About our Educators
Our educators are highly skilled Foreign and Romanian teachers that are required to have an Academic Degree(s) in Education and at least 2 years full-time classroom teaching experience.
Through a rigorous hiring process, we evaluate educators across four areas of professional practice standards that align with the VIS approach.
Application information and background
We interview most staff on more than one occasion to ensure we have thoroughly inquired about their past endeavours and personal values, driving force and passion. After this stage we then explore and cultivate the following areas:
Empowering Educators
Once we hire exceptional educators, we empower them to facilitate the best education possible for your children.
Educators are supported by
- A creative and constantly innovating development model of events and trainings
- Opportunities for professional growth and development
- The flexibility to create meaningful experiences for their students
- A professional learning community from which to draw and share best practices
Employment
Senior Leadership Team

Richard Joannides
Founder of Verita 4 All Foundation
Richard graduated from Loyola Marymount University – Los Angeles, California with a degree in Early Childhood Education Master Degree from Oxford University in History. He has traveled and studied around the world: Los Angeles, Loyola University Rome, Marymount University Bonn Germany and Oxford University – Queens College.

Damian Ward
Superintendent of Verita Group of Schools
Damian originates from Coventry in the United Kingdom. He has an honours degree in English with Qualified Teacher Status from the University of Warwick and he also holds a National Professional Qualification in Headship (NPQH). His teaching career took him all around the West Midlands where he was previously a head in a small primary school with 210 students and then Head of a much larger primary school of over 600 students.

Lila Vasilescu
Dean of School
Lila has a long passionate history with the development and growth of the school and of our nonprofit organization, Verita Foundation.
She is an authentic, living, breathing example of the values, mission and vision of Verita and a vibrant advocate of keeping Verita true to its word and promise. For years, she has been a pivotal bridge builder and support for the community of parents, teachers and students.

Rico Chow
Principal of Secondary
Rico originates from Toronto in Canada. He holds an honours degree in Literature, Anthropology, and Education. He is currently undertaking a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Toronto.
Rico has spent the last several years teaching abroad. Prior to joining Verita, he was teaching Language & Literature and Humanities at an IB World School in Muscat, Oman at the secondary level. It was here where he refined his inquiry-based approach to learning through the IB framework. Rico also served as an Extended Essay supervisor for DP students during his tenure in Oman.

Annie Keep-Barnes
Principal of Primary and Early Years
Annie is a longtime educator. It’s been her great good fortune to teach almost every level of school over the years, all the way from grade 3 through to University. I have enjoyed teaching every year group.
In addition to teaching, she has also been a school leader. Together with three friends, she started the first charter school in the state of Alaska and she went on to found and direct an alternative middle school/high school. She has also served as principal in several schools in Alaska and as a mentor principal to new principals.

Julie Dinca
Assistant Principal of Primary & Early Years
Julie (or Iulia) was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. She graduated from the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreing Languages and Literatures with a double degree in both English and Spanish. She also holds the Certificate for Teaching from the Teacher Training Department of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences.

Irina Cazacu
Assistant Principal for Secondary
Irina was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. After more than 13 years working in the mobile telecommunication industry, in 2012, Irina moved to Saudi Arabia, where she worked as a Teaching Assistant at the British International School of Al Khobar, where she realised her passion for working with young children. In the summer of 2017, she and her family were relocated to Romania and joined Verita school.

Luiza Joita
School Operations Director
Luiza graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, specialized in Tourism & Services and she worked for 15 years in marketing and events management. Her professional journey helped her develop abilities to plan, organize and manage complex projects. The interest for education started when her two daughters reached the age for schooling and because she truly believes in Verita School’s vision, she embraced a career change and accepted the challenge to join the Verita team. She loves to travel and spend time outdoors, as well as listening to music and reading a good book.

Cornelia Cacu
Head of Finance
Cornelia graduated Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. Being passionate about numbers she joined, while she was still a student, an accounting company where she developed her accounting skills for several yeas, growing from Junior to Senior Accountant. She moved forward by working as a Financial Manager for a Romanian Publishing House, blending in her passion for numbers with the passion for words, reading and writing.

Gabriela Simionescu
Co-Founder
Gabriela graduated Languages from the University of Bucharest and worked for 1 year in a state school. Then she founded a private English Kindergarten and taught over 220 children English, Math, History and many others for 32 years. Her life went through schools, marriage, 1 son, lots of hobbies (reading, music, sports, travel, theatre, film, languages, sewing) and, lately, 2 lovely granddaughters. In 2014 Gabriela joined Richard in this beautiful project called Verita International School, a dream that she had for a long time… So she continues teaching with passion, in a new environment. Continuity and change!
Secondary School Teachers

Marco Fick
IB DP Coordinator & High School Chemistry/ Physics Teacher
Marco’s love and interest in science from childhood led him to obtain his BSC degree in Microbiology and Chemistry at the North-West University in South Africa. He wanted to inspire young minds to appreciate and understand the wonderful world of science. Which is why he obtained his PGCE in Natural Science and Physical Science at the University of South Africa. He has experience as a Mathematics Teacher as well as a Science Teacher in South Africa. He has taught in an IB school in Moscow, for nearly two years, and gained experience in teaching MYP science, mathematics and DP Chemistry.

Tom Maracsko
IB DP EE Coordinator & High School Business/ Economics Teacher
Tom is from Hungary with a Master’s degree in Economics from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and a PGCE from the University of Cumbria. He has spent the past 12 years living and working around the Asia Pacific region. In the past four years, he worked in Beijing, China, where he taught IBDP and AL Economics and Business Studies. Tom has specialized on inquiry-based learning and has researched the effects of instructional humour on high-quality teaching and learning in a classroom environment He is also an AQA A levels examiner with experience in UCAS and Oxbridge interview preparation and college counselling. He loves motorcycle racing, geopolitics, history and travelling.

