ACS Athens: American Community Schools

Antonia Hapsis-Ladas, Principal

Ms. Antonia Hapsis-Ladas has been selected to undertake the challenging position of ACS Athens Academy Principal, with the charge to promote quality teaching and learning.  Ms. Hapsis-Ladas earned an MA in Administration and Supervision and a BS in Education from Seton Hall University in New Jersey.  She has been an administrator for more than ten years, serving as Assistant Principal and Principal in schools in New Jersey, California and Greece.  She holds an administration certificate and a teaching certificate from both the State of New Jersey and California. 

Prior to becoming an administrator, Ms. Hapsis-Ladas taught Elementary and Middle School students for over ten years.  She also has experience in working with English as Foreign Language students, as well as preparing students for the TOEFL examination.   She is a member of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, and The Association of California Administration. She speaks Spanish, English and Greek, and most importantly understands and appreciates both the American and Greek cultures and educational systems.

email: hapsisa@acs.gr

phone: 210.639.3200 ext.222

Frances Tottas, Administrative Assistant

Ms. Tottas is the Administrative Assistant at ACS Athens Academy. She holds her B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Maryland.

Ms. Tottas has been at ACS for twenty three years. 

At ACS she has held the following positions: Business Office, Elementary School Clerk, Middle School Principals Secretary, Academy/Middle School Building Secretary. 

Frances is also an alumni of ACS.  She graduated from ACS in 1982 having attended from 1980-1982. 

email: tottasf@acs.gr  

phone: 210.639.3200 ext. 222

Leigh Anderson, Library Coordinator

Ms. Anderson received a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Douglass College, an Master of Science from Rutgers University in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University in Finance. 

She is the library manager for the Elementary and the Academy/MS Libraries.

email: andersonl@acs.gr

Heike Arnold, Foreign Language Teacher, German

Angelo Athanasopoulos (EdD.), Computers & Business EconomicsTeacher

Angelo has earned a B.Sc. in Political Science from Northeastern University in 1993. He earned his M.Sc. in Education from the University of Massachusetts in 1995 specializing in Curriculum Development and Teaching. He earned his Doctoral Degree from Boston University in 2003 specializing in Educational Media & Technology.  

While working towards his degrees he worked for one year at the K-9 Boston Renaissance Charter School as the director for technology and for two years as Boston Public School teacher at Dorchester, MA teaching computers, desktop publishing and web development. At the same time he taught undergraduate education related courses as adjunct faculty in various US institutions of higher learning. Upon coming to Greece in 2004 he taught in six different universities as an affiliated lecturer.

At ACS Athens he teaches mathematics and Information technology courses, along with American Studies and business economics. He also works with the technology department to find new ways to design, develop and utilize new educational media to infuse technology in the learning process.

email: athanasopoulosa@acs.gr

Dionysia Balaskas, English Teacher

Ms. Dionysia Balaskas holds a Master of Arts Degree in Literature from the University of Indianapolis and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the American College of Greece (Deree College).  She was raised in Florida, USA, and returned to Greece completing her high school education at ACS.

 She has held the position of registrar at the University of Indianapolis, Athens campus, and was also a lecturer of English on English Composition, Western World Literature, and Contemporary American Poetry.

 She is currently teaching 9^th grade English and Themes in World Literature.

email: balaskasd@acs.gr

Dr. Andreas Boukas, Mathematics Teacher

email: boukasa@acs.gr

Carrie Brinkman, Mathematics Teacher (Academy and Middle School)

Ms. Brinkman was raised in a small town in central Minnesota.  She earned a degree in Mathematics from the College of Saint Benedict and moved to Guatemala where she volunteered for two and a half years with a humanitarian organization.  While there, Ms. Brinkman tutored middle school students in English and math and returned to the U.S. to pursue a career in teaching.  

