Dr. Nelson has been in education since 1990 and Principal of the ACS Athens Academy since 2019.  He taught social studies for nearly 30 years while also holding a variety of leadership positions, including Coordinator of Professional Development and Growth at ACS Athens since 2014, Department Chair, Athletic Director and Activities Coordinator.  Dr. Nelson is also well on his way towards his doctorate degree in International Educational Leadership, believing that continuing education and collaboration with other leaders makes for a stronger community of practice.

Dr. Nelson has been at the American Community School of Athens since 2000 and draws from years of classroom experience.  He has taught American Studies, European History, IB History and Theory of Knowledge, to name a few, where he applied his vast experience with curriculum design and was instrumental in establishing the integrated team taught courses we now call the “Combo”. Prior to teaching in Athens, he taught for ten years in secondary schools in Oregon, USA.  Additionally, Dr. Nelson has been extremely active working with other international schools through the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA), where he served as the school representative for over 10 years and more recently as a member of the  Professional Development Advisory Committee (PDAC).

Believing in the importance of co-curricular activities, he coached cross country and track for over twenty years, and was the Coordinator of the Model United Nations program at ACS. He enjoys frequent travel, snowboarding, and running. Dr. Nelson, has Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership from Wilkes University, a Master of Arts in Education from Western Oregon State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Pacific University. Additionally, Dr. Nelson is an accredited National Trainer/Facilitator for the National School Reform Faculty® in Bloomington, Indiana and specializes in Collaborative Group Processes and work in Critical Friends Groups. He is also the founder and creator of Equity Maps® app, used by thousands educators world-wide who seek to engage all voices in the classroom.

email: nelsond@acs.gr

Evelyn Pittas earned her B.A. in English Literature, from Gwynedd-Mercy College and her M.A. in English Literature, from Kutztown University and Lehigh University. She has also earned her Teaching Certificate from the state of Pennsylvania and attended numerous workshops and conferences in IB, Learning Differences, Writing for teachers, and Leadership for the 21st Century. Currently, Ms. Pittas is the Vice Principal of the Academy and is studying to earn her Doctorate of Education from the University of Nicosia.

Ms. Pittas’ commitment to her leadership and teaching is mirrored through her highly energetic and enthusiastic personality.  She specializes in teaching Group 1 in the International Baccalaureate Program. As a Group 1 and Extended Essay Examiner since the late 1990s, she has experienced first-hand four consecutive changes in the Group 1 curriculum for the IB.  As the English Department Coordinator and the English Language and Literature educator at ACS, Athens, both at the Higher and Standard levels since 1998, her dedication, aptitude, and finesse to inspire, motivate, and lead diverse students while consistently maintaining a solid history of very high achievement is her pride and joy. Conscious citizenship and empathy are at the center of her leadership, teaching, and learning which promote ethos, morphosis, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills and encourage her students to make intentional choices and assume responsibility for their own actions. As a mentor teacher since 2014 and current Vice Principal, she successfully interacts and productively leads her colleagues into the professional requirements and expectations of the Academy. Her areas of expertise include building and maintaining excellent relations with students, parents, faculty, and administrators; she is self-motivated with excellent planning abilities, organizational skills, and implementation strategies in the curriculum. Ms. Pittas upholds her professional skill and growth through attendance and presentation at a variety of professional development events and conferences.

In addition to her responsibilities as Vice Principal, Ms. Pittas has been involved in a variety of positions at ACS Athens, including Forensics Oratory Coach, Coordinator and Judge at Pan-Hellenic Tournaments, 10th and 12th grade Student Council Advisor, Blue and Gold School Newspaper Advisor, Model United Nations Advisor, Activities Coordinator, Bonding Day Coordinator, Graduation Coordinator Assistant and is a member of the National Honor Society committee. She also served on the ACSTA Executive Council as President and the Federation Executive Council as Vice President.

Her mission as Vice Principal is to develop confidence in each student so that they will seek knowledge, question answers, and believe in their own abilities to become lifelong learners. She supports all students, listens willingly, and provides a loving environment so they can understand the bliss of learning and take pride in their accomplishments.

email: pittase@acs.gr

Ms. Filippou was born in Athens but raised in Chicago, Illinois. She has worked at ACS Athens since 1997, and has served as Admissions Officer; she has also held various administrative support roles at the school.

She is currently the Administrative Assistant to the Academy Principal.

email: filippous@acs.gr

Ms. Artemis Repouli holds a B.A. in European & International Studies from the University of Piraeus, Greece. She received an M.A. in International Business from Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingom and has had various administrative roles within companies in both Athens and London.

Since January 2015 she has been a member of the Office of Student Affairs in the position of Registrar and since September 2016 she is serving as the SAT/ACT Coordinator and the school Registrar for Middle School and High School divisions.

email: repoulia@acs.gr

Ms. Abdel Samad holds a Bachelor’s degree in "Journalism and Communication" and a Master's Degree in Journalism from the “Universite Libanaise”.

Ms. Darine Abdel Samad joined the ACS faculty starting Summer 2018 as a teacher of Arabic in the Middle School and Academy. She is a professional Arabic journalist and has been a news anchor and a television host on two prominent television networks in Lebanon; Future Television “al-Mustaqbal” and NBN “National Broadcasting Network (Lebanon)”. She has also been a public speaker at major academic, social and professional events; like “LBC TV”, “Al Sharq Radio” and a number of NGOs and Academia. As a teacher her goal is to promote active learning among students; as she did in her Arabic language teaching at “La Cite National” school academic year of 2000 - 2001.

Ms. Darine Abdel Samad joined the ACS faculty starting Summer 2018 as a teacher of Arabic in the Middle School and Academy.

Ms. Abdel Samad was born and raised in Beirut. She is married and has a son and a daughter. Her hobbies are reading, traveling and exploring new cultures.

email: abdelsamadd@acs.gr

Ms. Peggy Apostolou was born and raised in Athens, Greece. After completing her school, and music studies at the conservatoire, she went on to higher education in the UK. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music from Napier University, Edinburgh, and a Master's Degree in Ethnomusicology as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Goldsmith University, London.

Ms. Apostolou started teaching music in schools whilst in London. She worked as a secondary school music teacher and a piano teacher for many years and involved herself with music and dancing from various parts of the world.

Upon her return to Greece, Ms. Apostolou started working at ACS Athens where she taught music to elementary school students from Kindergarten to grade five for a number of years. 

Ms. Apostolou is the middle school and academy music teacher at ACS Athens. At the core of her teaching is the belief that students need to be exposed to various musical experiences in search of their own learning path and medium of expression. Ms. Apostolou strongly believes in the power of music as a tool in itself and also as medium for developing well rounded, responsible individuals.

email: apostoloup@acs.gr

Ms. Arnold earned a Bachelor Degree of German Linguistics and Literature from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2007, where she graduated with honors. Ms. Arnold also obtained a Master of Arts Degree in Education and Media from the University of Rostock in Germany in 2014 and a Master of Arts Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Duisburg/Essen in Germany in 2023.

She specializes in teaching German as a foreign language. In addition to German and English, she also speaks Greek and French.

 A member of the ACS Athens faculty since 2010, she teaches the Middle School and High School students German as a foreign Language, as well as develops e-learning concepts for foreign languages in general, which will be applied to her academic research. A fellow of the ACS Institute, Ms. Arnold participates as an online instructor at the ACS Athens Virtual Program and prepares students for the AP German Language and Culture exam.     

Ms. Arnold co-authored a chapter in the 2016 publication "Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning Through i2Flex Classroom Model" and in the 2021 publication "Handbook of Research on K-12 Blended and Virtual Learning Through the i2Flex Classroom Model". In addition, she provides professional development (presentations, workshops, and webinars) to other foreign language teachers in Greece and abroad.

Since 2017 Ms. Arnold has been working as an accredited TestDaf examiner. TestDaf is one of the mandatory language proficiency tests for foreign students who want to enter a German university.

Ms. Arnold was born and raised in Germany and moved to Athens in 1996.

email: arnoldh@acs.gr

Mr. Arsenikos was born in Athens, Greece. He was raised in Melbourne, Australia. He holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Master in Environmental Chemistry and Technology obtained from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. During his undergraduate and postgraduate studies, he participated in numerous oceanographic and environmental programs.

He has been in education since his early academic years teaching science to students of all levels. Since 2010 he has been responsible for the creation of multiple e-learning projects in chemistry and math for elementary, middle and high school students.

Mr. Arsenikos deeply believes in hands-on learning as a vital component in the process of fostering scientific thinking in students.

He is excited that he'll be able to share his love for science at ACS and support students to creatively discover on their own, new ideas and concepts.

email: arsenikoss@acs.gr

Ms. Athanatou earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Business Administration from Texas A&M International University in Texas, USA, where she graduated with Honors. She completed a Master of Business Administration in International Trade and a Master of Business Administration in Management from Texas A&M International University in Texas, USA.

Ms. Athanatou has completed an online workshop with IBO specializing in Counseling for the IB Diploma and she has been a CAS Adviser for the past five years. Also, she has been assisting in the Youth-to-Youth Programs for the past six years.

