Language & Literature
User Links →Dr. Evangelos Syropoulos holds a BA in English Language and Literature (1995), an MA in English Literature and Culture (1999), and a Ph.D. in Musical Theatre (2008) from the School of English of Aristotle University, Greece. He conducted postdoctoral research and/ or taught drama/ theatre 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. He is also a College Board-certified AP Capstone teacher, receiving his training at McBride High School, Long Beach, CA, in 2017.
At ACS Athens, he worked for four years as a Writing/ Research Studio Coordinator, helping students develop their writing and research skills. He also taught IB English A: Literature, IB English A: Language and Literature, IB Theory of Knowledge Senior Seminar, and Film Writing/ Production.
This year, he teaches IB English A: Literature Yr. 1 and Yr. 2 and IB English A: Language and Literature Yr. 2 while serving as Division Chair of Language and Literature.
Dr. Syropoulos also joined the ACS Athens Institute as a Fellow, designing and teaching an online course in English Literature for ACS Athens Virtual.
email: syropoulose@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
Dr. Jenny Grigoropoulos 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.
She received her M.A. degree in International Management and Business Administration, in 1992 and 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. Grigoropoulos 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. Grigoropoulos has 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, she is the ESL/EFL K-12 Coordinator.
email: grigoropoulouj@acs.gr
Ms. Sophia Tsinakis was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She has earned a Master's in Elementary Education and a K-12 English Language Learners endorsement at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology - with a minor in Art Therapy - from Lesley University in Cambridge Massachusetts.
After teaching for four years at an innovative elementary public school in Nashville, Ms. Tsinakis joined the ACS Athens faculty in 2018, originally teaching first grade during the 2018-2019 academic year and fifth grade during the past academic year. For the present academic year, she looks forward to furthering the aims of ACS Athens in the newly created position of Literacy Coordinator. The ultimate objective of the literacy program is the development of readers and writers across the grade levels. To this end, she will facilitate the development of an ongoing collaborative literacy learning culture that will align reading and writing curriculums (including Phonics and Grammar). Moreover, she will champion teachers to support students in writing with fluency for an audience, about topics they care about. Last, but not least, she is committed to contributing to the development of excellent online literacy learning at ACS Athens.
Ms. Tsinakis has a great passion for teaching and her priority as an educator of young minds is to assist children of diverse backgrounds to find meaning, passion, and direction in their educational experience, and ultimately in their lives. Ms. Tsinakis is committed to fostering, inspiring, and sustaining high levels of authentic learning in all students as a path through which they become active, compassionate, independent, and global learners. The principles and inspiration of Lucy Calkins and the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project have been a guiding influence in her pursuit of refining and growing her literacy instruction.
Ms. Tsinakis has a strong professional interest in curriculum design and professional development. Specifically, she has served as a scope and sequence writer for Metro Nashville Public Schools, was a member of the vertical K-4 planning team, and has led literacy workshops at the school and district levels. During the past two years, she provided ongoing literacy professional development in and outside of ACS Athens. In particular, she created and presented a professional workshop at the Pinewood American International School in Thessaloniki and one (in collaboration with Evi Eyloyias of ACS Athens) at the American Farm School in Thessaloniki. She served on the ACS Athens Elementary Literacy Team and implemented the balanced literacy model of instruction in her classrooms. Furthermore, in collaboration with her curriculum partner Laura Kollintzas of ACS Athens, she reshaped the Grade 5 literacy curriculum and augmented it with new components, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Throughout her career, Ms. Tsinakis has participated in various professional development seminars and webinars. For example, she attended the Teachers' College Reading and Writing Project Unit of Study seminar in Atlanta (December 2015); the English Language Learners Summer Institute of Metro Nashville Public Schools (June 2016); and the Teachers' College Reading and Writing Project Writing Institute: Grades K-8 (July 2017) in Barcelona. Most recently, she attended the virtual institute by Teachers' College Reading and Writing Project, Teaching Literacy Virtually and with Magic: Grades K-8 (April 2020). Additionally, she attended a number of webinars by Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project: Building Schoolwide Excellence in Reading and Writing (December 2019); Deepening Reading Comprehension Across Complete Texts, based on Jennifer Serravallo's research and education theory (May 2020) and by Chapters International - Coaching in Education: What it is, What it isn't, and Why Coaching is Essential by Jim Knight (May 2020); and The Power of Making Thinking Visible (June 2020) by Ron Ritchhart and March Church.
While teaching in Nashville, she was a finalist for the Teacher of the Year, recognized as a Literacy Leader by the District Director of Literacy, was interviewed and observed by the National Public Radio program, Mind/Shift, and one of her guided reading lessons was filmed by the district as an example of exemplary reading instruction. Additionally, she collaborated in the SAIL Project (Survey, Analyze, Infer, Link) with education researcher Kathy Ganske of Peabody College to pioneer innovative and engaging word study instruction. She was featured in the November/December 2016 edition of The Reading Teacher, in the article SAIL: A Framework for Promoting Next-Generation Word Study by Kathy Ganske. Moreover, she is a contributing writer in the 2018 published revision of Word Sorts and More by Kathy Ganske.
email: tsinakiss@acs.gr