She earned a degree in Mathematics Teaching from St. Cloud State University and a Master of Education from Saint Mary’s University.  She holds a 5-12 Mathematics license, taught secondary mathematics in Minneapolis, Minnesota for six years before coming to Greece.   This is Ms. Brinkman’s second year at ACS and she is teaching Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 at the Academy and Math 7 in the Middle School.

email: brinkmanc@acs.gr

Marca Daley, English Teacher

Marca Daley earned a B.A. in English from UMass, Amherst, and an M.A. in Writing / Writing about Literature from Northeastern University.   She has also completed post-graduate study at the University of California - Berkeley (Extension) and is an approved instructor for the National Writing Project.   She has been a faculty member at ACS Athens since 1982 and as well as holding several administrative positions, has been a teacher of English, Social Studies, Theory of Knowledge, Chorus, Speech and Drama.  She currently teaches 9^th grade English, Speech and IB English. 

email: daleym@acs.gr

Tina Dellas, Science Teacher

Ms. Dellas finished high school in Minnesota and went to Oberlin College on a National Merit Scholarship, receiving the Bachelor of Arts in Biology.  At UMass Amherst she earned the master’s degree in Botany. In Athens, she completed the Master of Arts in Psychology from Ball State University. 

At the University of Athens she pursued Doctoral Research on the evolutionary relationships of the Hawaiian Drosophila, in collaboration with New York University, work which was published in Roux’s Archives of Developmental Biology.  At Boston University School of Education, she pursued further coursework in the teaching of science, and has presented workshops at the National Science Teachers’ Association and NESA.

Her special interest in ecology and field biology has led her to study diverse ecosystems at summer programs at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, the University of Colorado Arctic and Alpine Research Station, the University of Michigan Biological Research Station, and others.

email: dellast@acs.gr

Mandy Dragatakis, Educational Planning

A native of Athens, Ms. Dragatakis following the completion of her schooling at Athens College-HAEF, she graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with a BA in English studies with a direction in literature.

She has completed her M. Ed in Psychology of Education at the University of Manchester. Ms. Dragatakis has worked as a tutor of English as a Foreign Language for Elementary and Middle school students. She has worked at ACS as a teacher assistant for Academic Advisory (9th - 10 grade). She is currently the supervisor in Educational Planning (11th - 12th grade) as well as the SAT and ACT testing coordinator and CAS coordinator for the International Baccalaureate program.

email: dragatakism@acs.gr

Angelos Dimitropoulos, Physical Education Teacher - Coordinator

Mr. Dimitropoulos is a Physical Education Teacher and Coordinator for Physical Education.  Mr. Dimitropoulos was raised in Athens, Greece. He earned his Bachelor Degree in Physical Education from the University of Physical Education and Sport Science in Athens and then received his Masters Degree in Sports Management, through a program ran by the International Olympic Committee, from University of Lyon, France.

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.

He has also worked as a basketball coach in Greek Professional League and has attended a number of basketball clinics in Greece as well as in the States.

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

email: dimitropoulosa@acs.gr

Emilia Drogaris, Social Studies Teacher

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

Before coming to teach at ACS Athens, Ms. Drogaris was a teacher in Brooklyn, New York.  Upon moving to Greece, she entered the business field where she was Manager of Sales and Marketing for an American multinational in the emerging markets, as well as owner of her own business.  She decided to return to her true love which is teaching and is very happy to be back in the classroom.   This year Ms. Drogaris is teaching four sections of IB Economics and one section of Business Economics.

email: drogarise@acs.gr

Maria Falidas, Mathematics Teacher

Ms. Falidas earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the City University of New York at Queens College in 2002. In 2005 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 certificate and she has worked in New York City public and private schools from 2002 to 2006. In addition she worked as lecturer for the Mathematics Department at LaGuardia Community College in New York. Ms. Falidas has been a teacher of Mathematics at ACS Athens since 2007.

At ACS Athens she is member of the National Honors Society committee and an advisor for the Mathematics Literature Club.  She is currently an external examiner for the International Baccalaureate Organization in Mathematics, a member of Thales and Friends and a member of the Scientific Association for Mathematics Education.

email: falidasm@acs.gr

Tonia Firigou, Foreign Language Teacher, French - Coordinator

Ms. Firigou is a Foreign Language Teacher (French) and the Coordinator of Foreign Languages.  Ms. Firigou earned a Bachelor’s in French Literature from the Greek Capodistrian University of Athens. She received her master's degree in the History of French Civilization from the Greek Capodistrian University of Athens. Ms. Firigou is continuing her studies for a PhD in Byzantine Art and French History in the Capodistrian University of Athens.

She has been working in the ACS faculty community since 1999 and has taught both in Middle School and High School.