Ms. Athanatou was born and raised in Athens, Greece. She is a resident of Kropia, Attiki, and has been elected to the Municipality Council where she has served as a member of the Economic Commission and as a Chair for the Committee of Tax Revenue.

email: athanatoue@acs.gr

Born in Canada and raised both in Montreal Quebec and in Athens Greece, Angela E. Chamosfakidis graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, with a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy, Pedagogy, Psychology (concentration in Psychology). For her Graduate studies, she attended McGill University in Canada where she received a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology with a research focus on teachers' expectations for children of divorce. Whilst completing her Graduate studies Ms. Chamosfakidis taught in primary and secondary schools in the wider area of Montreal. Upon her return to Greece in 2003, Ms. Chamosfakidis accepted a position at KETHEA (Therapy Center for Dependent Individuals) where she led a team of professionals to provide educational and counseling services to adolescents and young adults with substance abuse problems, for over 10 years. As part of her professional development in the field of addiction, she received a post-graduate Certificate of Specialization in the "Administration and Social Planning in the field of Drug Addiction'' from the Athens School of Public Health in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

Since joining ACS Athens, in 2014, Ms. Chamosfakidis has been teaching IB Psychology and Theory of Knowledge. She also serves as an Advisor for the Model United Nations (MUN) club as well as the Intersection club: Where Biology meets Psychology. She has co-authored the book "Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning through the i2Flex Classroom Model" contributing to a new educational paradigm introduced by ACS Athens.

Ms. Chamosfakidis is passionate about teaching and learning and committed to supporting students and their individual needs. She holds a Teaching Certification by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) and the Greek Ministry of Education and she is a certified IB Psychology Examiner (IBO).

email: chamosfakidisa@acs.gr

Dr. Chen was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. She earned her B.S. in the Department of Medical Laboratory and Biotechnology from Chung Shan Medical University in 1998. She continued medical study and earned the M.A. and Ph.D. Degrees from the Immunology Department of National Taiwan University in 2007. She was a leader of Master and Ph.D. students and taught them experimental techniques, grant writing, and thesis writing in Chinese and English. 

After graduation, she worked for several years as a European representative for a Taiwanese pharmaceutical company. She also has experience as a Chinese-English translator. After a few years of work, she realized teaching was her true calling. She believes in inspiring students not only academically but personally. She is a person full of passion for the teaching profession and is a qualified Chinese teacher with several years of experience teaching children and adults in Athens, Greece. Dr. Chen joined ACS Athens in 2018. She teaches Chinese Language and Literature in Middle School and High School. She also serves as the advisor for the Chinese-Greek Intercultural Club to help students feel engaged in a multicultural environment and foster inclusivity.

email: chenh@acs.gr

Ms. Coklas is Greek-American and was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She received her B.A in Psychology from DePaul University of Chicago with a minor in History (Type 1197), an M.A in Education (specializing in Curriculum and Design) from St. Xavier University of Chicago (2000), and her Teaching Certification from the State of Illinois (2000). Ms. Coklas has also studied at the University of Indianapolis (Athens campus): which has brought her closer to earning an M.B.A.

Ms. Coklas has been in education since 2000. Back in Chicago, Ms. Coklas was the co-founder and co-creator of the Oak Lawn/ Hometown school district's Mentor program. She was invited to speak/ present workshops at several Tri-State area Conferences on the importance of Mentor Programs for beginning teachers and Classroom Management. She has been an active administrator and faculty member of ACS Athens since 2008. Ms. Coklas is currently teaching American Studies (10) and Grade 11/12 Psychology/Sociology courses for the 2023-2024 academic year. She has also taught in the Elementary school. Middle School, Academy IB Psychology Years 1 & 2 and the Topics in Modern History courses.

She deeply appreciates and respects the superb level of education ACS Athens provides and will support our students (at any grade level) to achieve their goals and future endeavors.

email: coklasm@acs.gr

Mr. Justin Cramer grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He went on to Buena Vista University where he earned his B.A. in General Science with an emphasis in Biology, and Secondary Education. He taught for 8 years in Midwestern United States teaching a variety of science subjects including Earth Science, Biology, Environmental Science, Physical Science, and Astronomy. He earned an M.A. in Secondary Education Administration from University of Central Missouri. 

This is his tenth year at ACS Athens and he will be teaching Biology 9, Earth & Beyond, and AP Environmental Science.  

Outside of school Mr. Cramer enjoys spending time with his family, being active, playing and watching sports, traveling, movies, listening to music, and reading.

email: cramerj@acs.gr

Natalia Dadidou was born and raised in Greece. She holds an MSc in Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, UK (2000), an MBA (1998), and a BSc in Economics (1996) from the University of Macedonia Economic and Social Sciences, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Ms. Dadidou has been an IB Economics and IB Business Management teacher at ACS Athens since 2017. She has also served as a Theory of Knowledge instructor.

Ms. Dadidou has been a Board Member at Zeda SA since 2012, and a Partner at Tecvocate Inc., since 2005. She has worked as a financial analyst and has served as a Project Manager for Budgeting and Planning at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organising Committee's IT Department.

In 2019, Ms. Dadidou was honored by the ACS Athens Academy students with the "Teacher of the Year" certificate of recognition and an ACS Athens Academy Yearbook dedication.

She has published a novel, "Abacus, ένα παιχνίδι απληστίας" (Kedros Publishers, 2012), short fiction stories and economic commentaries. She is proud to have completed the Athens Marathon in 2022. Ms. Dadidou enjoys long-distance running, reading, writing, and playing the piano. She is a devoted mother of two boys and considers herself blessed to have discovered the beauty of being a teacher.

email: dadidoun@acs.gr

Ms. Drogaris is originally from New York, NY. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College in Oberlin Ohio, a Master of Science from the Athens University of Economics and Business, where she graduated with honors and Master of Science in Educational Theory and Practice from Arkansas State University.

Before coming to teach at ACS Athens, Ms. Drogaris was a teacher at William E. Grady High School in New York. Upon moving to Greece, she held various positions in international business including Manager of Sales and Marketing for an American multinational for the Middle East and African regions. She decided to return to her true love which is teaching. This is her 15th year at ACS. She is teaching two sections of IB Economics HL and one section of  IB Business Management HL. Ms. Drogaris is an IB Examiner and has been involved in many student activities over the years.

email: drogarise@acs.gr

Mr. Dimitropoulos is a Physical Education Teacher and Department Chair for Physical Education. He earned his Bachelor Degree in Physical Education from the University of Physical Education and Sport Science in Athens (1996) and then received his Masters Degree through an International Olympic Committee's Program (MEMOS - Executive Masters in Sports Organisation Management), from University of Lyon, France (2001).

Mr. Dimitropoulos has worked as the Baseball Competition Manager for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and has also observed the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. He has published a book on baseball (2001).

He authored a chapter in the 2016 publication "Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning through i2Flex Classroom Mode".

Mr. Dimitropoulos has been the Varsity Girls Basketball coach, Varsity Boys Volleyball coach and HS Track & Field coach since 2006.

He is a certified lifeguard and an emergency responder (CPR/First Aid for adult/child/infant).

Mr. Dimitropoulos was raised in Athens, Greece.

email: dimitropoulosa@acs.gr

Ms. Falidas earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the City University of New York at Queens College. She earned her master’s degree in Mathematics from the City University of New York at Queens College and her master’s degree in Mathematics Education from the City University of New York at Hunter College.

Ms. Falidas holds a permanent New York State teaching license and she has worked in New York City public and private schools. In addition, she worked as a lecturer for the Mathematics Department at LaGuardia Community College in New York. She is a fellow at the ACS Athens Institute and a member of Thales and Friends, a non-profit organization aiming to bridge the chasm between mathematics and other cultural forms.

Ms. Falidas has been a teacher of Mathematics at ACS Athens since 2007 and is an IBO Mathematics Examiner since 2009. At ACS Athens she is the coordinator for the annual Mathematics Kangaroo Competition and the Division Chair of Mathematics.

email: falidasm@acs.gr

Dr. Fyrigou is a Language Educator. She earned a Bachelor’s in French Literature from the Greek Capodistrian University of Athens and in 2008 she received her master's degree in the History of French Civilization. Dr. Fyrigou defended successfully her doctorate thesis in History of French Civilization on July 2012 and received her doctoral degree. 

She has been working in the ACS faculty community since 1999 and has taught both in Middle School and High School. She is an IB teacher and an IB examiner in French language. Additionally, she has been selected by  Widener University to teach as an Adjunct Professor a course named  Values and Ethics in Education for a doctorate degree program in Low-Residency EdD with a Focus on International Schools Leadership. She is also an adjunct Professor at the Hellenic American University in Athens, teaching undergraduate students in the department of interdisciplinary and intercultural studies.

She has established different educational collaborations between ACS Athens and other institutions worldwide. Dr. Fyrigou has designed, developed and implemented different courses in French and Greek language and culture based on the i2flex methodology and innovative teaching and learning approaches. 

She has  authored a chapter in the 2016 publication "Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning through i2Flex Classroom Model." The title of her chapter is “Evaluating the i2flex educational experience via the Community of Inquiry (CoI 2000)” 

She has also authored a chapter for the enhanced book version 2021 publication "Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning through i2Flex Classroom Model." The title of her chapter is "The effectiveness of the i 2 Flex methodology and the CoI (Community of inquiry) in demanding educational fields."

Dr. Tonia Fyrigou has also presented her work in different colloquiums and conferences. She is a life-long learner, an open mind person with ethos and values with innovative ideas who always strives for excellence in education.

email: firigout@acs.gr

Leonidas (Leo) Gontzes is a historian and a political analyst born in New Jersey and raised both in the U.S. and Athens, Greece. Mr. Gontzes has a Bachelor's degree in History from Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia, USA), and two graduate degrees in European History from University College Cork (Cork, Republic of Ireland) and Diplomacy, with an international conflict management concentration, from Norwich University (Northfield, Vermont, USA). He has been teaching History, Government and Politics, and International Relations at several international institutions in the Greek capital and abroad since 1999 at secondary school level as well as on the graduate and undergraduate levels. He taught at New York College from 2001 to 2021 and at Empire State College (State University of New York) from 2007 to 2021. Moreover, he held the office of Associate Dean heading New York College's International Relations Department from 2008 to 2018. His responsibilities have also included the office of Academic Director of Graduate Studies at the New York College Educational Group in Athens, Greece, for a total of ten years (2006-2016).

