Course Facilitators
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TTC FACILITATORS
Keith Boniface has worked in seven international schools since 1978, most recently in Muscat, Oman. In that time he has had many roles, teaching kindergarten through high school, and serving as an Admissions Coordinator, Athletic Director, and Principal. At present, he is the Middle School principal at The American International School of Muscat. He has worked with the Principal’s Training Center on and off since 1995, as a co-trainer of the 'Instructional Supervision' and 'Leadership and Group Dynamics' courses.
Theresa Cullen Hill is currently the Dean of Faculty and Curriculum Coordinator at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School, a JK-12 coeducational Episcopal day school in Alexandria, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. Over the course of her career, Mrs. Cullen Hill has taught in international, public, and independent school settings. This diversity of settings and breadth of experience has broadened her work with administrators, teachers, and students. Her past international experiences include: coordinating math and gifted programs at Escuela Campo Alegre in Caracas, Venezuela; teaching and leading the elementary math program at the American School of London; and leading the differentiation program at the American School of the Hague. While in the United States, she continues to present and conduct trainings on promoting differentiation and meeting the individual needs of students. She is a graduate of the PTC Essential Skills Program and holds master’s degrees in both international administration and education.
Philippa (Pip) Curtis has spent more than 10 years in international school education. She is a graduate of the PTC Essential Skills Program and holds a Masters of Educational Administration. Born in England and raised in New Zealand, Pip began her career as a High School English, drama and journalism teacher. She is currently the Middle and High School Principal at Shekou International School in Shenzhen, China. Prior to this Pip was the Curriculum Consultant at Shanghai American School.
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 eight years.
Mary Jeanne (MJ) Farris is currently the Head of Educational Technology at the International School of Brussels. She taught middle school math, social studies and English in the United States before starting her international career. After teaching in Stavanger, Norway, and Taipei, Taiwan, she returned to the US to receive her degree in Instructional Technology and Media from Columbia Teacher's College. She spent five years at the International School of Brussels, first as a Technology Facilitator, then as the Head of Educational Technology, taking the leadership of the integration of technology and curriculum. After two years as Technology Coordinator at the American Community School of Beirut, she has returned to Brussels to continue to develop the school's 1 to 1 laptop program.
Madeleine Maceda Heide is a specialist in Early Childhood Education and Early Literacy Instruction. She completed an M.S. degree in Early Childhood Education as well as an Ed.S. in Reading and Language Education from Indiana University. She has had a range of experiences as a student, teacher, administrator and parent in international schools in the Philippines, Brazil, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Belgium and the United States. She is currently the Assistant Superintendent at the American School of Bombay. Prior to that she was the Principal of the Lower Primary division of Hong Kong International School. She was also the founding Head of the Early Childhood Center of the International School of Brussels where she worked for six years. Madeleine has taught all of the early childhood grades from two-year-olds through eight-year-olds and has led numerous presentations and workshops for educators and parents of young children. She worked as the Education Coordinator of a six-county Head Start program in southern Indiana and taught undergraduate Education majors at Indiana University. Madeleine counts it a privilege to have worked alongside many highly skilled teachers and administrators who have informed her knowledge of best practices for the youngest learners. Her most important informant has been her daughter, who is now a busy college student!
Ochan Kusuma-Powell is co-founder and director of Education Across Frontiers, an organization that promotes teacher education towards the development of professional learning communities. A graduate of Columbia University with a doctorate in international education development, she has more than 25 years experience in international education and is actively involved in supporting international schools to become more inclusive of students with special needs. Together with her husband Bill, she has co-authored several OSAC publications including Count me in!: Developing inclusive international schools; Making the difference: Differentiation in international schools; and Parent advocacy in international schools. Their most recent book, Becoming an emotionally intelligent teacher was released earlier this year (Corwin Press). Ochan has worked as a consultant to international schools in the areas of differentiated instruction, developing teacher emotional intelligence, collaboration and Cognitive Coaching(sm).
Sasha Marshall is currently the Head of the Early Childhood Centre at the International School of Brussels. Prior to this she was Deputy Head of Primary and PYP Coordinator at the International School Dhaka, Bangladesh and several years ago, Head of K. International School Tokyo for a period of three and half years. She has a broad range of experience as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, trainer and evaluation team member in international schools. Sasha has been 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. 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.
Karen Moreau has been involved in curriculum and professional development since 1987 and in international curriculum since 1998. She is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Learning at Taipei American School (TAS). Prior to this she was Director of Curriculum and Professional Development at Academia Cotopaxi in Quito, Ecuador; Curriculum Coordinator at International School of Bangkok; and Curriculum Coordinator in Federal Way school district in Washington State. She has been an international consultant in curriculum, assessment and differentiated instruction as well as presenting workshops at numerous conferences around the world. She has worked with schools to develop curricula based on the principles of American education, international education and the three IB programs. She has taught at all levels of education - elementary, middle, high school and college. Karen resides with her husband, Paul and two cats in Taipei, Taiwan.