She holds the position of Modern Languages Department Chair; she’s presently teaching in High School as an IB faculty member of French. For many years, she has been the advisor of the high school French Club. She has established different educational collaborations between ACS Athens and other institutions world wide. She’s a life-long learner and she always strives for better results.

email: firigout@acs.gr

Venie Gaki, Foreign Language Teacher, Greek

Ms. Gaki was born in Ioannina, Greece and studied Classics at the University of Ioannina. During her university years she attended a one - year course in Classics at the University of Liverpool, UK. She also holds a certificate in Advanced Methodology in teaching at the Hellenic American Union in Athens, Greece.

She has rich experience in teaching both Greek and English as a second language in private schools and has been teaching Greek as a second language at A.C.S., Athens for the past three years.

Venie Gaki has written several plays, poems, lyrics and texts through which the children’s understanding and consolidation of Greek as a foreign language is reinforced.

For this purpose, ACS has published three of her books: a listening and speaking activities’ book and two textbooks. The books are currently being taught in ACS Athens Elementary School.

email: gakiv@acs.gr

Jakob House, History Teacher

Mr. House hails from the small town of Spring Hill, KS (USA). He earned his B.A. in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Social Studies. He also earned his M.Ed. in Curriculum and Teaching. He is certified to teach social studies from grades 6-12. Both degrees were obtained through the University of Kansas and he is an avid Jayhawks Fan!

Mr. House has experience teaching all age levels from Kindergarten through High School. In the summer of 2009, Mr. House adventured to Carpi, Italy to teach abroad to a group of middle school students. History, English, Math, Science, and sports were a few subjects he had the opportunity to instruct.

This year at ACS, Mr. House will be teaching European History, European History Honors, ESL Support 9 and ESL Support 10. As well as coaching the JV boys basketball team.

email: housej@acs.gr

Kathy Jasonides, English Teacher - Division Chair of Language & Literature

Ms.  Jasonides holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a Masters degree in Journalism from the University of California, Los Angeles.  She has been a member of the ACS Academy faculty since 1974 and English Department Chair for 21 years.

After retiring from full-time teaching in 2008, Ms. Jasonides has continued to serve as English Department Chair and to team-teach the Honors Humanities class. She is also Director of the ACS Writing Center and is currently teaching two classes of IB English.

Ms. Jasonides and her teaching partner have developed two on-line Humanities courses which offer the highlights of this interdisciplinary approach, including the field study opportunities, to both ACS and non-ACS students.  She has co-authored articles on field study as a strategy for interdisciplinary study, and presented workshops at the NESA Conference in 2007 and the ACS Conferences on Learning Differences in 2009 and 2010.

email: jasonidesk@acs.gr

Dr. Likourgos Hristakos, Science Teacher

Mr. Hristakos completed his undergraduate degree in physics (B.Sc.) at the University of Lancaster (UK), he then continued his graduate studies at the University of New Hampshire (USA) where he obtained his Master of Science in Experimental Physics. Following this, he successfully defended his doctorate thesis (Dr. rer. Nat.) in experimental low temperature physics at the University of Bayreuth (Germany). The thesis title was “Ultrasonic investigations on ³He immersed in silica aerogel at low temperatures”.

Mr. Hristakos has worked as a research scientist at the University of Tübingen (Germany) in the solid state physics laboratory as well as in the Centre des Etudes Atomiques in Saclay (France) with emphasis on q-bits and quantum computers.

Mr. Hristakos has been involved in teaching undergraduate student classes and laboratories at university level as well as high school students. This is his 5th year at ACS Athens.

email: hristakosl@acs.gr

Janet Karvouniaris, Social Studies Teacher - Division Chair

Ms. Karvouniaris is a Social Studies Teacher and the Division Chair of Social Studies & Arts.

Ms. Karvouniaris teaches 9th grade European History and Humanities Honors, an innovative interdisciplinary course for 10th, 11th and 12th graders. A member of the ACS faculty since 1979, she has also taught Middle School Social Studies/Language Arts and IB History and was Chair of the Social Studies Department from 1990 until 2006. Ms. Karvouniaris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Miami University (Ohio) and a Master’s degree in Special Education from Western Michigan University.  Post graduate studies include history, education and writing across the curriculum.  

As a firm believer in life-long learning beyond the classroom, she has organized many interdisciplinary field study experiences for ACS students in Greece and abroad. Based on these experiences, she and her teaching partner, Ms. Jasonides have presented workshops on field study as a strategy for individual inquiry at NESA and Niarchos Foundation Learning Differences Professional Conferences.