His papers include: "Re-Examining the 1925 Bulgarian Incident", "To what extent has the United States used the international economic system in order to exert power in global politics?", 'Evaluating peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peace enforcement in Kosovo", "Security and Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Kosovo", "Organizing and conducting a future military intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina". He has co-authored articles for CNN Greece on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and has appeared several times on Greek and Arab television, as well as Radio France International, as a political analyst vis-à- vis U.S. and Greek political developments.

This year he will be teaching IB History Years I and II, American Studies Combo Grade 10, IB TOK Year I, Grade 6 Social Studies, and Grade 7 Social Studies.

e-mail: gontzesl@acs.gr

Dr. Jenny Grigoropoulou was born in Athens, Greece, and raised in Maryland, U.S.A.. She holds a B.Sc. degree in Business Administration in 1989, from the University of La Verne and her M.A. degree in International Management and Business Administration. In 1992, she earned her teaching education and certification in the United States, qualified to teach ESL/EFL K–12 and Business Studies 6 - 12. She is an IB educator as well as an IB examiner for Business Management. In May 2019, she graduated from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida, earning her Doctorate Degree in Education, Leadership, and Management. 

Dr. Grigoropoulou is a contributing author of the books Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning through the i2Flex Classroom Model and Handbook of Research on K-12 Blended and Virtual Learning through the i²Flex Classroom Model. She has authored articles, such as “The Role of Ethics in the 21st Century Organization” (IJPE-April 2019), and is the co-author with Dr. Gialamas of the manuscript, “Educators Leaders: Inspiring Learners to Transform Society by Becoming Architects of their Own Learning” (IJPE - October 2018) and with Dr. Pelonis, Dr. Gialamas, and Dr. Cherif of the manuscript,  "How Can Manifesting Leadership Skills Infused with Ethos, Empathy and Compassion, Better Prepare Students to Assume Leadership Roles" (IJPE, February 2020) . She has presented her work and practices in colloquiums and conferences. She is one of the founding members of the Recycling Project, which is a school-wide initiative.

Dr. Grigoropoulou had been teaching ESL in the Middle School and the Elementary School for grades K – 5 to non-native English speakers. Overall, she has been an ESL educator for 35 years. She has been actively involved with the Saturday Youth-to-Youth program since the initiation of the program, providing unaccompanied minors with skills and knowledge of the English language. In addition to her teaching assignments, educator of the EFL Language Arts and Language Development courses. While being the ESL/EFL K-12 Coordinator, she's also the Admissions & Outreach Counselor.

email: grigoropoulouj@acs.gr

Ms. Eugenia Hatziagelides received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Central Connecticut State University in 1990 and a Master's of Science in Counselor Education from Central Connecticut State University in 1993.

She worked as a Guidance Counselor from 1994 to 1997 at Lyman Memorial High School in Lebanon, CT before moving back to Greece in August of 1997 and worked at the Paidagogiko Institute as a consultant. Ms. Hatziagelides was then hired at Moraitis School and worked as a School Counselor from 1998 to 2017. She has done extensive volunteer work in shelters for women and their children. This will be her sixth year at ACS Athens.  During the first two years, Ms. Hatziagelides worked as a Academy Counseling Specialist and during the third year she taught the upper academy Advisory class. During her fourth and fifth year, Ms. Hatziagelides lead the Academic Lab as the Advisor. She assisted students in completing their academic responsibilities by monitoring their attendance, keeping them on task, directing them to the appropriate resources when needed and following up on the appropriate use of those resources. This year Ms. Hatziagelides will  continue leading the Academic Lab and the Study Hall for Seniors.

email: hatziagelidese@acs.gr

Dr. Hristakos completed his B.Sc. in physics at the University of Lancaster in the UK. He then continued his graduate studies in experimental physics (M.S) at the University of New Hampshire in the USA. Following this he successfully defended his Ph.D. in experimental low temperature physics at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. Dr. Hristakos worked as a post-doc research scientist at the Centre des etudes atomiques in Saclay-France and at the University of Tuebingen in Germany.

He has taught IB physics at ACS Athens for over a decade and he has also worked as an AP physics teacher at the American School of Dubai.

email: hristakosl@theinstitute.gr

Michael Januzzi was born and raised in San Diego, California. Mr. Januzzi received his B.A. degree in Political Science, with a Minor in Writing from the University of California. After University, he spent three years teaching and coaching middle and high school students on civic engagement and community empowerment projects in Michigan and New Orleans. Michael further expanded his love of teaching and travel when he taught English as a second language in China. Michael then returned to America to complete his Masters degree in Education, with a focus in Counseling and Guidance from Point Loma Nazarene University in California. His thesis analyzed the various goal setting strategies for improving student academic achievement and self-efficacy. Michael has over 20 years of experience teaching English and counseling middle and high school students in the USA.

Michael looks forward to using his student-centered educational philosophy and diverse experience to improve the writing and communication skills of all ACS students.

email: januzzim@acs.gr

Sarah Kaldelli earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, U.S.A. Her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education was achieved from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. She also acquired her Degree Equivalency from the Greek Ministry of Education.

She has worked in international schools in Greece, and in the Greek private school sector for the past 25 years. She has taught students with learning differences and disabilities ranging from Junior-Kindergarten to the 12th grade.

This is her 18th year at ACS Athens in the Optimal Learning Program (OLP). For the first 12 years, she was the Elementary School Optimal Learning Specialist and for the last few years has been working as the Coordinator for OLP. She has experienced many diverse professional development opportunities such as ECIS, NESA, the Learning Difference Conferences at ACS Athens, and ADHD conferences across Europe. She also routinely benefits from online coursework through different universities and programs. She has been a mentor to those seeking teacher certifications and to those doing internships during their academic studies. Additionally, she has authored and co-authored articles for the ACS Athens Ethos magazine. She played an active part in the development and establishment of the ACS Athens Diagnostic Center and continues to collaborate closely with both the Center and the school’s Counselors. Moreover, she participated in the CIS Child Protection and Safeguarding conference in The Hague, and she actively assisted in creating the ACS Athens handbook on this subject, as she is one of the ACS Athens Child Safeguarding Liaisons. She is an advocate for early intervention, focusing on each child’s best interests, and building each child's confidence to become the architect of their own learning.

email: kaldellis@acs.gr

Dr. Antonios Karampelas holds a B.Sc. in Physics, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Astrophysics, from the University of Athens. He has been a post-graduate researcher at the University of Athens and the National Observatory of Athens, mainly contributing to the preparation of the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission. Dr. Karampelas has been an ACS Athens Academy teacher since 2016, teaching IB and 10th grade Physics, as well as the STEAM 1, STEAM 2, and Artificial Intelligence courses that he has created.

Dr. Karampelas is a strong proponent of the inclusion of Generative AI and Learning Analytics in Education and the development of AI curricula. He is a researcher with a record of more than 80 articles and a manuscript reviewer and has attended more than 30 conferences and workshops (with several contributions). His research work in education has been published or featured on, among others, AIP Publishing, IGI Global, the International Schools Journal, Medium, Business Partners, European Distance and E-Learning Network, the MSA Accreditation Newsletter, and the Inside Learning podcast series.

Dr. Karampelas has been leading and serving in different capacities as an ACS Athens Artificial Intelligence Framework Coordinator, Accreditation Internal Coordinator, and Action Research Coordinator. He also led the "spACS" program of high school students’ experiments that were conducted in space in two consecutive space flights of Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule (2019), with both events being covered by media in Greece and the US. Moreover, he led a team of high school students that won first place in the first Aerospace Contest, organized by the Hellenic Physical Society in 2018, and coordinated students’ research projects from inception to publication.

Dr. Karampelas is a Fellow of the Institute of ACS Athens, a co-coordinator of the “STEM and Artificial Intelligence in Education” Working Group of the Hellenic Educational Society of STEM, and a member of several professional associations.

email: karampelasa@acs.gr

Ms. Antigoni Karnesioti was born in Athens, Greece, and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy, Pedagogy, and Psychology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. During her studies, she also earned a specialization certificate in Special Education from the same University. In June 2018, she earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Sciences from Utrecht University in the Netherlands after having completed her educational research practice at Rutgers University, NJ, USA. Last year she completed two more specializations, one in Special Education and Learning Difficulties from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and one in Child Psychology from Panteion University. Ms. Karnesioti is fascinated by educational neuroscience and developmental psychology and tries to keep up with new training and research in these fields to enrich her educational practice.

She has been working as a Learning Differences Specialist since 2014 and is a firm practitioner of implementing up-to-date educational research in the school setting. She believes that differentiated instruction based on each student's needs and learning profile is key to supporting children with or without learning difficulties.

She has been a member of ACS Athens and the OLP Department since 2020. In the past, she has worked as an Inclusion Specialist in the Academy, where she assisted faculty in delivering differentiated instruction. For the past two years, she has been working as an Academy OLP Specialist, where she is directly supporting and empowering Academy students to reach their fullest academic potential. 