Nicol Fernandes
IB DP TOK Coordinator & High School English Teacher
Nicol was born and raised in India. He has a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Mumbai. Nicol has been a teacher for 9 years and has taught the IBDP, A Levels, and IGCSE curriculum. He has supervised extended essays in English and World Studies. Nicol has also served as an A Levels Coordinator and an Extended Essay coordinator at his previous organizations. He is an IBDP examiner for English A and Extended Essay. He is currently undertaking a PGCEi from the University of Nottingham. He loves reading, travelling, and binge-watching shows on online platforms.

Georgeta Gherghinoiu
IMYC Coordinator & High School Art Teacher
Georgeta graduated from the National University of Visual Arts in Bucharest, holding both a B.A. and a M.A. in Graphic Arts. She also trained in becoming an art teacher. During school years, she came across two wonderful art teachers that inspired her not just in the artistic field, but also in wanting to guide others understand art. She coordinated various workshops in Romania and the USA.

Doria Draghiciu
SEE Integration/ Instructional Coach for Secondary & Middle School Maths Teacher
Doria is from Romania and has a Bachelors degree in Pure Mathematics from the University of Bucharest as well as a Masters degree in Secondary Education from Georgia College State University in the USA, where she lived and worked for ten years. She has taught various high school mathematics courses in the Seattle and Atlanta areas.

Diana Mihalache
Languages (Mother-Tongue, MFL & ELL) Coordinator
Diana has more than 15 years of experience in teaching Romanian, English and French in public and international schools. She started teaching at 19 years old, as soon as she graduated from Pedagogical Highschool. She has a vivid interest in using the most efficient teaching techniques and class management strategies, as well as learning about different education systems, curriculum and instruction programs, or teaching and learning philosophies.

Rona Luz Duran
High School Mathematics
Rona was born and raised in the southern part of the Philippines which is also known as Asia’s Latin city. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education major in mathematics and a Masters of Arts degree with a field of specialisation in Mathematics.
She is an experienced Secondary Mathematics teacher with over 11 years (and counting) of practice and exposure to different curriculums from Ignatian Pedagogy, Cambridge, Common Core, to IB; and now IGCSE in a diverse community with global cultural awareness.

Claudio Guerra
High School Biology & Y9 Science Teacher
Guerra was born in Rio de Janeiro. He holds a bachelor and a teaching degree in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Parana, Brazil, and he is currently undertaking a Master of Education at the University of Essex.
Guerra has worked with a wide range of students, from elementary school to post graduates. He started teaching Biology as a volunteer at an NGO for underprivileged teenagers 10 years ago. Since then, Guerra has taught in international schools in Brazil and Morocco before joining Verita in 2022.
When he is not teaching, Guerra likes to draw, play the bass, and learn languages. He is always looking for new coffee shops and veg places to try, and memes to share.

Bruno Gerard Menez
High School French & Spanish Teacher
Bruno is French and he has always been interested in French language, etymology, philosophy and literature. He graduated from the University Charles de Gaulle, Lille, France. He had the privilege to teach French in many countries such as: Finland, Latvia, Italy, Ethiopia, India and more recently Poland. His permanent home is in Riga, Latvia and he likes strolling around cities, visiting the marketplace, cooking, reading, walking along the beach, and forests. Sharing ideas and experiences.

Elizabeth Flood
Middle School English Teacher
Elizabeth graduated from Arizona State University with both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Education. She has taught middle school through college for 8 years, but middle school students are her favorite. Elizabeth’s coaching and advising experience includes speech and debate, softball, and student newspaper. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys backpacking, cooking, and reading Fredrik Backman novels.

Marucia Fick
Middle School Humanities Teacher
Malina Montois
Middle School French Teacher
She is both French and Romanian and she has always had a way with words and languages. It was only natural for her to choose languages for her higher education (Japanese and French for her BA and French linguistics for her MA).

Andrei Hultoana
Middle School Romanian Teacher
After ten years of work in a multinational company environment, Andrei has decided to put his effort in the benefit of the educational system. Meanwhile, in 2019 he graduated from the teaching and leadership program by Teach for Romania.

Georgiana Craciun
Middle School Spanish Teacher
For Georgiana, teaching involves more than a vocation, it involves emotion and dedication. She fondly remembers the moment when she chose to become a teacher of Romanian and Spanish, in the 5th grade, inspired by her aunt. Since then, she continued her way to the University of Bucharest, where she graduated from the Faculty of Letters.

Béla Zoltán
Middle School Art Teacher
Béla is a known contemporary artist, although he graduated from UAD (The University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca), Painting, he is been active in the Bucharest art scene for over 15 years. He’s works range from painting to objects and instalation.

Ioana Visinescu
Middle School Music Teacher
Ioana has been studying music since she was 9 years old, therefore singing, composing music and playing different instruments are all important parts of her identity. She also enjoys poetry, drawing and wearing colorful socks. Ioana graduated from Dinu Lipatti Art School in Pitești – classical guitar and her Bachelor’s Degree is from the National University of Music Bucharest in Jazz Composition, vocal training.

Patricia(Paty) Saldinger-Marinof
Secondary ICT Teacher
Paty Saldinger-Marinof is our Middle Years ICT and Y9-12 SEE teacher. With a background in clinical psychology and psychotherapy, and specializing in applied behavioral analysis and special education, she has been working with young children and teenagers for the past 9 years in various institutions and organizations.