She is a member of the international chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, the honorary organization for professional educators.

email: karvouniarisj@acs.gr

Sana Kassem, Science Teacher

As a chemistry and biology teacher at ACS since 2004. Ms. Kassem earned a BSc Science (Biology/Chemistry) from the American University of Beirut and a M.Ed from the University of LaVerne, Athens.  She taught biology and chemistry for IGCSE, A level, AP, French Baccalaureate and IB classes in many international schools in Beirut, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Athens.

In addition to teaching Ms. Kassem worked as an academic advisor for curriculum development of science at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi, as Head of Science in International Schools in Abu Dhabi and Athens and has been an IB Biology examiner since 2000.  

Go online to view Ms. Kassem's class assignments and general information: http://chemkassem.com/

email: kassems@acs.gr

Dr. Maria Konstantoulaki, Science Teacher

Ms. Konstantoulaki received her degree in Biology from Kapodistrian University of Athens.  As an undergraduate student she worked in a number of research labs in the field of AIDS (Medical School of Athens), Altzheimer disease (Kapodistrian University) and immunology of cancer (Vrije University in Brussels).  She received her Ph.D in Pharmacology from University of Illinois at Chicago and continued her training as a researcher in Stanford University and University College London. 

She has taught in greek-american school in Chicago in elementary and middle school students.  She also tutored and trained a number of students to university level.  She has attended Psychology courses. Gradually teaching became more important than research.  She recognizes in teaching a “butterfly effect” with far-reaching implications and a potential for metamorphosis for every student. 

Ms. Konstantoulaki is teaching IB Biology and Environmental Sciences and Theory of knowledge since 2008 and she also got involved with the environmental activities and clubs and Quality Management for Educational Institutions.  She joined the ACS in 2010 and she will be teaching IB Biology, Environmental Sciences and Health.

email: konstantoulakim@acs.gr

Stacie La Grow, Counselor

email: lagrows@acs.gr

phone: 210.639.3200 ext. 227

Fefi Lampiris, Library Assistant

Ms. Lampiris was born in Patras Greece and raised in New York. She was a graduate of ACS Athens. She has  been at ACS Athens since 1985 and is currently the Academy Library Assistant. 

email: lampirisf@acs.gr

Athanasia Kotsiani, Physical Education Teacher

Ms. Kotsiani Athanasia was born and raised is Athens, Greece. She holds a Bachelor degree in Physical Education & Sports Science from the the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, specializing in Swimming. She has recently completed her Master in Education and Creative Learning.

Ms. Kotsiani is a certified lifeguard and an emergency responder (CPR/First Aid for adult/child/infant).  She has worked as a swimming instructor for several years in various clubs in Athens and since 2005 she is coaching the ACS HS swimming team.

She has been at ACS Athens for the past 6 years, as a PE Middle and High School teacher, and she is in charge of the ACS Aquatics and after school swimming program.

email: kotsiania@acs.gr

Sonia Kormaris, Foreign Language Teacher, Greek - Coordinator Greek Language

Ms. Kormaris was raised in Cyprus and in Greece (Kastoria, Thessaloniki, Giannitsa, Samos, Patra and Athens). She was born in Corfu. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies (Ancient and Modern Greek Literature and Latin) from The National Capodistrian University of Athens and she is currently following an MBA at the University of Indianapolis.

She has been a faculty member at ACS Athens since 1997 teaching Greek and mainly Greek Pre IB and Greek IB A1 /A2 classes. She has been Greek Coordinator and since 2008 Greek Department Head. She is an approved member of Validation Team in Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

email: kormariss@acs.gr

Dennisse Legoretta, Foreign Language Teacher, Spanish

Ms. Legorreta is the Academy School Spanish teacher. She recently moved to Athens from Mexico where she earned a B.A. in Communications and Spanish Literature. She also holds a MS Degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language.

email: legorretad@acs.gr

Anna Liasides, Optimal Learning

Ms. Liasides received her BS in Biology from New Jersey State University, her Teachers Certificate from St. Peters College, NJ and her MA in Special Education Student Needs from Lesley College, Boston.

She holds a Certificate for Modern Greek language from Athens University and is a certified First Aid and Safety Instructor with the American Red Cross.

