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

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
Head 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.

Ashley Peek
Principal of Secondary
Prior to joining Verita, Ashley Peek was School Director at Berkeley International School in Thailand. With over 15 years of experience in international education and school administration, Ashley has moved seamlessly from classroom teacher to curriculum coordinator to principal and then to headmaster.
April Wuest
Principal of Primary & Early Years
April Wuest brings over 25 years of teaching and educational leadership, having most recently served as Director of Primary Education at American School of Asuncion in Paraguay. April began her career in America as a classroom teacher, followed by Gifted/Talented Instructional Coach and District Coordinator before serving as Assistant Principal of Middle School.

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.

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.

Nomfundo Such
Head of Curriculum & Coaching
Nomfundo has a dynamic career in and outside of education, spanning across South Africa, Qatar, the UK and Romania. Her qualifications and experiences encompass teaching with a student-centred approach that empowers learners to take ownership of their own learning. As such, she is ardently committed to fostering independence,

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 & IB DP Chemistry 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
Y11 Business + Y13 Economics & Career Counseling
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
Y10-Y13 English Teacher + EE Coordinator
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.
Anthony Corales Del Rosario
Y10 – Y11 Chemistry, Y10 – Y13 Physics & IB DP TOK Teacher
Anthony is from the Philippines. He holds a Bachelor of Secondary Education Honours major in Physics and Technology and Masters in Management in Educational Management. He has more than 20 years of experience teaching middle and high school students. Prior to joining Verita International School, he taught in IB and Cambridge schools in Southeast and Central Asia. Anthony likes reading books and watching movies and he likes cooking during his free time.

Georgeta Gherghinoiu
High School Visual Arts 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
Instructional Coach for Secondary, Year 8A & Year 9 Math 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.

Irina Cazacu
Y9 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.

Evelina Catoi
Y7-8 SEL 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.

Ilinca Vlaicu
Secondary School Counsellor
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.

Catherine Bailey
Year 7 Math and Science & Year 8B Mathematics
Catherine always found maths and science to be her favourite subjects as a student, and works to foster the same love of learning in her classroom. She graduated with a BA in Primary Education. Realising her passion for maths education, she has spent 4 of her 8 years teaching, working as a maths teacher in primary and middle settings. Prior to joining Verita she was Head of Maths at a prestigious London prep school.

Rona Luz Duran
Y10-Y13 Math + IGCSE Coordinators
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
Y10-Y13 Biology & IBDP ESS 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.

Marucia Fick
Y10 Business Studies & Y8-Y9 Humanities Teacher
Elizabeth Reed
Y7-Y8 & Y9 English Teacher
Elizabeth is from Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. She has a Master of Arts degree in Education and a K-12 teaching license in ESL/EFL. She has worked as a teacher for 8+ years, teaching English at international schools in China, Honduras, and Ecuador. Her passion for teaching began when she worked with non-profit education organizations in the U.S.
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
Y7A, Y8, Y9 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.

Jake Male
Middle School & High School 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.

Doina Lavric
Years 8-9 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.

Marin Leca
Lab Technician

Cristina Turbatu
Year 7 Romanian Teacher
Cristina Turbatu was born in Alexandria, Romania, studied and worked for most of her life in Bucharest where she returned after nearly 11 years spent on the island of Cyprus.
Cristina has done her B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures, specializing in English Language Teaching. She also holds the Certificate for Teaching Romanian and French from the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest and in 2005 she earned the Qualified Teacher Status (PROFESOR I – LB. ȘI LIT.ENGLEZĂ).

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.
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.
Primary & Early Years Educators

Adina Costea
Primary & Early Years 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
Primary & Early Years 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.

Madalina Farcas
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Mădălina is a young psychology graduate who loves children and has chosen to study modern education and teaching methods since her university years. During her university studies, she attended several courses on educational counselling and educational psychology, and during her master’s studies she had the opportunity to work as an educational assistant in a kindergarten,
Andreea Balan
Primary & Early Years Teacher

Roxanne Dela Cruz
Primary & Early Years 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.

Raluca Radu
Primary & Early Years Teacher
Raluca began her career as a communication specialist. Excelling in her role, a sense of longing for something more led her to make a bold decision. Four years ago, she transitioned to become an Early Years teacher, embracing her true passion. She currently holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Primary and Preschool Education from the University of Bucharest.

Sabina Onet
Primary & Early Years 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.

Roxana Din
EYFS Coordinator and Primary 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.

Fedora Torok
Primary & Early Years 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.

Irina Safta
Primary & Early Years 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.

Alexandra Virban
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Alexandra hails from Craiova, Romania, where she was born. In 2019, she successfully obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Bucharest. Notably, Alexandra holds accreditation from the Romanian Psychologists College since 2020. Her journey into the world of working with children with special needs began during her second year at university, igniting a profound passion for engaging with youngsters.
Over the course of the past 3 years, Alexandra has assumed the role …

Valentin Usturoi
Primary & Early Years 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.

Ranu Peek
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Born in a small city in central Thailand, Ranu moved to Bangkok at the age of 18 to pursue studies in English and humanities. She soon took a position as a teaching assistant at an international school there, where she found her calling in working with young children.

Georgiana Tat
Primary & Early Years Teacher
For the past years, Georgiana has taught in International schools in Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest. She studied at Babes-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.
Doris Nastase
Primary & Early Years 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.