She is an advocate for inclusion, intersectionality, and human rights. In her spare time, Ms. Karnesioti loves to teach Greek as a second language to refugees and refugee children. Last but not least, she is fond of creative writing and film, and in the summer of 2022, she made her first short film about the lack of accessibility in the city of Athens.

email: karnesiotia@acs.gr

Ms. Matina Katsiyianni holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She also holds a Master of Science in Economic Mathematics from the National Technological University of Athens.

Ms. Katsiyianni is a Mathematics educator with over 15 years of experience in a variety of curriculums at the Secondary level and she is published in the ACS Athens initiative on the revolutionary blended teaching methodology i2flex. She has participated in many conferences around the world as she always seeks the best professional development opportunities for the benefit of her students.

Ms. Katsiyianni is currently teaching IB Mathematics and AP Precalculus at the Academy.

email: katsiyiannim@acs.gr

Dr. Kerkines received his B.Sc. in Chemistry (1997) and his M.Sc.(1999) and Ph.D.(2003) in Physical Chemistry from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).

He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the NKUA (2004-2006), at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, USA (2006-2008), and at the National Hellenic Research Foundation (2008-2011, 2013-2015). His research focus had been the application of Quantum Chemistry to novel main-group and transition-metal chemistry, as well as to the study of the interaction of materials with light for modern energy applications.

Dr. Kerkines has been teaching Chemistry since 2000. Before joining the ACS family in 2017, he had worked in the private sector as a content creator for e-learning courses and phone support for students from 4th to 12th grade (Chemistry, Physics, Math, Geography, Biology) as well as in a tutoring center for Panhellenic examinations. He also worked as a quality control head in a cosmetics company, being responsible for ISO and ΕΟΦ accreditations.

Dr. Kerkines has co-authored over 30 research papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has presented his work in scientific conferences in 12 countries. He has received scholarships from the Association of Hellenes from Egypt, the Hellenic State Scholarships Foundation, and the Marie Curie Foundation (twice). He received the 2008 Atlanta Area Chemical Physics award for his postdoctoral research, and he has briefly worked at CERN (Switzerland) and Karlsruhe University (Germany) as a visiting scientist. A firm supporter of the communication of science to the public, he received the honor to give invited talks at the Athens Science Festival/Cafe Scientifique Athens (2016, 2021), as well as at the inaugural Pint of Science Greece (2018).

Dr. Kerkines was born and grew up near the center of Athens, Greece. In his spare time, he enjoys lifting weights and engaging with website design and development.

email: kerkinesi@acs.gr

Dimitris Konstantopoulos holds a BSc in Physics from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).

He is very passionate about teaching and generally about imparting knowledge to younger generations. Over the years, he has accumulated extensive experience in the private sector as an instructor at different levels, including Middle and High School.

Alongside teaching, Mr. Konstantopoulos loves music. He is a student at Nakas Conservatory, studying the electric guitar.

Mr. Kostantopoulos highly values the effort to perpetually progress in terms of knowledge, a philosophy he is looking forward to sharing with all ACS Athens students.

email: konstantopoulosd@acs.gr

Born and raised in Athens, Greece, Ms. Melina Kolimpiri is a graduate of the National  Kapodistrian University of Athens, Department of Philosophy, with a specific major in  History and Archaeology. She also holds a Diploma in "General and Specialized Translation from English into Greek" awarded by the Hellenic American Union, as well as certificates in German and Italian Languages. 

Ms. Kolimpiri has worked for more than twenty years in Greek Private Schools and  Institutions as a teacher of Ancient and Modern Greek Language, Literature, and History. She joined the ACS Athens community in 2018. She has been teaching Greek in Middle School and Academy classes and she is a certified IB educator. 

She has completed numerous seminars in teaching methodology and educational programs, classroom effectiveness and inclusion workshops as well as a course held by the Aegean University on teaching Greek as a second /foreign Language.

Furthermore, Ms.Kolimpiri engages in professional text editing and proofreading publications in Psychology and Poetry.  

Her personal and pedagogical philosophy focuses on self-improvement and life-long learning; values which are then practiced within the classroom.  

This year she is teaching Modern Greek IB Language A: Language and Literature (Year 2)  as well as Greek Language and Literature in Grade 10.

email: kolimpirim@acs.gr

Ms. Elizabeth Ktorides attended ACS Athens K-12 and returned to teach in 2016. She studied at Bard College in Upstate New York where she received a B.A. in Literature in 2005. Ms. Ktorides received EFL teacher training from CELTA run by Cambridge, and her teacher training and certification from the University of Western Florida. She is currently completing her MA in Folklore and Southern Culture at the Northwestern State University of Louisiana.

After completing her BA, Ms. Ktorides moved back to Greece and began her career as an educator through tutoring. She also worked as a Shadow Teacher at ACS Athens for four years. Looking for change and adventure, Ms. Ktorides moved to Bratislava, Slovakia, where she taught Middle and High school Literature for one year and preschool for three years at the American School, QSI. At QSI, Ms. Ktorides participated in the Professional Development Conferences both as an attendee and as a presenter delivering presentations about Behavioral Differentiation and a two-day workshop titled Playing as “Learning in Early Childhood.” Additionally, Ms. Ktorides has also attended a number of conferences on Learning Differences at ACS Athens. She also completed two IB Workshops for both Language A: Literature and Language A: Language and Literature. Currently, she teaches IB English A: Language and Literature Years 1 and 2 as well as 9th-grade Combo.

email: ktoridese@acs.gr

Angela Koufopoulos was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and holds an Illinois Teacher Certification in Secondary Education (grades 6-12).Furthermore, she has a Master’s Degree in Education in Teaching Language Arts. 

Ms. Koufopoulos taught Language Arts to Middle School students for the Chicago Public School System for three years. However, as Greece had always had a special place in her heart, she decided to temporarily move to Greece to work and “live her Greek myth.” Twenty-five years have passed and she is still here in Greece as marriage and the country’s Mediterranean lifestyle conquered her. 

Ms. Koufopoulos also attended the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and received the DIKATSA equivalency in English Literature and the DIKATSA equivalency for her Master’s Degree. Ms. Koufopoulos has also taught English as a Foreign Language at Greek private schools and language schools in Athens at the elementary, middle and high school levels. 

She joined the ACS Athens team in September 2021, as a Substitute Teacher and is currently teaching ESL in the Academy. 

When time allows, Ms. Koufopoulos likes to travel, attend the theater, exercise and spend time with her three teenage sons. 

As an educator, her most treasured inspirational message about children is: 

A child is like a butterfly in the wind.

Some can fly higher than others,

But each one flies the best it can.

Why compare one against the other?

Each one is different.

Each one is special.

Each one is beautiful.   

- Author Unknown

email: koufopouloua@acs.gr

Maria Laiou holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from Baldwin-Wallace University in Ohio and a certificate in College Counseling from UC San Diego; she has also completed coursework towards a master’s degree in Higher Education Leadership with Capella University.  In 2020 she began working at ACS Athens as the Interim Middle School Counselor, and joined the Academy Counseling office as an Academy Guidance Specialist in 2021.  Ms. Laiou has more than 15 years of service in academia, having held advising and leadership positions in Career Services, Student Affairs and Retention at Deree – The American College of Greece. To Maria, the most incredible part of being an educator is having the privilege of guiding students through the amazing adventure of discovering who they are and how their individual traits and talents will help shape our future.

Maria was raised in Cleveland, Ohio and Athens, Greece. 

email: laioum@acs.gr

Dennisse Legorreta was born in Mexico. She studied Communication Science and Hispanic Literature at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City (1989). She also holds a Master's degree in "Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language" (1991).

Mrs. Legorreta has special training in teaching IB & AP Spanish. She has taught them for more than 14 years. She is currently teaching Spanish IB Ab initio years 1 & 2, Spanish B SL/HL years 1 & 2, and Spanish AP. 

Ms. Legorreta loves traveling, dancing, and singing. Animals are her passion. 

email: legorretad@acs.gr

Mr. Lianos was raised in both New York and Athens, Greece. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Maryland, University College and an M.A. in Mass Communications from the University of Leicester. His dissertation focused on the role proximity plays in the reporting of international conflicts.

Prior to joining the ACS Athens faculty, he was an editor and project manager at Macmillan Hellas publishers and edited for the weekly English language newspaper The Hellenic Star. He also handled marketing and communication for Aurion Image and Sound Distributors.

Mr. Lianos currently teaches American Literature Combo 10, Humanities, IB Language and Literature Yr. 2 and Media Literacy, Communication and Production. His students produce The ACS Athens Observer and The Literary Arts Magazine, which showcase student media projects, literature and visual art. He has also held a position at the ACS Athens Writing / Research Studio where he guided students to become more effective, confident and independent writers. 

As always, he is looking forward to the academic year and collaborating with his students.

email: lianosh@acs.gr

Mr. Litsas Panagiotis is a Physical Education teacher and sports scientist and teaches Physical Education at the high school of ACS Athens. He is a graduate of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, he holds a Master’s degree in Kinesiology, which he obtained from the same department, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science from Cardiff Metropolitan University.

His coaching career started a while ago, back in 2007 when he worked as a Special Olympics Weightlifting coach for Panserraikos weightlifting club. Since then, he has worked for various football clubs as an assistant coach, and as a strength and conditioning coach. He is also experienced in the fitness industry, where he worked as a personal trainer, and as a fitness coach. Finally, he has also worked as a Sports Scientist for Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Weightlifting team, during his time as a postgraduate student.