Ms. Liasides has taught middle school and high school science classes for the past 20 years and is currently an Optimal Learning teaching specialist. 

email: liasidesa@acs.gr  

Pauline Mamouzellos, Science Teacher

Ms. Mamouzellos received her BA, MA, and M.Ph. from NYU. She also studied at The City University Graduate Center, NY and Trier University in Germany.  Her teaching experience ranges from elementary school students through university students. Pauline began working at A.C.S. in 1988 and has since taught the subjects of German IB, Biology IB, Environmental Science IB, Physics, Chemistry, and Health. Pauline has also been coordinator of the IB CAS program, Advisor to the Service Club, German Club, the Executive Student Council, and the Environmental Club. She served as Foreign Language Department Chair for four years.

email: mamouzellosp@acs.gr

Anastasios Nalmpantis, Mathematics Teacher

Mr. Nalmpantis has earned the Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Mathematics from Salem State College, Salem, MA. (pure mathematics concentration, Cum Laude).

Before joining the ACS Faculty, Mr. Nalmpantis was an Instructor of Mathematics and Associate Dean at ITT Technical Institute for several years where he received the Instructor of the year award on three different occasions. He has also taught as adjunct faculty in other colleges and universities in the United States. He has taught a variety of Mathematics classes at the College and High school level (Calculus I-IV, Advanced Algebra , AP Calculus, Differential equations and many others). He has authored a number of articles about education such as: In defense of a liberal arts education (2005) and AP revealed (2009).

Mr. Nalmpantis was a presenter in the 2009 Learning Center Conferences hosted by ACS. His topic was entitled “Quantitate this! – Connections of advanced Mathematics to the real world."

email: nalmpantisa@acs.gr

Athina Mitsopoulou, Music Teacher (Academy and Middle School)

Ms. Mitsopoulou is from London, Ontario, Canada, where she received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education (1997) and a Bachelor of Education (1998) from the University of Western Ontario. Upon their completion she accepted the instrumental music teaching position at London Central Secondary School with the Thames Valley District School Board; a position she held for seven years. During this time she also completed a Master of Music (2002) at the University of Toronto. Each of the aforementioned degrees includes English Literature as a second teachable.

Ms. Mitsopoulou is the Middle School and Academy music teacher. Click here for previously recorded performances conducted by Ms. Mitsopoulou.

Ontario College of Teachers (OCT): Certificate of Qualification Intermediate/Senior, Active Membership since June 1998.

email: mitsopouloua@acs.gr

David Nelson, Social Studies Teacher

Mr. Nelson has been teaching in the Social Studies department at the American Community Schools of Athens since 2000. Prior to teaching in Athens, he taught for twelve years in secondary schools in the Oregon, USA.

Mr. Nelson has a Master of Arts in Education from Western Oregon State University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Pacific University.  He specializes in Cold War studies, American history and sociology. He teaches American Studies, IB History, Theory of Knowledge, and has vast experience with curriculum design.

Additionally Mr. Nelson is the ACS Representative to the NESA organization, he has coached Cross Country for the past twenty years, and is an advisor of the Model United Nations.  He enjoys frequent travel, snowboarding, and running.

email: nelsond@acs.gr

Nicholas N. Parakatis, Mathematics Teacher

Mr. Parakatis is a faculty member of the Mathematics/Technology Department at the American Community Schools, Athens. He has his B.Sc in Physics from York University,Canada, B. Ed from the University of Toronto, Canada and M.Sc in Medical Physics from University College London, UK.

Mr. Parakatis has taught Physics and Mathematics in Canada and in Greece. This will be his 10th year teaching at ACS. Nicholas Parakatis has served as department chair and has taught students mathematics in the IB level, at the Academy and at the Middle School. He has served on the accreditation team as the Quantitative Team Leader and has participated in many ACS Athens Math Department sponsored events such as the Mathematics Club, the Annual ACS Mathematics Competition, and the AMC 10/12.

His interests include astronomy, team sports, music and traveling. Mr. Parakatis is a member of faculty that was present at mission control, during the launch of the Rosetta Mission, by the European Space Agency. Nicholas believes that caring and concern over content and curriculum is one of the keys in helping students remain interested in school therefore helping them achieve their academic goals.

email: parakatisn@acs.gr

Paraskevi Papadimitriou, Art Teacher

Ms. Papadimitriou earned a Bachelor of Arts in Painting and Byzantine Iconography from the School of Fine Arts in Athens as well as an M.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has also attended the School of Fine Arts in Rome.