Livia Untaru
Secondary ELL Teacher
Livia is originally from Romania, but for the past seven years, she has been studying and working in the Netherlands and New Zealand. Led by her passion for education and learning, Livia pursued a MSc Degree in Educational Sciences at Utrecht University, where she gained in-depth knowledge about learning theories and the most recent educational research. She has followed her dream and started as an English teacher.

Jake Male
Secondary PE Teacher
Originally from Weymouth, England (also known as the English Bay of Naples) Jake has had a passion for sport from a young age, especially football. In his early career he focused on football coaching having worked with professional clubs in England. Once he had graduated Bournemouth University with a degree in sports science Jake turned his attention to teaching, working as a primary sports coach in an all through academy teaching the British curriculum.

Ruxandra
Y7 SEL Teacher
Ruxandra is a passionate Social Emotional and Ethical Facilitator, and an advocate of contemplative practices that enhance well-being. Human development, brain and mind, cultural diversity, and intercultural relationships are some of her interests too. She has spent over 15 years in the Middle East and India, with the last few years focusing on Women Empowerment.

Irina Cazacu
Y8-9 SEL Teacher
Irina was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. After more than 13 years working in the mobile telecommunication industry, in 2012, Irina moved to Saudi Arabia, where she worked as a Teaching Assistant at the British International School of Al Khobar, where she realised her passion for working with young children. In the summer of 2017, she and her family were relocated to Romania and joined Verita school.

Emily Marriott
SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) & Y11 SEL Teacher
Emily was born and raised in Adelaide, Australia. She has lived and worked in education in many different countries until deciding to focus on primary education. After obtaining her Bachelors in English in Oman, as well as completing her Masters in Inclusive education at the University of Edinburgh, she hopes to incorporate elements of inclusion for all students in a creative and kind environment. Emily focuses on inquiry-based learning as well as interdisciplinary teaching methods and is keen to utilise new technologies as soon as possible.

Ilinca Vlaicu
KS2 & Secondary School Counsellor & Y10 SEL Teacher
linca has graduated from the University of Bucharest with a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and shortly after, she obtained degrees in counselling and psychotherapy from the Romanian Institute of Experiential Psychotherapy. She started working as a shadow during her years in college and after getting her license, she began working as a family counsellor in different associations, volunteering in children’s hospitals and teaching medical psychology at a community college.

Doina Lavric
Years 7-8 Science Teacher
Doina graduated from the University of Bucharest, Romania with a conjoined bachelor’s degree in Biology and Education. She taught middle school and high school biology in Romania for 17 years and middle school science in the United States for 14 years. She is a certified teacher both in Romania, where she reached the highest teaching certification level, and in California, USA, the Clear Single Subject Teaching Credential in the field of biological sciences. She completed many education-related courses and attended numerous science-related conferences in the United States. She returned to Romania in 2017 and joined Verita’s team in 2018 as a secondary science teacher.

Marius Puiu
Laboratory Technician Highschool
Marius is from Buzau, Romania and he has, from a very young age, a great interest in science and technology, and how things work in general. He likes being in a lab, so most of his working experience involved wearing a lab coat, with some time spent in the science department of another international school. So let’s discover our world through science

Anca Marina Hultoana
Librarian
Anca, born and grown-up in Romania was fascinated by books and libraries since childhood and later she decided to pursue her education in the same field. After studying at the University of Borås in Sweden, her librarian career began in Spain at an international B-school.
Primary Educators

Roxana Din
EYFS Coordinator and Year 1A Teacher
Roxana graduated from the University of Bucharest with a BA in Foreign Languages (English – Italian) and an MA in English Linguistics part of which she has done at the Ca’Foscari University in Venice, Italy. During college she worked as a volunteer teacher at various NGO’s and as an Educational Therapist at a centre which offered educational and psychological assistance to children with learning disabilities such as Dyslexia or Specific Language Impairment.

Valentin Usturoi
Year 1A Co-Teacher
Vali is the eldest of 4 children. He loves working with children and taking care of their needs. He is undertaking a pedagogical module in his university studies at the academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. Seven years ago he lost his younger brother to cancer.

Adrian Zanfiroaica
Year 1B Teacher
Adrian is a graduate of the Pedagogical Highschool, where he discovered his passion for working with children.
He graduated University of Bucharest majoring in Foreign and Romanian Language and Literature and from the age of 20, his desire materialized when he started working in the educational system. He’s a passionate young man eager to excel and bring joy to his classroom through his instructive-educational process. His passions are reading, hiking, and travelling.

Cristina Neagu
Year 1B Teaching Assistant
Cristina joins Verita with a wealth of experience working with Children. Cristina’s love of working in schools began while she was living in Japan. Cristina worked with children for ten years in Japan while developing her craft as an educator. She returned to Romania in 2011, and began working at the Cambridge School of Bucharest as a teaching assistant. During her time at Cambridge, she was also a primary school supervisor for five years. Cristina was teaching kindergarten before making her move to join us at Verita.

Valentina Dragomir
Year 1C Teacher
Valentina graduated from the University of Bucharest, in Communication and Public Relations. Since then, she has always been passionate about ways in which to improve emotional intelligence and develop a genuine interest in Montessori pedagogy when she enrolled her son into kindergarten in 2014.

Sonam Vajpayee
Year 1C Teaching Assistant
Sonam was born and raised in Orai, a small town in North India. She has a Bachelor Degree in Food Science and Masters in HR & Marketing. She is also a Cambridge advanced certified English speaker. Sonam started her career as a recruiter but soon realized her love for teaching after becoming a mom and helping her kid with his learning.

Evelina Catoi
Year 2A Teacher
Evelina has a Bachelor degree in English-German from the University of Bucharest and a Master’s degree in Management and Business Communication from SNSPA. She mostly worked in communication, PR, online management and content writing.