As for his teaching career, he started teaching back in 2018 as a substitute/supply Physical Education Teacher in various schools in Cardiff. The next academic year, he found himself teaching Physical Education back in Greece at the International School of Piraeus, while his teaching journey with ACS Athens started in September of 2022. 

As a young student, he competed in Olympic weightlifting competitions, with his greatest achievement being second place in the National Weightlifting Student Tournament of 2005. Finally, as a university student, he volunteered in various academic conferences and also participated in the conduction of studies, which he later presented in sports science National conferences.

email: litsasp@acs.gr

Anna Makris was born and raised in Athens, Greece, and is an alumna of ACS Athens. Ms. Makris is a Licensed Psychologist and has received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto with a double major in Psychology and Sociology as well as a Master of Science in Psychology from Kingston University. In addition she is trained in psychoeducational diagnostic testing and is one of the founding members of the Educational & Diagnostic Testing Center at ACS Athens.

She began working at ACS Athens in 2012 as an Academic Advisory Specialist and IB CAS Coordinator, assisting Junior and Senior students with the university application process as a whole. Ms. Makris is currently the Academy Counseling Coordinator in the Office of Student Affairs.

email: makrisa@acs.gr

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. McGowan obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies from Northwestern University, a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from Emerson College and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of Buckingham, in the UK.

Mr. McGowan has a vast amount of international experience, particularly in the International Baccalaureate’s Diploma Program.  Since 1999, he has worked in Greece, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, where he has taught IB English B, English A Literature, Language and Literature, AP English and the Theory of Knowledge.  With a keen interest in assessment and curriculum development, he became an IB examiner and workshop leader for both English A and ToK. He has published several articles and videos on integrating ToK into a school’s curriculum, and he co-authored the most recent English B Coursebook published by Hodder Education.  He has held various leadership positions, including ToK Coordinator and Head of English at the International School of Brussels, and BTEC Coordinator at the JESS school in Dubai.  In 2019, he obtained a Certificate of International School Leadership from the Principal’s Training Center in London.

Believing that cross-curricular events enhance student learning, Mr. McGowan has organized several student-centered activities, such as excursions to TEDx Talks, student-led workshops for Brussels area schools and speaker programs where professionals shared their insights into the relationship between education and experience. These initiatives are born from the idea that the more opportunities students have to apply their knowledge, the more enriched they become. 

An avid reader, sports fan and supporter of the arts, Mr. McGowan also enjoys travelling, swimming, cycling and spending time with his family.  He is excited to be joining ACS as the Director of IB and AP Programs because the school’s values of academic excellence, community service and global citizenship are perfectly aligned with his educational philosophy, and he hopes to use his experience to make a valuable contribution to the school community.

email: mcgowanm@acs.gr

Dr. Natalie Mitchell was raised in Louisiana, USA, prior to attending high school at ACS. She earned her BSc. and MSc. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Greenwich, London. While working for the UK National Health Service (NHS) in infectious disease diagnostics, she was awarded Runner-Up Innovation of the Year for the invention and development of a rapid detection method for multi-drug resistant bacteria. She moved to Greece to continue her research in Professor Eleni Giamarellou’s lab at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens at Attikon Hospital, before moving back to the US. At the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University (ASU), she developed recombinant and attenuated vaccines before embarking on a PhD in Microbiology at ASU, where she was the recipient of a prestigious Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Fellowship. Her PhD involved biomarker discovery using mass spectrometry and led to multiple additional patents.

Dr. Mitchell got the “bug” for teaching at ASU, where she taught Biology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Immunology to undergraduates, as well as mentored Capstone and Honors projects. She has co-authored multiple scientific articles with students and hopes to continue doing so at ACS. She has also taught at Grand Canyon University and the Mayo Clinic Medical School in Arizona.

She has over a dozen peer-reviewed scientific publications, has given a number of scientific presentations around the world and is the author of 4 patents.

At ACS Athens, Dr. Mitchell will be teaching Biology 9, IB Biology Yr. 1 and IB Environmental Systems and Society Yr. 2 during the 2022-2023 academic year.

email: mitchelln@acs.gr

Mr. Barrett Nikodym began his higher education in Minnesota, acquiring Bachelor’s degrees in History and Social Studies Education while also obtaining a Master’s degree in History from Saint Cloud State University. Having spent time during his practicum at Munich International School, it was there that he confirmed his deep belief that international education provides a blueprint toward a better future, not just for students but the communities to which they belong as well. After a year of gaining new perspectives and educational experience in various public schools in Minnesota, Mr. Nikodym joined the ACS Athens community in 2019. This will be his fifth year at ACS Athens, and he believes even further that student-centered learning, diversity, and holistic approaches to education found at ACS Athens foster ethically responsible global citizens.

email: nikodymb@acs.gr

Mary Orgianopoulou holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Greek Philology with a major in Greek Language and Byzantine Literature from the Democritus University of Thrace and a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Education from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. This year she has started a second master in Special Education for People with Oral and Written Language Difficulties. Ms. Orgianopoulou has attended various trainings and seminars related to the approach of teaching Greek as a Second or Foreign language.

Ms. Orgianopoulou began teaching the Greek language to refugees and immigrants in Athens and in Samos by funded NGOs. This is her fourth year in the ACS community, and she will be teaching Greek to students of all grades. Ms. Orgianopoulou will continue teaching the Greek Isotimia Program at ACS Athens and the Greek class for the Youth-to-Youth Program. She has taken part in the Cultural Diversity Day project on Metaverse, a collaboration about SDG's between ACS and Hisar School in Istanbul. Ms. Mary Orgianopoulou also serves as an examiner for Greek Citizenship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

email: orgianopouloum@acs.gr

Mrs. Maria Marcela Orrego T. was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She has a Bachelor in Child and Family Pedagogy from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia. She worked for many years in different schools in Bogotá. 

She pursued postgraduate studies in ‘Teaching English as a Foreign Language at the School of Education of the University of Bristol. Her Master’s thesis focused on bilingual education in primary schools, gaining valuable knowledge in the field through her research and coursework. 

From 2003 until 2006, she worked in England as a Senior Nursery Nurse and as a teacher assistant. 

She relocated to Greece in 2007 and has since taken a variety of courses and seminars organized by the Office of Education and Science of the Spanish Embassy in Greece, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and the Asociación de Profesores de Español e Hispanistas en Grecia (ASPE).   

She also completed a web course on teaching Spanish online to children, which focused on the use of digital tools. 

She has extensive experience teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language from 2007 to 2023 in various language schools in Athens.

She is passionate about teaching and assisting her students to grow and become independent learners. She is also committed to creating a positive learning environment.

In her free time, she enjoys traveling, taking walks in nature with her family, and cinema.

email: orregotamayom@acs.gr

Mr. Pakos was born and raised in Athens, Greece. He holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics and a Master of Science degree in Computer Communications And Networks.

He worked for major IT companies (IBM, Lenovo and others) for several years, before he decided to officially enter into the field of education. He has been teaching Mathematics & Computer Science for the past 14 years.

He believes in motivating and inspiring students not only to achieve academic goals but also personal ones. His interests include trekking, reading and woodcarving.

email: pakosc@acs.gr

Danai Papaioannou earned her Bachelor's degree in Greek language and literature from the University of Athens. Upon the completion of her studies, she enrolled in a one-year program at the same university, which resulted in a certificate in Special Education, seeking to gain deeper knowledge in inclusive practices. Ms. Papaioannou also completed extensive training in Mindfulness, as she firmly believes that training our attention to experience the present moment with greater curiosity and kindness helps to provide new possibilities to identify and overcome difficulties. In August 2018, she finished a Master's degree on Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health from King's College London.

Ms. Papaioannou is currently being trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy and is completing her second Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Guglielmo Marconi University of Rome.

Ms. Papaioannou has been a member of ACS Athens since 2015. She has worked as the Student Affairs Officer promoting learning through service and has also served as the Learning Commons Enhancement Programs Coordinator. In addition, she has worked as an Academy/Middle School OLP Specialist, supporting students to develop their talents and build collaborative relationships in their learning environment. Ms. Papaioannou has been an Academy Counseling Specialist since 2020 providing academic support and college guidance while helping students understand and overcome social or behavioral problems through counseling.

email: papaioannoud@acs.gr

Ms. Maria Perez was born in Canary Islands, Spain and studied Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao. Later she moved to Greece and in 2011 she graduated from the Department of Spanish Language and Literature from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece with Honors. In 2014, she completed a Masters degree in "Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language" at the Alcalá de Henares University in Madrid, Spain.

She has done various seminars on "Creative teaching to teenagers" and "Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language" and has also received training to be an examiner at the Cervantes Institute examinations board.

As an educator she has experience working in private language schools in Athens, teaching Spanish to both teenagers and adult students (2008-2015), as well as an Art teacher in summer schools to children of different ages. She has been working in ACS Athens since 2015, and is currently teaching Spanish 1 & 2 in the Middle School and in Academy.

Ms. Perez’s passion as an educator is to help her students find and explore their unique potential as part of the learning process. She also loves every expression of art and nature.  Her goals for the future at ACS are to continue learning from her students using the I²flex methodology in order to motivate the students to work independently during the learning process, finding connections between cultures as conscious citizens of the world and exploring the potential of the AI applied to education.

email: perezm@acs.gr

Ms. Pisanias, has been teaching at ACS Athens since January 1995. While at ACS Athens she has taught both Greek Language B classes and Greek Language & Literature classes. She has taught Modern Greek for the IB Diploma for more than 25 years and currently she is teaching Modern Greek IB Language A: Language and Literature.