Ms Papadimitriou has taught afterschool art classes to both middle school and high school. She has been a faculty member at ACS Athens since 2009. She currently teaches Graphic Arts, Design and Drawing and Painting and she is a teacher aid for the AP Interdisciplinary Humanities course.

Ms. Papadimitriou is currently a student in the School of Fine Arts, in the course of completing her second BA in Printmaking.  She is a member of Greek Printmakers Association. Her work has been exhibited both in the United States and in Greece.

email: papadimitrioup@acs.gr

William Papatassos, English Teacher

Mr. Papatassos is a teacher and journalist who as a professional, unconsciously completes full circles.  Born and raised in Athens, he acquired a passion for reading and writing at the American Community Schools of Athens. 

At Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, he earned his BA, with a major in English literature and education, and a minor in journalism.  From 1994 to 1995, Papatassos was World News Editor at the Athens News.  As a free lance journalist, Mr. Papatassos has written for the Athens News and Odyssey magazine. 

Since his return to ACS-Athens in September of 1995, Mr. Papatassos has taught American and world literature.  Currently, he teaches Language Arts 8, and the American Literature Honors “Combo” class. 

email: papatassosw@acs.gr

Demitri Pelidis, College Planning

Born in Zimbabwe, Africa and raised in Athens, Mr. Pelides earned his BA in Education from Boston College, Master in Education in Counseling Psychology from Keene State College of New Hamphire, and a C.A.G.S. in School Counseling from Boston University. Mr. Pelides has worked at various school districts both in Boston, MA and New Hampshire.

Mr. Pelides has over 20 years of counseling experience, teaching students in Middle School, High School, Undergraduate and Graduate School levels.

He is a US certified school counselor, who also enjoys his affiliation with the Adlerian Institute of Athens, where he continues to develop his practice in Adlerian psychology. Mr. Pelidis is a member of ASCA- a membership that helps him stay current with recent counseling trends in America.

email: pelidisd@acs.gr

Dr. Elina Prodromidi, Science Teacher

Ms. Prodromidi received a BSc in Cell & Molecular Biology from the University of Essex, an MSc in Immunology and a PhD in Renal Medicine from Imperial College London-University of London. She has worked in research and her work has been presented in conferences world-wide and has been acknowledged numerous times with international awards like the one of the Best New Scientist (2006, UK). She has also published articles in scientific journals and co-authored books.

Since her recent return in Greece, she has worked as a researcher and an educator since she loves teaching and considers it a communicative, creative, inspirational and challenging profession. Her teaching experience ranges from middle school students through university students. This is her second year in ACS, where she teaches Science in the Academy.

email: prodromidie@acs.gr

Eli Pupovac, Social Studies Teacher

Mr. Pupovac grew up in Wheaton, Illinois a suburb of Chicago.  He earned his B.A. in Secondary Education/History at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota and completed his M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Mr. Pupovac has taught high school social studies in Colombia, South America and in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Pupovac participated in Indiana University’s Teaching About Asia Program.  In this experience he designed curriculum for their program and took part in a travel study to China with a cohort of educators.   
 
This past summer Mr. Pupovac co-led the ACS Summer Leadership Institute traveling with twelve students to Washington D.C. and Richmond, Virginia.  Currently he is teaching Leadership, Theory of Knowledge, and American Studies in the ACS Athens Academy.

email: pupovace@acs.gr

Christina Rocha, Foreign Language Teacher, Spanish (Academy and Middle School)

MS. Rocha earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a minor each in French and Spanish from Chatham College, Pittsburgh, P.A. and an Master of Arts in Education with a special emphasis on Foreign Language Instruction from The College of Notre Dame of Maryland.

She has also participated in post graduate studies at American University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland in the fields of cultural anthropology and linguistics.

Ms. Rocha has taught both French and Spanish, all levels, including, AP, IB and immersion levels for Baltimore County Schools prior to joining the ACS faculty in 2007. In addition, Ms. Rocha has taught several Continuing Education courses in both French and Spanish and ESOL for the Community Colleges of Baltimore County.

