher, reading specialist and principal. Susan has Masters Degrees in Educational Leadership and Reading. She and Bill Powell, former Headmaster at IS Kuala Lumpur, developed a supervisory strategy for 'walking through' classrooms which was described in an ASCD article (February 2005). Susan currently serves as an educational consultant and resides in San Francisco.

William Powell

William Powell has been involved with international education for almost thirty years serving as a university lecturer in Saudi Arabia, Secondary Headmaster and CEO at the Int'l School of Tanganyika, HS Principal at Jakarta Int'l School, and most recently the Headmaster of the Int'l School of Kuala Lumpur. Bill, along with his wife Ochan, are now focusing their attention on teacher professional development. Bill is the co-author of Count Me In: Developing Inclusive International Schools (2000) and Making the Difference: Differentiation in International Schools (in preparation). He is the author of numerous articles on educational leadership, school improvement and governance and is a frequent presenter at educational conferences. Bill has served on the board of directors of the Association of Int'l Schools in Africa (AISA), the Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE) and the Academy of International School Heads (AISH). Currently, Bill is the Associate Director of Education Across Frontiers.

Sarah Putnam

Sarah Putnam brings 21 years of teaching and administrative experience to her trainings. Most recently Deputy Superintendent of Shanghai American School, she has also served as Curriculum Coordinator for the American School in Japan, and Principal for two public school districts in Montana. Sarah is a national trainer for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), as well as a Keys to Literacy trainer. She is a doctoral candidate in Educational Leadership, has a Master’s Degree in Education from UMASS, and an A.B. from Harvard University. Most recently she provides technical assistance to schools striving to improve literacy instruction.

Julie Ryan

Julie Ryan taught in Ohio, Illinois, France, and California before getting involved in educational administration in 1984, first as an elementary school principal in California and eventually as Lower School Principal at The American School in London which is her current post. She is a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), International Reading Association (IRA), and the National Staff Development Council (NSDC). She served as a trainer for the California School Leadership Academy (ACSA) from 1990-95 and for the Principals Training Center for International School Leadership from 1998-present. She was selected as a National Distinguished Principal (US State Department and the National Association of Elementary School Principals) in 1999 and chaired the ECIS (European Council of International Schools) Elementary Administrators Committee from 2002-2005. She has participated in many outreach activities aimed at creating the successful implementation of a desegregation agreement on the San Francisco Peninsula and is the recipient of the Margaret Lynch Award (California Reading Association) for exemplary contributions to the field of reading.

John Sperandio

John Sperandio is the founding Director of Stonehill International School. He has more than thirty years experience as an IB teacher, a physicist/engineer, a school business manager and as a director of international schools. He joined the U.S. Peace Corps school. and served as a teacher in an Ed. project in Uganda. Followed by ten years of teaching math, physics and accounting in Kuwait, Malta and Tanzania. His first administrative experience came in Malta, helping establish the parent foundation and governing body of the Verdala School. In Tanzania he followed as the School Business Manager for IS Tanganyika. John later returned to the USA as an engineer and scientist for Dames and Moore to model severe accidents in nuclear power stations and developed a multi-user computer interface, SAGE, for Gabor, Kenton and Associates to train power station operators in severe accident management. He returned to international schools as a financial consultant and was appointed Director of Support Services at Escuela Campo Alegre. In 1998, John was appointed the Director of the IS Azerbaijan, and in 2003, at IS Dhaka. In January 2008, having added two new countries to the IB World map, John accepted a commission from the Embassy Group to develop the first accredited, IB World School in Bangalore to offer all three programmes of the IB.

Richard Tangye

Richard Tangye is the Executive Director of the Council of International Schools (CIS). He has a degree in Economics and Politics from Cambridge University and, after a brief spell teaching in Papua New Guinea, joined the world of business. After working in North America for ten years, he has spent seventeen years with Jardine Matheson in Asia where, in addition to his business responsibilities, he actively participated in school governance, new school building and advisory bodies on education. He has been Board Chair at the British International School in Jakarta, Taipei European School in Taiwan, and South Island School in Hong Kong. In this latter location he was a member of the Management Committee of the English Schools' Foundation, and Chair of the Teachers' Pay Review Committee.

Deborah Welch

Deborah Welch is an educational consultant located in Boulder, Colorado and is the Director of the Teacher Training Center (TTC), PTC's partner in professional development for international teachers. Deb recently returned to the US to work for the TTC as well as engage in other international consulting work. From 1997-2006 she was Deputy Head of the School for Learning at the International School Bangkok where her responsibilities included all aspects of student learning, school improvement, curriculum and professional development. Prior to ISB, she taught middle school and held various administrative positions in the U.S. Deb first learned about international schools as a consultant and now, after nine years in Bangkok, believes that the international experience was transformational for her family. Debbie holds a Masters degree in curriculum and administration and a PhD in human and organizational development.