Ms. Pisanias holds a Bachelor of Arts in Greek and French Literature from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, a Masters in Translation from Université de Mons-Hainaut & Université Libre de Bruxelles, in Belgium and a Masters in Education from the Hellenic Open University. The postgraduate courses she has taken are in the areas of Child Development, Cross-cultural Education, School Administration and Distance Learning. The subject of her thesis was "Communication and Interaction between students in Distance Education". She also holds a certification in teaching Greek as a Second or Foreign Language from the Aegean University. She has represented the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges as a member of an accreditation Validation Team.

Ms. Pisanias has a passion for education and a strong commitment to student development. While at ACS Athens she has been advisor of the Greek Literary Magazine, the Greek Club and several class Councils. Since September 2017 she has been the Coordinator of the Greek Language Department and currently she is the Division Chair of Greek Language and Literature.

email: pisaniask@acs.gr

Victoria Poulou holds a B.Sc. in Physics and an M.Sc. in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Mechanics from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), with experimental physics dissertations on “total internal reflection evanescent wave” and on ”spectrophotometric study of SLR digital cameras”, respectively. She has contributed to the NKUA telescope observations of the 2004 Venus Transit and the 2006 Total Solar Eclipse outreach missions.

Ms. Poulou has more than 20 years of experience teaching Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology. As the ACS Athens Science Lab Specialist, she contributes into offering meaningful science hands-on laboratory experiences to Academy and Middle School students, including the preparation and conduction of science labs, the support of IB Internal Assessments and Extended Essays, the management of inventories of instruments, materials, and online resources, and the facilitation of new materials’ acquisition. Ms. Poulou has also worked with ACS students in various capacities such as BMAT/UCAT instructor, Math & Science Studio teacher and After-School Enhancement Program teacher.

Ms. Poulou has been a member of the ACS Athens Artificial Intelligence Task Force contributing into a holistic K-12 AI Framework for the education of the future. She has also guided the students of the spACS program to design Physics experiments that were conducted in space in May and December 2019 inside Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule, as well as to analyze and evaluate the relevant scientific data. She is a co-author of educational articles published in the European Distance and E-Learning Network Proceedings (2019) and the International Schools Journal (2022). Ms. Poulou regularly attends conferences and other educational events including the ”Humanity and Artificial Intelligence” conference (2021), the ”Tomorrow is another STREAM day” conference (2019), the ”Creating Conditions for Deeper Learning in Science” conference (2019), as well the ”Athens Re-Science Festival” as a member of the ACS Athens Academy team (2019).

email: poulouv@acs.gr

Ms. Dimitra Psoma holds a Greek Language and Literature Bachelor’s Degree from the National University of Athens (Greece) majoring in Linguistics, and a Master of Arts in Translation from the University of New Hampshire (USA). This is her eighth year at ACS Athens.

Ms. Psoma has been teaching English and Greek to students of all levels, as well as preparing students for their university Entrance Exams for 14 years. Last year, she taught the Greek 2 as Language B to Academy Students. This year, she is teaching Greek to elementary students from kindergarten to-5th grade and Greek 5, which is a course offered to Academy students who have achieved Greek proficiency and wish to further strengthen their language skills. Ms. Psoma has successfully completed a 9-month seminar offered by the Aegean University under the subject: Greek as a Second/Foreign Language.

email: psomad@acs.gr

Dr. Prodromidi earned a B.Sc. in Cell & Molecular Biology from the University of Essex, UK. She then continued her graduate studies at Imperial College London, UK, where she obtained a M.Sc. in Immunology and a Ph.D. with a full scholarship in Renal Medicine and Stem Cell Biology. She has worked in research and her scientific work has been presented in conferences world-wide, and has been acknowledged numerous times with international awards, such as the Best New Scientist (2006, UK). She has also published articles in scientific journals and co-authored books.

After the completion of her post-graduate studies and since her return to Greece, Dr. Prodromidi has worked both as a research scientist and an educator. To her, teaching means inspiration, creativity, and even a challenge to pass on knowledge and ethos to every student. Her teaching experience ranges from middle school students through university students.  Additionally, she has co-authored the textbook and the handbook of research entitled "Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning through the i2Flex Classroom, a novel pedagogical approach of teaching and learning first established at ACS Athens. Dr. Prodromidi is an IB examiner in Biology and has been a Faculty member at ACS Athens teaching IB Biology and IB Environmental Systems and Societies since 2010. Currently, she is also the Chair of Division of Science K-12 at ACS Athens.

email: prodromidie@acs.gr

Ifigeneia Rodopoulou was born and raised in Athens Greece. She is a professional with studies and experience in Secondary Education and College Counseling. Her bachelor’s degree is in Pedagogy, Psychology and Philosophy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, her master’s degree in Special Education at the University of Nicosia and she holds a certificate in College Counseling from UC San Diego. Ms. Rodopoulou has obtained many skills and strategies from seminars and extended studies, guiding students on their academic path not only as a Secondary teacher but also as an Academic Advisor. Experience has proven that she can effectively communicate with students from various backgrounds and age groups and provide psychological support to students, parents, and teachers that deal with academic and behavioral needs. 

Ms. Rodopoulou has been a member of ACS Athens since 2017 employed as Advisory Teacher for grades 11 & 12, Special Educator and Online Instructor for the ACS Athens Institute. Alongside, she has worked as Secondary Teacher in a Greek Special Education School in Ilioupoli, which provides education for children with special educational needs and as Digital Storytelling teacher at ACS Athens Summer Camp. Her experience as an educator has been multidimensional as she has been working with students from various backgrounds. Her work always prioritizes student’s wellness in a multicultural environment that respects educational values and gives the opportunity to students to thrive and become strong and independent people.

email: rodopouloui@acs.gr

Ms. Labrini Rontogiannis was born and raised in Montreal, Canada and moved to Athens in 2004. She earned a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Education, both from McGill University. Ms. Rontogiannis has also received a M.Ed. specializing in Educational Technology at the University of Calgary.

Ms. Rontogiannis has been teaching for 22 years, 19 of those at ACS Athens.  She has taught Language Arts, Science and Health in both the Middle School and Academy. She has also been teaching both blended and online using the Moodle platform since 2007. Most recently, she was the Educational Technology and ACS Athens Virtual Coordinator. 

Ms. Rontogiannis takes pride in getting involved in all aspects of student life; both in and out of the classroom. Among leading clubs and activities, she has been a volleyball coach for over 20 years, both in Montreal public schools as well as the ACS Athens Varsity Girls Volleyball coach. 

Ms Rontogiannis has also taken part in many professional development opportunities both in Athens and abroad, as well as presented her own work at a number of conferences. In 2014, she presented at the ICALT conference in Athens, and was the recipient of the Best Poster Award. Ms Rontogiannis authored a chapter in the 2016 publication "Revolutionizing K-12 Blended Learning through i2Flex Classroom Model” as well as in the 2021 publication “Handbook of Research on K-12 Blended  and Virtual Learning Through  the i²Flex Classroom Model”. She has also written a number of articles for both ACS Athens school publications Ethos and Lancers Illustrated. On the virtual learning front, she has designed and implemented both the Virtual Health course that she has been teaching since 2014, as well as the eighth grade i2Flex Health course that she both designed and taught. She has also designed and taught online courses through ACS Athens Virtual. She is presently working on her ISTE Certification.

email: rontogiannisl@acs.gr

Philippos Elias Saccopoulos holds a B.Sc in Sports Management from the American College of Greece and a M.Sc in Counselling and Psychotherapy and is working towards a PhD in Psychology from the University of Bolton.

Having received training in counselling and psychology, Philippos worked as a counselling psychologist at the American College of Greece in 2020-2021. Philippos has decided to pursue a career in education to enable students to become the best version of themselves. To Philippos, being the Academy Advisory teacher for 9th and 10th grade students is a privilege as these are critical periods in shaping a student's future.  

email: saccopoulosp@acs.gr

Ms. Katerina Saini studied and received her bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Patras, Greece. She earned a Master's degree in Special Education from Bridgewater State University, MA, in 2014.

For five years, she taught mathematics and special education in the United States to grades 6 to 12. She holds a Massachusetts teaching license in both Special Education and Mathematics for Grades 5-12. Throughout her career, she had the opportunity to teach students from different educational and cultural backgrounds and she is experienced in developing different strategies and approaches by identifying each student’s unique learning style. She has also worked as an instructional skills coach for the after school program Coaching for Change, in Taunton, MA.

She has been a member of ACS Athens since 2019. This year she will be teaching Algebra 2 and Trigonometry Honors and Geometry with Algebraic Topics in the Academy, as well as Pre Algebra 7 in the Middle School. In the previous years, she taught Algebra 2 and Trigonometry Regular, Heart of Mathematics, Statistics and Business Mathematics, Geometry with Algebraic Topics Regular and Pre Algebra 7. In addition, she has been a Mathematics Competition Coach for grades 2 and 4-6 and she has co-designed and co-taught the Summer Scholars Academy Course "Math Explorations'' addressed to Middle School students.

email: sainia@acs.gr

Ms. Faye Sinos holds dual citizenship from Greece and the United States, where she resided for 12 years. She earned her Master's degree in Applied Educational Psychology at the American College of Greece, where she also completed her Bachelor's degree in Psychology. Her background in psychology has had a significant influence on the support and guidance she offers to students to ensure their success and well-being.

During her Master's placement, she provided academic support to students with learning differences by implementing specific strategies and interventions for middle school and high school students at the International School of Athens. She also has experience working with elementary school students, where she instructed social and emotional lessons to help them develop their social skills, self-confidence, and independence.