Ms. Rocha has served as Department Chair and has been involved in curriculum development and writing within the Baltimore County School System. She currently teaches Spanish, standard level and IB  for both the Middle School and the Academy students. She has also led her students on trips abroad, and looks forward to such opportunities with the students of ACS.

email: rochac@acs.gr

Dr. Nikolaos Romanos, Chemistry Teacher

Dr. Romanos earned his Chemical Engineering Diploma from the National Technical University of Athens (N.T.U.A.) and a Ph.D. from the same School in the field of computational materials science and engineering (computational chemistry).

While pursuing his Ph.D., he worked as a lab assistant at N.T.U.A. for four years and he was a teaching assistant, as well as a system administrator in unix/linux computer clusters.

He has participated in various conferences and has publications in scientific journals in the fields of thermodynamics, materials science, process design and computational chemistry. He has a very good knowledge of programming languages in various operating system environments.

At ACS Athens he is teaching Chemistry at the Academy.

email: romanosn@acs.gr

Katerina Pisanias, Foreign Language Teacher, Greek

Ms. Pisanias, has been teaching in the Modern Language Department at ACS Athens since January 1995. She has been teaching Modern Greek IB A2 since the inception of the program.

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 post graduate 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 has represented the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges as a member of an accreditation Validation Team.

While at ACS Athens she has been advisor of the Greek Literary Magazine, the Greek Club and several class Councils.

email: pisaniask@acs.gr

Labrini Rontogiannis, English Teacher

Ms. Labrini Rontogiannis was born and raised in Montreal, Canada and moved to Athens in 2004. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Cell Biology at McGill University and a Bachelor of Education, specialization in Science and English Literature, also from McGill. Ms Rontogiannis is very excited to be two courses short of completing a MEd in Educational Technology through an online program at the University of Calgary.

Ms. Rontogiannis has been teaching at ACS since 2005 and she takes pride in getting involved in all aspects of student life; both in and out of the classroom. She has coached the girls’ volleyball teams and is this year’s Middle School student council advisor. Ms Rontogiannis is teaching Middle School Science and English in the Academy.

email: rontogiannisl@acs.gr

Anastasia Syrsiri, Attendance & Discipline Aide

Ms. Syrsiri is the Attendance and Discipline Aide to the Principal at ACS Athens Academy.

Ms. Syrsiri has been at ACS since September 2010.  She has held the position of Shadow Teacher and has also substituted in various offices during that time.

email:  syrsiria@acs.gr

Evelyn Pittas, English Teacher - Coordinator for English Language

Ms. Pittas earned her B.A. and her M.A. in English Literature. She holds 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 21^st Century. 

She has been a teacher of English 9A2, English 11, English 12, Themes in World Literature, and is currently teaching English 10 A2, IB English A2 HL and SL. In addition to her responsibilities as Teacher, Ms. Pittas has been involved in a variety of positions, including Forensics Co-Coordinator and Oratory Coach, and Judge at Pan-Hellenic Tournaments, MUN Advisor, 10^th and 12^th grade Student Council Advisor, Blue and Gold School-wide Newspaper Advisor, Activities Coordinator, and is a member of the National Honor Society committee. She also serves on the ACSTA Executive Council. Her mission as a teacher is to develop confidence in each and every student so that they will seek knowledge, question answers, and believe in their own abilities to become life long learners.

email: pittase@acs.gr

Imad Samad, Foreign Language Teacher, Arabic (Academy and Middle School)

Mr. Samad is the Arabic teacher for both ACS Athens’ high school and middle school. He was born in Ammatour-Lebanon. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Arabic language and literature from the Lebanese University of Beirut (Lebanon).

Mr. Samad worked as Head of the Arabic Department at Campion School in Athens, Greece from 1981 until he joined ACS Athens in 1994. He has been with ACS Athens as an IB faculty member for 17 years. He has also served as the Advisor of the Arabic Club in Middle and High schools.

email: samadi@acs.gr

Sophia Thanopoulou, Theater Teacher - Coordinator for the Arts

Ms. Thanopoulou holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Athens and a Master of Arts degree in Physical Theatre from the universities of Surrey & Royal Holloway University of London.

Ms. Thanopoulou is a trained dancer and performer and has been participating in numerous theatre and dance productions since 2001. She started teaching drama in London and since 2007 she has been teaching IB Theatre and Drama at ACS Athens.

email: thanopoulous@acs.gr

Cim Thomakos, Art Teacher

Ms. Thomakos holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Art from Skidmore College. She has received Artist Grants for four residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and a Fellowship in Painting for graduate work from Skidmore College.