Andreea Manea
Year 2A Teaching Assistant & Year 2 ELL Teacher
Andreea believes that education begins the moment we see children as innately wise and capable beings and that educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. She is a certified English language teacher and holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in specialized translations.
Doris Nastase
Year 2B Teacher
Doris graduated from Foreign Languages, at the University of Bucharest, where she studied English and Spanish literature. She also holds a Master’s degree in European law and specialized translations, in English and Spanish. She discovered her love for teaching while doing an internship at the British Council so as soon as she graduated from University she started working at the Cambridge School of Bucharest.

Sabina Ciobanu
Year 2B Teaching Assistant
Sabina graduated from the University of Bucharest with a degree in Social Work in 2012. She first started working with children as a facilitator in non-formal education. Her workshops focused on human rights education and urban education. Since 2016 she has worked as a primary school teacher in a Waldorf school and completed a bachelor’s degree in Primary and Preschool Education.

Saskia Brookman
Year 2C Teacher
Saskia was born and raised in South Africa. She obtained her Bed Teaching Degree at the Nelson Mandela University. She taught intermediate phase students in South Africa for 2 years when she decided to take the next step in her teaching career. Saskia loves to travel and explore new things, and this led her to complete a TEFL certificate and travel to China where she taught at an IB International School for nearly 2 years. She got to travel Asia and gain more experience on inquiry-based teaching and participated in IB training. She has a deep passion for teaching and strives to encourage her students to find their own passion, to reach further and continue to grow.

Gabriela Suceu
Year 2C Teaching Assistant
Gabriela is an optimist who looks for the good in every person or situation encountered. She first started working with children as a volunteer of the Romanian Scout Movement where she prepared activities meant to help the members have a challenging personal growth, and turn them into better people.
Irina Dumitrascu
Year 3A Teacher
Irina, an international teacher who has spent the last 7 years teaching students of different cultures & ages around the world. After completing her bachelors and masters in Communication, she pursued her studies in Education with a focus of Early Years learners. Having a passion for teaching that she discovered after a volunteering program, she continues to learn innovated strategies and applies new techniques to keep her students motivated and engaged. “

Bianca Oancea
Year 3A Teaching Assistant
Bianca is 25 years old and she is an English teacher. She graduated from Valahia” University of Târgoviște, Faculty of Political Sciences, Letters and Communications and she also has a certificate of completion of the psychopedagogical module. She loves working with children and she thinks that we, as adults, have so much to learn from them. She loves the fact that every child is different, yet so special and has so much to offer. Being an emphatic and caring person, she has always tried to be there for every student who needed her advise or support in every situation. Twenty years from now on she can still picture herself as an English teacher, helping, encouraging and guiding students to learn this beautiful language and be there for them whenever they need, with all the love and support that she can offer!

Simona Manole
Year 3B Teacher
Teaching is her life’s passion. She has been working with children since she graduated and qualified with a BAGR (Bachelor of Agriculture, British Bachelor Degree Agricultural Engineer – Technology in Agriculture Specialization) degree from Ion Ionescu de la Brad University Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine Iasi, Romania in 1996. She started her teaching journey in a college in Romania. After a few years Simona was interested and challenged to start teaching on a different level and she left Romania for UK where she went on to study Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools at Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examination, United Kingdom.
Tudor Paraschiv
Year 3B Co-Teacher
Tudor was born in Bucharest, Romania. He graduated with maximum votes from the University of Bucharest, Sociology and Social Worker Faculty in 2007, Modul of Psihopedagogy 1. He went to Italy to continue his studies where he graduated from the Faculty of Political Science, Curriculum Minor Protection, University of Florence “Cesare Alfieri”, in 2011.

Karen Vasquez
Year 3C Homeroom Teacher
Karen was born and raised in Texas. She attended Grand Canyon University where she received her Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education and a minor in Early Childhood Education. She’s had the opportunity to teach in the United States, Asia, and now Europe. She has a true passion for working with the youngest learners, instilling a love of learning, and helping each child reach their potential. She enjoys teaching all subject matters, but especially reading! When not in the classroom, she enjoys traveling and exploring this beautiful world with her family – her husband and two children.
Irinel Constantin Manole
Year 3C Teaching Assistant
Teaching young special need minds is a task that cannot be taken lightly. It is full of challenges, frustrations, and responsibilities. However, it is a task that is also full of excitement, wonder, and joy. Irinel strongly believes that all children are capable of learning, if they have the proper motivation and direction from their teachers. His philosophy of education is that all children are unique and must have a stimulating educational environment where they can grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.

Adam Rodman
Year 3D Teacher
Adam grew up in a small village near Newcastle Upon Tyne, in the North-East of the United Kingdom. He graduated from Northumbria University, in 2014, with a BA Honours degree in Primary Education. Since then, Adam has taught both internationally and within the UK, gaining a wealth of experience in both Key Stage One, and Key Stage Two.

Cristian Gheorghe
Year 3D Co-Teacher
Cristian is originally from Constanța, Romania, but for the past years he has been studying and working in Bucharest. He discovered through the Teach for Romania leadership program his passion to work with children when he decided to make a shift from the theatre field.

Nomfundo Such
Year 4A Teacher & Literacy Coordinator for Primary
Originally from South Africa, Nomfundo joined Verita with diverse experience leading organisations around the globe such as the British Council in Qatar, Varsity College in South Africa and British Gas in the UK. Following her experience in the workforce, Nom achieved a degree in Foundation Phase and Early Childhood Development from the University of South Africa.
Maria Awad
Year 4A Co-Teacher
Enthusiastic and very energetic, Maria loves to be surrounded by children. She discovered the passion for education three years ago, when she started working as a Teaching Assistant in another international school. During her experience there, she had the opportunity to work with students within different age groups and abilities.