Ms. Sinos joined ACS Athens in May 2022 and has spent two years working in the ACS Summer Camp as an Administrative Assistant and Coordinator for the primary groups. In the previous year, she taught the Academic Advisory course for 9th and 10th graders, offering guidance on course selection and career paths while providing social-emotional support. She will now be teaching the Academic Advisory course for grades 11 and 12.

email: sinosf@acs.gr

Sophia Stella Soseilos is the Visual and Performing Arts Division Chair of ACS Athens since 2018. At the same time she is a High school Art Teacher and an IB Visual Arts Instructor. She has been to ACS Athens since 2012. She is a Greek Cypriot who was born in Germany, lived in Cyprus, studied in South Africa and moved to Greece in 1995. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from WITS University, South Africa, majoring in Painting and Theater Design and a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Western Macedonia, in Greece.

She has worked as an Artist, Art Teacher, Interior Designer and Stage Designer for numerous theaters and TV Set Productions in Greece and Cyprus. She is also an author. She has short stories published in two books. Her book "When Color and Forms Become Words" was published in 2021. Most importantly Sophia Stella Soseilos has a passion for teaching Art. She embraces diversity, and has a great way of motivating and introducing creativity and design thinking into the education space. She is able to connect and communicate with her students. She defines targets and strategies and has the ability to convert vision to execution.

email: soseiloss@acs.gr

Mr. Christos Stachikas was raised in Athens, Greece, and Miami, FL, in the United States, where he graduated from high school.

Following his return to Athens in 2010, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Science and Physical Education from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with a Specialty Diploma in Biology of Exercise. In May of 2020, he completed his postgraduate studies, earning a Master’s Degree in "Applied and Molecular Physiology" from the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. 

In 2016 Mr. Stachikas served his military duty in the Greek Presidential Guard, the honorary unit of the Hellenic Armed Forces. He has also been working as a professional basketball coach for nine years, the past three coaching for the Panathinaikos BC Academy. 

Mr. Stachikas is entering his fifth year in the ACS Academy, teaching Sport, Exercise and Health Science, and Health and Physical Education.

email: stachikasc@acs.gr

She earned both her Bachelor and Master's degrees while completing the extended program in Applied Mathematics and Studies of Science from the National Technical University (NTUA) of Athens. She then went on to complete a second Master’s Degree in Applied Mathematics, majoring in Mathematical Analysis. Having identified a distinct passion in her field, Dr. Stamati successfully earned her Ph.D. in Systems Theory from the NTUA on a full scholarship from the Papakyriakopoulos Foundation. She has published numerous articles in academic journals such as IEEE, Transactions on Automatic Control, International Schools Journal, and many more. During her Doctoral Dissertation, she lectured in various schools, such as:

• the School of Applied Mathematics and Studies of Science of NTUA.
• the University of West Attica
• the School of Engineering Officers of the Greek Army

After attaining her Ph.D., she worked as:

• a Visiting Professor in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, at the Department of Economics,
• a Scientific Associate in the University of West Attica
• and as an Instructor in the School of Greek Navy Cadets.

She has taught Calculus, MATH 100, Linear Algebra, Optimal Control, Higher Mathematics, and Programming Software such as MatLab and Mathematica. She has also participated in research programs focused on the design, development, and implementation of mathematical algorithms. Dr. Stamati started working at ACS in 2013.

She is also the ECIS Ambassador (Educational Collaborative for International Schools) and Co Coordinator of the Professional Development Team at ACS Athens. 

Dr. Stamati has received the University of Chicago's Outstanding Educator Award.

She is also an IB Examiner.

This year she will be teaching IB Mathematics Analysis and Approaches HL Y2, SL Y1 and Algebra 2 and Trigonometry. 

She is enthusiastic and eager to share her love of mathematics, and she aims to transfer this enthusiasm to her students on a daily basis. Her motto is "The only way to learn Mathematics is to do Mathematics" - Paul Halmos.

email: stamatia@acs.gr

Ms. Natasha Stratoglou is a Modern Languages educator. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in French Literature from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Master’s Degree in Cultural Institutions Management from the Greek Open University. 

Post-graduate work includes studies in Human Development at the University of La Verne, Athens extension, Writing Across the Curriculum at the University of Berkeley, Athens extension, Education at the Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has been a member of the ACS Athens faculty since 1990. She has taught in all three education levels, French and Greek as a native, second, or foreign language. 

She has served as a Middle School Foreign Language Coordinator, Middle School Yearbook Advisor, French Trip advisor, French Club, Greek Club advisor, and Cairo Exchange advisor.

She is a member of the Greek Applied Linguistics Association. She has attended IB Middle Years Program conferences in Athens and Istanbul, several Learning Differences Conferences, and NESA Conferences. She has presented her work at two conferences for graduate students of Museum Studies organized by the Kapodistrian University of Athens, Museum Research section.

Ms. Stratoglou is a firm believer in lifelong learning. Her most recent professional development work is the yearly course in “Teaching Greek as a second and foreign language” from the Aegean University.

Through her experience and knowledge, she supports, encourages, and inspires children. She is an enthusiastic, motivating teacher that creates diverse, exciting, and provoking challenges to promote learning.

email: stratogloun@acs.gr

Ms. Louisa Stylianidi has a Masters Degree in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, University of London, for which she received an excellence award and scholarship from the Leventis Museum in Cyprus and she holds a BA Honours in Fine Art from Kingston University, a teaching qualification from the Athens School of Fine Arts and has received merit-based bursaries to further her education in courses at the Royal Drawing School, London. She was born in Cyprus and lived in London for eight years, where she taught students from different age groups. She has taught in London and Athens and has also taught and designed lessons for the schools programme of the University for the Creative Arts, UK.  

Ms. Stylianidi has also taught drawing and painting to refugees and sculpture to blind and visually impaired students and holds a qualification in Braille. In 2018-2019 she lectured at Liverpool Hope University, where she was an artist in residence. She is a practising artist with a concentration on sculpture, poetry and drawing and has recently illustrated a poetry book which can be found at the National Library of Greece. She has gone on artist residencies in Denmark and Cyprus and has taken part in exhibitions in Cyprus, London, New York and Athens. 

This is Ms. Stylianidi’s third year at ACS and she believes in a classroom where the students can be researchers as well as active and curious learners through a material-based approach, where they are able to learn about art movements through creating themselves.

email: stylianidil@acs.gr

Dr. Evan Syropoulos is an accomplished educator, researcher, and an IB and AP Capstone-certified teacher, with a unique interdisciplinary academic background spanning English Literature, Critical Theory, and the Performing Arts. He earned his BA in English Language and Literature (1995), his MA in English Literature and Culture (1999), and his PhD in Musical Theater (2008) from the School of English Language and Literature of Aristotle University. He conducted postdoctoral research and/ or taught literature and theater courses at Aristotle University, Ghent University (Belgium), and Goldsmiths College (University of London). His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals in Greece, Belgium, and the UK. 

His commitment to advancing his teaching methodology led him to become a College Board-certified AP Capstone teacher in 2017, after training at McBride High School, Long Beach CA. In 2019, he further honed his skills at the AERO Summer Institute at Marymount University, Virginia, receiving training in the English Language Arts AERO standards. 

In 2016, he began his impactful journey at ACS Athens, initially working as the Writing/ Research Studio Coordinator and then primarily teaching IB English A: Literature, IB English A: Language and Literature, and IB Theory of Knowledge. In 2019, he joined the ACS Athens Institute as Fellow, designing and teaching an online course in English Literature for ACS Athens Virtual. From September 2022, he also serves as Division Chair of Language and Literature. This year, he teaches IB English A: Literature Yr. 1 and Yr. 2 and IB English A: Language and Literature Yr. 1 and Yr. 2. 

Currently, Dr. Syropoulos is also collaborating with Ms. Sophia Thanopoulou on the development of the Inquiry and Performance Learning Model (IPLM). This endeavor marries his love for literature, theater, and teaching, underscoring his commitment to pioneering effective and engaging teaching methods.

email: syropoulose@acs.gr

Ms. Thanopoulou received her degree in Theater Studies from the National University of Athens and a Master of Arts in Physical Theater from the universities of Surrey & Royal Holloway University of London.

She is a trained performer and dancer and has appeared in numerous venues, including the Athens Concert Hall, Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, and the Opening Ceremony for the Athens Olympics 2004. She worked in a wide variety of capacities in the theater before discovering her love for teaching in 2004.

Ms. Thanopoulou holds a teaching license from the University of Athens and from the Teaching Council UK (QTS), where she first started teaching and built the programs for A Level and BTEC Drama & Performing Arts in 3 different inner-city London schools. She started at ACS Athens in 2007, and since then, she has developed the curriculum for Middle School and Academy Drama and the syllabi for IB Theater; she has directed 18 full-scale student productions as well as numerous smaller performance projects; she has been responsible for the school’s participation in the Panhellenic Forensics Tournaments, yielding many distinctions every year; she is the principal coach of the Duet Acting team and every year offers a variety of performance-related extracurriculars; she has shared her insights and experience in conferences like ECIS and the Learning Differences Conference. She is a firm believer in the power of arts in education and does everything in her power to address her students’ creative needs and celebrate their talents.

email: thanopoulous@acs.gr

Ms. Xenia Thomopoulos has worked as an English Literature Educator in New York City public schools for the past 11 years. This has allowed her to develop, write, and teach curricula in an array of secondary courses including AP Literature, 10-12th grade English, as well as electives-style courses such as Filmmaking, Photography, & Philosophy. She has been a High School Advisor and Department Lead; she initiated inter-school debates, and has acted as a film liaison with Tribeca Teaches Film Institute and the Museum of the Moving Image, among others, to help produce & screen student films.