As a National Writing Project Teacher Consultant, she conducts research, present workshops, and has instructed teacher training programs (K-college) in the uses of Writing across the Curriculum. She is a published writer and illustrator, and has had solo exhibitions in the United States and Greece.

She has been a member of the ACS Athens faculty for 29 years.

email: thomakosc@acs.gr

Dr. Andreas Tsokos, Science Teacher - Division Chair

Dr. Tsokos is a Science Teacher and Division Chair of Science / Mathematics & Technology.  Dr. Tsokos was born in Cyprus. He attended the University of Birmingham in the U.K with a full scholarship and was awarded a double Honors degree in Physics and Mathematics. At Birmingham, he received the Nora Calderwood Prize for highest achievement in the final examinations. He obtained a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in the USA.

Dr. Tsokos has served as Assistant, Deputy and Chief Examiner for IB Physics. He is the author of Physics for the IB Diploma, Series and Differential Equations, IB Physics in a nutshell and about 20 research papers dealing, mainly, with Quantum Chromodynamics. In one paper he showed how the high temperature limit of chiral gauge theories leads to the appearance of topological mass terms for the associated gauge fields. His main interests are Physics, Mathematics and the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

He has been a faculty of ACS Athens for 15 years.

email: tsokosa@acs.gr

April Wanex, English Teacher

Originally from NY state, Mrs. Wanex received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University with a double major in Anthropology and Classical Studies. Subsequently, she earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching degree with a focus in Social Studies from Binghamton University (SUNY). Prior to coming to ACS Athens, Mrs. Wanex taught English at a military school in Virginia.

Currently, Mrs. Wanex teaches 9th grade English and AP English in the Academy.

email: wanexa@acs.gr

Ellen Froustis-Vriniotis, Social Studies Teacher, Academic Advisor

Ms. Vriniotis was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Arizona State University, a Master of Education—Special Emphasis in Counseling from the University of La Verne, California, a master’s in Clinical Psychology from the University of Indianapolis and is completing Post Graduate work in psychotherapy from the Adlerian Training Institute, USA.

As an advocate of community service, she is the Vice President, Habitat for Humanity Greece and a founding member of, Friends of  KEPEP Lehainon, for youth with severe physical and cognitive limitations.

Ms. Vriniotis has presented the following workshops: Service Learning Workshop for IB CAS Coordinators (2003, 2004, 2005), Learning Through Service, NESA Spring Conference (2007), Asset Building for Successful Teens, ACS Learning Conference (2008) and completed a Positive Psychology course from University of Pennsylvania (2010).

Her most recent published articles include: Learning through Service (ECIS, Autumn 2009) and Academic Leadership: Inspired by Civic Responsibility, A Practitioner’s Approach, (The Department Chair, Winter, 2009).

Ms. Vriniotis is an active member of the American School Counseling Association, American Counseling Association, Counseling Association for Humanistic Education & Development.

email: vriniotise@acs.gr

Yi-Nai Wang, Foreign Language Teacher, Chinese (Academy and Middle School)

Ms. Wang is originally from Taiwan. She obtained her Bachelors Degree from National Taipei Institute of the Arts, where she studied Piano Performance, Violin Performance as well as Chinese Language and Literature. She has won the 2^nd prize in Taiwan Piano competition. Ms. Wang also trained at Luebeck Musikhochschule in Germany, and obtained her Masters Degree in Piano Performance.

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 2 month course “Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language” from Tunghai University.

In Taiwan and Germany, she worked as teacher, teaching Chinese Language and Piano Performance. She has 8 years of experience teaching Chinese and 20 years of experience teaching Piano Performance. This year is Ms Wang’s 4th year teaching Chinese at ACS.

email: wangy@acs.gr

Amalia Zavacopoulou, Writing Center

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 Modern European Studies, a four-year course with majors in History, French and Italian from University College London, and a Masters degree in Journalism from University of Westminster, London.  

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.

After moving back to Greece in 2008, she worked as a freelance writer and translator for several travel magazines, such as Conde Nast Traveller Hellas and 2board, the official Athens International Airport publication.  She joined the ACS team last year and staffs the Writing Center, helping and advising students on a variety of written assignments.

 email: zavacopouloua@acs.gr