Alin Nitu
Year 4B Teacher & Maths Coordinator for Primary
Full of joy and with a thoughtful disposition, Alin comes from a town at the foot of the Carpathian Garden. Alin worked for a Publishing House for a few years and there he discovered his love for children. Organizing various workshops with students, teachers and parents around Romania, represented Alin’s first stepping stone that supported him develop long lasting relationships and partnerships with all these individuals.

Diana Maftei
Year 4B Co-Teacher
Diana has a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural American Studies from the Faculty of Letters in Iasi and a Master’s degree in Psychopedagogy for Inclusive Education from the Faculty of Educational Sciences in Bucharest and is currently studying to get her second Master’s degree in English Linguistics from the Faculty of Foreign Languages in Bucharest.

Ioana Mustatea
Year 4C Teacher
Ioana has been a teacher for 10 years now. Throughout the years she taught children with ages between 2 and 10 and at the end of each day of school she asked herself one question “ Would I still come into my classroom the next day if I was a student?”. This is the way she learned how to improve, auto evaluate and grow as a person and a teacher.

Andrei Pauna
Year 4C Co-Teacher
Andrei is an ambitious, hardworking and organized individual, with broad skills and experience in teaching, as well as technology related topics, having led projects related to teaching using the latest technologies and applications.
His passion and will to teach started when he was working for Cambridge, supervising exams and understanding how students are able to grasp a foreign language.

Yoana Vastree Estevez
Year 5A Teacher
Yoana was born in Spain and raised in the Netherlands, always feeling ‘international’ wherever she goes. With both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in her pocket, she lives and breathes the teachers’ life with passion. Yoana has taught languages since 2012 and made a switch to international primary school teaching in tropical Phuket, Thailand (2019) where she worked for almost 4 years before joining our Verita family in Bucharest.

Oana Nedelcu
Year 5B Teacher
Oana graduated from the University of Bucharest, where she studied Psychology and completed her licence in Psychotherapy. She holds an International Postgraduate Certificate in Education (iPGCE), awarded by the University of Sheffield. Oana also studied Drama, Photography and has been writing poetry for 17 years now. Working with kids can wonderfully combine these all together, for a better understanding of a creative mind that is in the process of decoding the world around us.

Carmen Sas
Year 5B Teaching Assistant
Carmen is always enthusiastic, and she feels so much joy being around children, junior youth and youth, learning together and progressing.
She graduated from the University of Foreign Languages in Bucharest with a major in French and Romanian languages and literature. She is passionate, of course, about foreign languages and anthropology, as she speaks Italian, English and German,

Patrick Hearn
Year 5C Teacher
Patrick grew up close to Cambridge in the UK, moving to London to study History at King’s College. His first experience in education came during his summer whilst at university, working with remote schools in Kenya and Uganda.

Ruxandra
Year 5C Teacher in Training
Ruxandra is a passionate Social Emotional and Ethical Facilitator, and an advocate of contemplative practices that enhance well-being. Human development, brain and mind, cultural diversity, and intercultural relationships are some of her interests too. She has spent over 15 years in the Middle East and India, with the last few years focusing on Women Empowerment.

Amal Diab
IPC Coordinator and Year 6A Teacher
After graduating from Manchester University with a degree in Biotechnology, Amal’s passion for education led her to obtain her Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Sunderland University. She has spent the last 9 years teaching in various international schools around Europe and Asia. During her teaching career, she has worked as a Maths and Science coordinator.

Lana Kindrachuk
Year 6B Teacher
Lana is originally from Canada and attended the University of Alberta, where she obtained a Bachelor of Physical Education: Sport Science Concentration, before pursuing her Bachelor of Elementary Education. She has been teaching internationally for the past 18 years, having recently been in Singapore, and is working on completing a ‘Reading Specialist’ course. Lana enjoys travelling, ice skating, cooking and being with friends-both old and new, and family. When back in Alberta, a must have for her is enjoying fire pits and barbecuing, and going for long road trips in the car. Seeing all of the amazing wildlife is a bonus as well.

Madalina Osnaga
Year 6 Teaching Assistant
Madalina graduated from Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest with a Bachelor’s in Romanian and English literature and linguistics, and started teaching English right after. She has been teaching and working with both adults and children of all ages for 4 years. She has also prepared students for Cambridge exams and guided them throughout the years. Madalina is enthusiastic, creative and hardworking. She believes there is nothing greater than teaching and enhancing learning amongst children.
Primary Specialist Teachers

Diana Mihalache
Languages Coordinator Mother-Tongue, MFL and ELL Coordinator
Diana has more than 15 years of experience in teaching Romanian, English and French in public and international schools. She started teaching at 19 years old, as soon as she graduated from Pedagogical Highschool. She has a vivid interest in using the most efficient teaching techniques and class management strategies, as well as learning about different education systems, curriculum and instruction programs, or teaching and learning philosophies.

Marina Balabas
Art and Music Teacher for Years 1&2
Marina Balabas graduated Musical Interpretation from the Bucharest University of Music, having completed the teaching degree and with a ten year experience in teaching both violin and piano, as well as group music lessons . Between her collaborations with professional orchestras and playing in various chamber music groups and alternative formulas, she has always kept her focus on exploring accurate ways of explaining the learning process to both children and adults.