Barbara Parker is Regional Curriculum Consultant for the ISS Asia-Pacific Office based in Shekou-Shenzhen, China and was formerly Director, International School of Beihai. She has worked extensively in international schools in the Mediterranean region, in SE Asia, Pakistan and Africa for almost 30 years. Most of her career has been devoted to working with teachers to identify students who need more than the general curriculum is designed to offer, from those with learning challenges to those who are highly capable. She worked as Optimal Match Resource consultant in the MAIS region to develop systems for identifying needs, instructional strategies and monitoring progress of students. She has served as Academic Dean for The Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth and worked as with students from kindergarten through high school in a variety of capacities: curriculum coordinator, elementary principal, high school electives teacher, middle school humanities teacher and self contained elementary classroom teacher. She has shared the difficulty of determining the basis of a student’s learning needs: language acquisition, cultural differences, or processing issues.
Matthew Parr, a graduate of the PTC Essential Skills program, is currently the Secondary School Principal at Nagoya International School in Japan. A music teacher by trade, he has worked with children of all ages from K-12, both in the UK and Japan, and served as both an Elementary School music specialist and Secondary School department head prior to moving into Administration. Matthew was also responsible for spearheading the Assessment for Learning curriculum initiative at Saint Maur International School in Yokohama and his role as Curriculum Director at that school enabled him to share with colleagues his passion for assessment for meaningful learning. He has a son, Kai, aged five, who teaches him everything he needs to know about learning!
Kristen Pelletier has been leading the IS Brussels learning support team school-wide for five years to develop a range of inclusive support services using a multidisciplinary team based approach. Previously she taught students with special educational needs for fourteen years, first in Maine in public school, and then at the International School of Brussels. She is a founding partner of the Next Frontier: Inclusion (NFI) collaborative launched in 2010, is an associate trainer for Educational Across Frontiers in the area of differentiated instruction and has been a member the European Council of International Schools Special Needs Committee. Her undergraduate degree is in special education with a concentration in cognitive and developmental disabilities and her graduate work is in educational leadership. Her goals include supporting other international schools on their journey toward being inclusive through consultation and professional development.
Gini Rojas, as an ASCD (www.ascd.org) faculty member and independent consultant, conducts professional training on effective programs and strategies for English Learners. This year she is working with international schools in Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia as well as with school districts throughout the US and Canada. She is recognized for her leadership and her commitment to the development of second language proficiency among school populations, especially within an inclusionary and collaborative context. It is her belief that strategies which assist English learners in K-12 settings are beneficial for all learners and that ESL and classroom teachers need to work together to provide seamless language-development and academic achievement programs. This is her message of her 2007 book Strategies for Success with English Language Learners: An ASCD Action Tool and the DVD series entitled Educating English Learners: Connecting Language, Literacy, & Culture published by ASCD. She is married to Thomas Matts, an employee of The College Board where he directs Advanced Placement Assessments.
Melissa Schaub is currently the Elementary Principal at the American International School of Bucharest in Romania, where she shares an amazing school experience with her husband and two sons. Over the last 17 years, she has worked in four different international schools in both Torreon and Monterrey, Mexico as well as in Caracas, Venezuela, teaching first, second and fourth grade. In her last posting, she served for five years as the Assistant Principal of Curriculum & Instruction for grades Nursery through Grade 5 at the American School Foundation of Monterrey where she worked to grow and develop all aspects of the curriculum, including the alignment of clear learning targets, 'best practice' instructional methodology and assessment strategies across the grade levels. She coordinated the work of a Literacy Coach team, a Curriculum Council, and the Student Improvement Committee in order to support curriculum design and monitoring through the building of effective teacher leadership. Building balanced literacy programs and providing meaningful teacher training are her educational passions as an instructional leader. Melissa has her Master's Degree in Elementary Education through The College of New Jersey and is a graduate of the PTC Essential Skills program.
Ann Straub has been the Director of Curriculum and Staff Development at the International School of Bangkok for the past nine years. Prior to working in Thailand, Ann was an educator in Vermont working with learners ranging from elementary school to adult graduate school students. Previously, Ann has been a co-trainer for the Principals' Training Center course "Creating and Administering an Effective School." Most recently, she has presented sessions on Collaboration for Learning, Differentiated Instruction, and Collaborative Action Research to Promote Learning at the European Council for International Schools Conference, the East Asia Teachers Conference, the Associate for the Advancement for International Schools, and the National Staff Development Council. Ann consults with International Schools to build teacher leadership skills, enabling teams to focus on student learning. While residing with her husband Peter in Bangkok, she maintains long distance contact with her four children all living in the U.S.