Ms. Xenia Thomopoulos earned her B.A. in Communications & Media / Film Studies and English Literature. She worked in Fashion PR right after university, but then pursued an M.A. in English Literature and Adolescent Education. She was very lucky to have incredible mentors who exposed her to Competency-Based Education and Project Based Learning — pedagogical approaches that she believes reach a plethora of learners through real-world skills & relevant projects. This type of learning promotes transparency, cohesive school-wide alignment, builds community and transformative classrooms. In her previous schools, she worked in teams to vertically and horizontally align these school-wide outcomes across subject areas and mentored new teachers on these approaches. She has also attended PD at The National Coalition for English Teachers, BluePrint for the Moving Image, and PBL World, and presented at conferences such as The NYC Writing Project, the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools, & Competency Collaborative’s Summer Institutes. Topics she has presented on include: Student Centered Active Learning: Teacher as Coach; Flexible Pacing for Remote Learning; Assessing Student Work Using Standards Based Grading Through Discussion; Mastery & PBL through Hybrid Learning: a Carousel of Projects and Products. 

Ms. Thomopoulos is incredibly passionate about blending the traditional with the innovative and in creating nurturing spaces for self-advocacy. It is here where educators can act as facilitators to guide students to become independent, yet conscious thinkers, ethically minded global citizens, and compassionate risk-takers. She is, thus, thrilled and honored to join the ACS team where this environment already exists and excited to see what is to come. This year, Ms. Thomopoulos will be teaching Combo 9: Europe & the World and Perspectives in Language & Literature in the classroom and Virtual.

email: thomopoulosx@acs.gr

Dr. Vassiliki Torega possesses a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Patras. She further holds an M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from the National Technical University of Athens, as well as a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.

During her PhD studies, she taught several undergraduate courses in Mathematics at the University of Manchester and she was awarded with the AFHEA qualification for professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education. She also worked in a collaborative effort organised by universities across the United Kingdom that aims to prepare high school students for university admission tests.

Dr. Torega has recently started her career as a school teacher. She has taught IB Mathematics and prepared middle school students for mathematical competitions.

email: toregav@acs.gr

Dr. Liana Tsigaridi holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics, from the University of Patras, with the highest grade of the graduation year and award from the State Scholarships Foundation, a M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics, from the Technical University of Athens, a second M.Sc. in Astrophysics, from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Applied Mathematics, from the NKUA, in the field of Galactic Dynamics on a full scholarship from the Leventis Foundation.

Dr. Tsigaridi has participated in many Research Programs funded by the Academy of Athens in collaboration with the Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics (RCAAM), with publications in peer reviewed scientific journals and presence in numerous conferences. She has also participated as a visiting researcher in the project "Galactic Potential Extraction" at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Munich, Germany.

Dr. Tsigaridi has been teaching Mathematics for over 17 years. She has been an Academy and IB/AP Faculty at ACS Athens since 2017. This year she will be teaching IB Mathematics AA SL, AP Statistics and Geometry with Algebraic Topics. She is also an IB Mathematics examiner. 

In parallel with her academic studies Dr. Tsigaridi has also completed degrees in Music and Dance. She plays the Piano and the Viola and has been a member of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Athens since 1991. She is also a member of the Hellenic Astronomical Society (Hel.A.S.) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

email: tsigaridil@acs.gr

Ms. Mary Weston was born in Athens, Greece and  raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She holds a B.A. in Literature from Bard College (2012) and a M.A.T. in Secondary English Education from Brown University (2017). Mary taught in the School District of Philadelphia for six years prior to joining ACS, using the IB curricular framework for teaching and learning for five of those years. While in Philadelphia, Mary primarily taught 10th grade IB MYP English and Theory of Knowledge 1 and 2, while also serving as Model UN Advisor and Student Council Advisor. At ACS, she is thrilled to be utilizing her IB experience while teaching IB Language & Literature and Theory of Knowledge 1 and 2. 

Mary particularly enjoys working with students on their critical thinking, discussion, and written communication skills, both in academic and creative capacities. She believes in the power of education to connect and transform individuals and communities, and feels humbled to play a part in each individual student's process. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cycling, and spending as much time outdoors as possible!

email: westonm@acs.gr

Ms. Wang is originally from Taiwan. She obtained her Bachelor's Degree from the National Taipei Institute of the Arts (1994), where she studied Piano Performance, Violin Performance as well as Chinese Language and Literature. She has won the 2nd prize in Taiwan Piano Competition. Ms. Wang also trained at Luebeck Musikhochschule in Germany and obtained her Masters's Degree in Piano Performance (1998). Each summer Ms. Wang travels to Taiwan and participates in the seminar "Chinese Language Research". In the summer of 2009, she obtained a certification following a 2-month course “Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language” from Tunghai University. In Taiwan and Germany, she worked as a teacher, teaching Chinese Language and Piano Performance. She has 27 years of experience teaching Chinese and 26 years of experience teaching Piano Performance. Ms. Wang joined ACS Athens in 2007.

email: wangy@acs.gr

Ms. Zavacopoulou was born in London, but was raised in Athens and attended a British international school. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in European Social and Political Studies, a four-year course with majors in History, French and Italian from University College London (2004), and a Masters degree in Journalism from University of Westminster, London (2008).

A qualified secondary school teacher, she taught French and Spanish in an inner city London school through Teach First, a ground-breaking graduate training program that combines two years teaching in challenging London schools with business and leadership training. She also worked as a substitute teacher in over 20 different London schools in long-term and short-term placements for a further two years.

She joined the ACS Athens team in 2010 and started working in the Writing/Research Studio, where she helped and advised students on a variety of written assignments. She has since been involved in many aspects of school life: she coaches the ACS Athens Academy and Middle School debate teams, has participated in the Mentorship Program and has co-presented a workshop at the NESA Conference. With her teaching partner she has also developed and taught authentic Humanities courses for ACS Athens Virtual. Currently she is teaching IB TOK Senior Seminar, team-teaching Humanities and Grade 9 Europe and the World, as well as serving as Division Chair for Social Studies, K-12.

email: zavacopouloua@acs.gr

Ms. Armodorou holds a Masters in Health Psychology from Middlesex University in London and a Bachelor degree in Psychology at the University of Plymouth, UK. For her Master's placement, she worked as an advisor at Edgware Hospital in London and for her Bachelor's degree she worked for a year as a Support Worker at the National Center for Young People with Epilepsy and associated conditions in Surrey, UK.

She has been a member of ACS Athens since October 2019. She started as an Optimal Learning Program (OLP) testing supervisor making sure that the accommodations fit were in place for academic tests and assessments. For the past three academic years, she has been working as an OLP aide in class for Middle and High School helping students achieve their academic goals and work towards their independence. She has been in charge of the ISP (Individual Support Plan) service in OLP ensuring that teachers and students apply the accommodations granted.

Prior to ACS Athens, she worked at Broadfields Primary School as a Specialist Unqualified Teacher for children with Autism in a specialist provision within a mainstream school. She worked as an Autism advisor for mainstream children and offered children with low self-esteem Psychological Support to promote emotional and social balance. She also taught dance lessons using improvisation based on the curriculum for the mainstream children. She was the initiator for Autism Awareness across the mainstream school. She was trained in Macaton sign language and delivered sessions across the provision setting. She also introduced Reverse Inclusion to allow neurotypical children to explore Autism. She created and designed a sensory-friendly program delivered in a theme-based environment for children with Autism to meet their sensory needs, make them feel safe and regulated.

She worked at the Annunciation Catholic Infant School in London offering learning, emotional and speech/ language support to mainstream children who had a diagnosis.

email: armodoroua@acs.gr

Ms. Androniki Manoli earned her Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Pedagogy, and Psychology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2015). She holds a Master’s degree in Special Educational Needs from the University of Leeds, UK (2017).

Ms. Manoli has been working at ACS Athens since 2021 as a Shadow Teacher and a LEP Instructor. This is her first year as OLP Elem/MS/Academy Inclusion Specialist, supporting students in OLP in all three schools by collaborating closely with faculty in a co-teaching model to ensure that differentiation is being implemented.    

 Prior to that, she worked as a Special Educator in the UK where she practiced evidence-based interventions for students with neurodevelopmental disorders. She has also worked at the Amsterdam International Community School as a Learning Support Teacher, where she built expertise in differentiation and inquiry-based approach. During her undergraduate degree, she volunteered at SOS Children’s Villages by implementing psycho-educational activities to enhance the emotional, social, and cognitive skills of children aged 4-7 years old. While in the UK and the Netherlands, Ms. Manoli taught Greek as a second/ foreign language.

Ms. Manoli has also attended several seminars and professional development workshops some of which include, ECIS, “Applied Behavior Analysis”, “Refugee and Immigrant Education and Support: Intercultural Views and Practical Applications”, “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Intervention”, among others. She speaks Greek, English, and Spanish.

She is adept at creating a positive difference in her student’s learning development by promoting a socially just, multicultural classroom environment that delivers meaningful and long-lasting results for a diverse range of needs and interests. She is passionate about implementing inclusive teaching strategies as differentiation empowers all students to reach their maximum potential. Finally, Ms. Manoli is fond of surfing, hiking, and art exhibitions.

email: manolia@acs.gr