Béla Zoltán
Year 6 Art Teacher
Béla is a known contemporary artist, although he graduated from UAD (The University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca), Painting, he is been active in the Bucharest art scene for over 15 years. He’s works range from painting to objects and instalation.
Jeni Susanu
Romanian Teacher for Years 2&3
Jeni is always open to discover something new and exciting in every encounter of her everyday life and has a natural gift for teaching children and creating a special bond with children of different ages. This passion led her to begin a career in teaching. Jeni discovered this through the Teach for Romania program.

Andreea Manea
Year 2A Teaching Assistant & Year 2 ELL Teacher
Andreea believes that education begins the moment we see children as innately wise and capable beings and that educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. She is a certified English language teacher and holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in specialized translations.
Irina Perca
Years 4-6 Romanian Teacher
Irina was born and raised in Roman, Neamt. She has from a very young age a passion for history, arts, museums and everything related to past times. Irina discovered her passion for teaching after she graduated from University of Bucharest with a degree in History and started working with children of different ages. She is very optimistic and with a great love and passion for education and children.

Ana Maria Stanciu
Years 3&4 ELL Teacher
Ana graduated from Foreign Languages at the University of Bucharest, where she studied English and Swedish. She has been keen on teaching since she was a pupil herself, and she loves sharing her knowledge and learning from others. As soon as she graduated from University, she started working as a teacher and in the meantime, she enrolled for a Master’s degree in Communication and Public Relations at SNSPA, in Bucharest.
Nicoleta Tiloi
Year 1 Romanian and Years 3-6 French Teacher
Nicoleta got in touch with the French Language when she was 8. She was deeply impressed by the musicality of the French language and by the way in which the access to another language and culture can enlarge your world.
At the age of 19 Nicoleta had the opportunity to work as a substitute teacher in the rural area. Then and there she experienced the impact of a teacher’s empathy and dedication in the children’s lives.
Theodor Grigoras
Years 3-5 Art Teacher
A graduate of the BA and MA programs, but also of the psycho-pedagogical modules at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, Theodor Grigoraș is an active visual artist on the art scene of Bucharest, regularly participates in group art exhibitions and regularly organizes solo art shows. During college he received Erasmus scholarships to study in the Czech Republic and Spain, won multiple art scholarships awarded by the Royal Margaret Foundation of Romania and received the award of the National University of Art in Bucharest for the best bachelor’s thesis in the Graphic Arts departent of his generation.

Sam Taylor
ELL & PE Teacher for Years 4-6
Sam is from Kent, also known as ‘the garden of England’ and as might be expected, he has a lifelong fondness for nature and the great outdoors. He can often be found hiking, wild camping, kayaking, rock climbing, SCUBA diving & snorkelling. When not pursuing adventure, you will find Sam immersed in music, a DJ that makes his own drum & bass tunes, plays the guitar and attempts to sing! He is also a self-professed film & football geek. He has experience working with children in a variety of roles from ESL teacher, Occupational Therapy, football coach and climbing instructor. Sam is excited to further develop his teaching skills at Verita International as an ESL and PE teacher.

George Ciprian Dragan
EC 3 – Year 4 PE Teacher
Ciprian is a graduate of Spiru Haret University with a degree in physical education and management in sport. He spent 8 years teaching physical education in the public sector before joining us here at Verita. In that time Ciprian was responsible for teaching PE, establishing partnerships with local authorities, and organizing competitions at school, sector and municipal levels. Ciprian leads physical wellness and education to students at Verita from Reception all the way though to year 9.

Teona Rusu
Y3-Y6 Music Teacher
Teona has experienced music from three different perspectives: performing, teaching and composing. Music University and Romanian-English Philology graduate, she studied classical piano for sixteen years and later pursued a songwriting career, in order to exploit the creativity she says could never be met through the study of classical repertoire.

Oly Saldinger-Marinof
ICT for Years 1-6
Originally from Suceava, in the northeastern part of Romania, Olivian (Oly, as he likes to be called) has discovered his passion for working with children soon after graduating from the Faculty of Sociology and Social Assistance with a B.A. in Sociology.
Boboc Daniela
Cover Teacher
Born and raised in Moldova region, Miss Daniela discovered her passion for teaching 6 years ago while given the opportunity to work with children. She holds a PGCE in education from Sunderland University, UK and gained experience by working with children from across the world in all these years, ages 6-15.

Anca Marina Hultoana
Librarian
Anca, born and grown-up in Romania was fascinated by books and libraries since childhood and later she decided to pursue her education in the same field. After studying at the University of Borås in Sweden, her librarian career began in Spain at an international B-school.
Early Years

Roxana Din
EYFS Coordinator
Roxana graduated from the University of Bucharest with a BA in Foreign Languages (English – Italian) and an MA in English Linguistics part of which she has done at the Ca’Foscari University in Venice, Italy. During college she worked as a volunteer teacher at various NGO’s and as an Educational Therapist at a centre which offered educational and psychological assistance to children with learning disabilities such as Dyslexia or Specific Language Impairment.

Adina Costea
EC 1 Teacher
With a caring and approachable nature, Adina has more than 18 years of experience as a teacher, a Degree in Early Childhood and Primary Years, and a Bachelors at Babes Bolyai University. She is known as Adina Albina by an entire community of parents and children, as she is always making sure that her classroom is the ideal environment for learning, and her main focus is ensuring the social and emotional growth of the child.

Laura Ivanov
EC 1 Co-Teacher
Laura has a Bachelor Degree in English and History and also holds a Certificate for Teaching Profession, from the Teacher Training Department and a TKT Young Learners Certification. She discovered her passion for teaching young children as a student and she worked as a Secondary and High School teacher in a state school for 3 years and has 5 years’ experience in working with young children both in state and private kindergartens. She believes in teaching with kindness, patience and joy.

Roxanne Dela Cruz
EC 1 Teaching Assistant
Roxanne was born and raised in Manila,the Philippines.Her great passion is interacting with children so her studies are in the Education field. She worked for 5 years in Singapore, taking care of children, playing with children and teaching children. Being an assistant teacher in Verita International School and working in the Early Years setting is a dream come true.

Irina Safta
EC 2 Teacher
Irina was born in Bucharest, Romania, but travelled the world due to her parents’ career as diplomats. This provided her a rich, diverse and multicultural education. She moved to Canada when she was in high-school; there she graduated from Glebe Collegiate Institute and later from Algonquin College from Ottawa.

Mihaela Andrei
EC 2 Co-Teacher
Born and raised in Bucharest, Mihaela has been part of the Verita Team for four years already. She has always been interested in the wellbeing of children and keen to discover their unique world. Therefore she followed the path of education after her son was born and specialised herself in this domain. She has a Certification for teaching profession, a specialised education certificate, Attachment and Early Childhood education course, First Aid course and Child Safety course.

Sabina Onet
EC 2 Teaching Assistant
Sabina graduated Communication and Public Relations (SNSPA, Bucharest), worked in advertising for a while and is now a Nursery Teacher Assistant in our school. She has several communication trainings as well as the First Level Psycho – Pedagogical certification. Sabina believes that meditation and children are a soul nurturing combination.
Andreea Balan
REC A Teacher

Fedora Torok
REC A Teaching Assistant
Fedora graduated from the Romanian American University, International Tourism Economy faculty. She is an optimistic person and loves working with people. During her childhood she practiced gymnastics for 8 years.

Georgiana Tat
REC B Teacher
For the past years, Georgiana has taught in International schools in Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest. She studied at Babeș-Bolyai University and she has a master degree in British Cultural Studies. She knew from a really young age that she wanted to become a teacher. Her grandmother was a teacher and she inspired her a lot, as she did her teaching with lots of love for her students.
Student Support, SEL & Special Educational Needs

Emily Marriott
SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator), Year 11 SEL Teacher
Emily was born and raised in Adelaide, Australia. She has lived and worked in education in many different countries until deciding to focus on primary education. After obtaining her Bachelors in English in Oman, as well as completing her Masters in Inclusive education at the University of Edinburgh, she hopes to incorporate elements of inclusion for all students in a creative and kind environment. Emily focuses on inquiry-based learning as well as interdisciplinary teaching methods and is keen to utilise new technologies as soon as possible.

Andreea Alexandrescu
Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning Coordinator for Primary & Secondary
Andreea Alexandrescu is a Social Emotional Learning Programs Facilitator, with more than 10 years of experience working with children, parents and teachers in various roles: DIR/Floortime Provider, Learning Support Teacher, Social Emotional Learning Teacher.
Andreea holds an Advanced Diploma in Special Education from the College of Allied Educators in Singapore and has a bachelor degree in Special Education from Bucharest University, with a certification in Communication and HR Management.

Marius Luca
Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning Facilitator
For more than 10 years he traveled far and wide in pursuit of climbing and human experiences through which he could get a glimpse of purpose and make meaning in life.
The quest outside turned out to be a quest inside. He started the inner journey through individual psychotherapy. He then joined a personal development group using the method of psychodrama to find balance and make sense of past experiences.

Ilinca Vlaicu
KS2 & Secondary School Counsellor & Y10 SEL Teacher
linca has graduated from the University of Bucharest with a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and shortly after, she obtained degrees in counselling and psychotherapy from the Romanian Institute of Experiential Psychotherapy. She started working as a shadow during her years in college and after getting her license, she began working as a family counsellor in different associations, volunteering in children’s hospitals and teaching medical psychology at a community college.

Tom Maracsko
University/ Careers Counselor
Tom is from Hungary with a Master’s degree in Economics from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and a PGCE from the University of Cumbria. He has spent the past 12 years living and working around the Asia Pacific region. In the past four years, he worked in Beijing, China, where he taught IBDP and AL Economics and Business Studies. Tom has specialized on inquiry-based learning and has researched the effects of instructional humour on high-quality teaching and learning in a classroom environment He is also an AQA A levels examiner with experience in UCAS and Oxbridge interview preparation and college counselling. He loves motorcycle racing, geopolitics, history and travelling.

Andreea Neagu
Counselling & Special Educational Needs Collaborator
Andreea Neagu is the former School Counsellor from Verita, but remained as a collaborator for our Counselling and Special Educational Needs Department. Currently she works in her private practice as a clinical psychologist, integrative psychotherapist and play and drama-therapist. She has extensive expertise in child, adolescent, adult and family clinical evaluation and psychotherapy interventions.

Ana Maria Abatacesei
Early Years & KS1 Counsellor
Ana-Maria graduated from the Faculty of Psychology in 2018. She has been working with children ever since, part of her work experience involved working with children with special needs. She can gladly affirm that being a teacher is the job that fits her like a glove. She loves working with children because it gives her a deeper sense of responsibility in helping grow and develop the younger generation.
Ximena Reyes
Ambassador for Intercultural Global Citizenship
Ximena is an Intercultural trainer for global leadership and intercultural management.
She has been leading the intercultural activities at Verita, has been a speaker for the Families in Global Transition summit, is Mentor in the PWN mentoring program, and has a Studies at Swedish International Red Cross Institute on Children’s rights and Intercultural Communication at Shanghai International University.
Business Office

Luiza Joita
School Operations Director
Luiza graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, specialized in Tourism & Services and she worked for 15 years in marketing and events management. Her professional journey helped her develop abilities to plan, organize and manage complex projects. The interest for education started when her two daughters reached the age for schooling and because she truly believes in Verita School’s vision, she embraced a career change and accepted the challenge to join the Verita team. She loves to travel and spend time outdoors, as well as listening to music and reading a good book.

Olivia Musat
Admissions and Parents’ Relationship Coordinator
Olivia graduated from the University of International Relations and has a masters degree in European Policies. Throughout the years she has worked for many important companies in the Sales and Marketing field as well as in Customer Care.
Ema Nasta
Project Coordinator for Extra Curricular, Transportation & Field Trips
Ema has a degree in International Business and Economics at ASE, Bucharest. Her childhood passion for traditional dance made her discover, through traveling, her interests. She enjoys being in a multicultural environment, working with people and getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. She believes that her professional journey at Verita suits her personality.
Tamara Eftene
Front of the House Officer
Tamara has always wanted to work in a place in which she like what she does, something that motivates her to become a better person, somewhere where she can feel at ease, surrounded by well-bred people and not feel a pressure on her shoulders when she comes to work.

Cornelia Cacu
Head of Finance
Cornelia graduated Cybernetics, Statistics and Economic Informatics at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. Being passionate about numbers she joined, while she was still a student, an accounting company where she developed her accounting skills for several yeas, growing from Junior to Senior Accountant. She moved forward by working as a Financial Manager for a Romanian Publishing House, blending in her passion for numbers with the passion for words, reading and writing.

Mariana Radu
Senior Accountant
Born and raised in Bucharest, Mariana graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, specialized in Accounting in 1998. She has an experience of more than 20 years in the field of Accounting. Passionate about learning and very curious by nature, she also studied Tourism and Spanish and translated theatre from Spanish into Romanian. She has many hobbies: hiking, going to concerts of classical music, crocheting, reading, dancing tango.

Roxana Marchidanu
Accountant
Roxana was born in Braila, Romania, and she has been living in Bucharest for more than 15 years.
She graduated from the Law and Public Administration Faculty at the University of Spiru Haret. Before joining Verita, she worked as a substitute teacher and also held various administrative positions.

Alexandra Ivan
HR and Purchasing Specialist
Alexandra graduated from Law University in Bucharest. After graduation, she worked as a freelancer with IT in Germany. She later became a credit officer working on acquisitions. This became her passion, and her path to Verita. She applies her knowledge acquisition skills to her 9 year old daughter Anya, by making quality acquisitions for learning, studying and having fun. She knows that kids develop beautifully in a school like Verita, with the proper environment and learning support.

Nicolae Iani
IT
Nicolae is a newly qualified Cisco network associate, recently moved from abroad to Romania, looking to expand his IT networking knowledge and to provide long term positive impact to the workplace and society, happy to work with Verita and to provide great support for teachers and students.

Ciprian Bulmaga
DPO and SIS Coordinator
Cip was born in Curtea de Arges, Romania and has been living in Bucharest for more than two decades. He graduated from the University of Bucharest with a BA in Communication and Public Relations and drove inspiration from working with children. He has been a substitute teacher and held various assistant administrative roles in a school environment. Cip is happy and passionate to help people around with troubling less over the use of technology, a huge math and science fan, a lover of fiction, and also a very proud father of three wonderful kids.

Viorel Cervis
Site Supervisor
Viorel is a longer serving member of the Verita family as he has been working with our Foundation for the last 3 years. During this time he was also supporting our Verita Organic brand handling both the customers and suppliers.
Administrative staff

Ionela Obreja
School Nurse
One of Ionela’s passions is to help people in need. That was the reason that made her study Sanitary School and become a nurse. Since she had her daughter, Ionela wanted to focus more on children and she joined Verita’s team. She just loves to see children with a big smile on their face every day.

Lucian Tanasa
Driver & Security
Lucian is our guardian and driver, being trained as a gendarme. He enjoys serving and supporting, being a proactive and well organised person who enjoys being around children and fulfilling rigorously the tasks that he is offered.

Gheorghe Mocanu
Chef
Gheorghe, or ‘’ domnul Gicu” as we call him, worked for 12 years in Eurohotels and is passionate about international cuisine, handball and soccer. Father of a 23 year old boy who he cooks for at home with the same dedication as he does in school for our children and staff. He enjoys working in an environment where people are supportive, communicate openly and collaborate to find the best solutions.

Cristian Ionescu
Chef
Cristian is our Chef Assistant, passionate about Romanian cuisine and helping our team with preparing the necessary ingredients for our healthy meals, maintaining cafeteria organised and serve the meals. A father of two himself is enjoying being around children and is looking forward to pursue his Chef accreditation.

Ana Gaspar
Pastry Chef
Before achieving 18 years of experience in the kitchen, Ana worked in a clothing and knitwear factory. She preferred restaurants where she prepared salads and desserts. Verita is the first school where she can give her input as a Chef and she finds cooking for the little ones is very interesting.

Magdalena Cosma
Cleaning Staff
Before joining Verita, Mady worked in a joinery factory. She believes that work enables people. This belief makes her happy to be part of the Verita team cleaning department who work hard to enable us all. She has no children of her own, but loves them and hopes that one day she will have some. She loves to make sweets and cakes and she is very good at it.

Alexandrina Pena
Cleaning staff

Vera Iascenco
Cleaning staff

Elena Stan
Cleaning staff
Nicu Stan
Security & Maintenance

Ion Oprea
Security & Maintenance

Marius Pantea
Security & Maintenance
Ready to send your child on
the learning adventure of a lifetime?
We develop your child’s talents, build friendly relationships in a safe environment, and make learning enjoyable. Verita is the best fit for you if you believe that your children are part of a generation that needs to be independent, creative and ready for the world.