Ana Zugravu
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Ana is an expert in Early Childhood Education and Behavioral Therapy with extensive experience in evaluating, planning and applying interventions for counseling children and families in need. Her intuition guided her to choose Psychology and this changed her life path for good.

Evelina Catoi
Primary & Early Years 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.

Saskia Brookman
Primary & Early Years 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.

Julia Kaverinskaya
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Julia is a reliable, proactive, accountable, empathetic and adaptable person. With a degree in Asian Studies and a background in media, Julia brings a unique perspective to education. After working with children, Julia’s transition to education reflects her passion for making a lasting impact on young minds.

Alexandra Popescu
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Alexandra was born in Pitesti but she eventually moved to Bucharest where she graduated from the faculty of Sociology and Social Work with a degree in Sociology in English. She is currently studying a master’s degree in Advanced Sociological Research at the same university.

Ioana Mustatea
Primary & Early Years 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.

Irina Neagu
Primary & Early Years Teacher
Irina was born and raised in Romania, but she lived a couple of years in Spain, where she studied and experienced a multicultural environment. She completed her studies in Romania, and she has a BA in Literature and Linguistics. After graduating she taught English in Romania and in a few African countries.

Mihaela Andrei
Primary & Early Years 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.

Sonam Vajpayee
Primary & Early Years 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.

Bianca Oancea
Primary & Early Years 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!

Sabina Lefter
Primary & Early Years 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.

Adrian Zanfiroaica
Primary & Early Years 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.

Alin Nitu
Primary & Early Years 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
Primary & Early Years Teacher
Diana’s passion for English made her think about how she can make use of it and, after seeing her aunt working in a school as a teacher, Diana decided to study to become a teacher. Diana has been working in education for 6 years now and loves every single day of it. She is very passionate about working with children and she wants to create for them a loving and inspiring environment where they can become independent thinkers with a loving and kind heart.
Irinel Constantin Manole
Primary & Early Years 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.

Fatima Farhoud
Primary & Early Years Teacher
Fatima is of Romanian nationality, born in Bucharest, with ancestral roots tracing back to Jordan. Joining the Verita community in 2023, she brings with her a Master’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Bucharest. Currently, Fatima is immersed in her pursuit of a PhD in Linguistics at Ovidius University in Constanța. Embarking on her teaching journey 8 years ago, Fatima has been …

Adelina Oprea
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Adelina has a BA in Romanian-English Language and Literature from Valahia University from Târgoviște and Phycho-pedagogical Course for the Teaching Staff’s Training from the same university. She always dreamed of being a teacher, that’s why immediately after finalizing her studies, she worked as a Romanian teacher in the public education system for 2 years.

Yoana Vastree Estevez
Primary & Early Years 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.

Tania Menon
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Tania was born and raised in a small town in central Sri Lanka. She has 22 years of experience engaging with people from all walks of life from all over the globe, as her previous career was with an international airline as a flight attendant. There, Tania discovered her love of engaging with children and she wants to be there for them whenever they need her, with all the love and support that she can offer.

Andrei Pauna
Primary & Early Years 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.

Patrick Hearn
Primary & Early Years 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.
Irina Dumitrascu
Primary & Early Years 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. “

Amal Diab
IPC Coordinator and Primary & Early Years 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.

Andreea Potlog Vasilescu
Primary & Early Years Teaching Assistant
Ms Andreea has been working with children for a very long time. She first started when she was 15 years old working as a volunteer with disadvantaged children. Then, she realised how happy she felt being around children. From that moment on her journey in teaching had started. Ms Andreea has a great passion for History, Music, Art, culture in general,

Samantha Nikole Cirino
Primary & Early Years Teacher
Samantha is an enthusiastic and energetic educator. Since she was a young child, she knew she was meant to be a teacher, and has pursued her passion in every way possible since. Samantha is from the United States and graduated from Missouri State University with a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education in 2017. She is certified to

Sam Taylor
Primary & Early Years Teacher
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.
Primary Specialist Teachers

Andreea Manea
Year 2 & Year 3 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.

Ana Maria Stanciu
Years 4 – Year 6 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.

George Ciprian Dragan
EY – Year 3 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.

Nuria Losa
Year 4 – Year 6 PE Teacher
Nuria was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain. She has a bachelor’s degree in Sports Science and physical education and a master’s degree in Sport Management and Education. In her previous career, she worked as a personal trainer and group fitness teacher. She is passionate and dedicated to working with children and inspires them to approach an active and healthy lifestyle.

Oly Saldinger-Marinof
ICT Teacher
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.

Marina Balabas
Reception Art & Music Teacher, KS1 and Y3-Y6 Art Teacher & Y1, Y2A,B Music Teacher
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.

Teona Rusu
Y2-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.
Nicoleta Tiloi
Y3 – Y6 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.
Irina Perca
Y4 – Y6 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.
Jeni Susanu
Y1 – Y3 Romanian Teacher
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.

Cristina Turbatu
Romanian Teacher for non-native
Cristina Turbatu was born in Alexandria, Romania, studied and worked for most of her life in Bucharest where she returned after nearly 11 years spent on the island of Cyprus.
Cristina has done her B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures, specializing in English Language Teaching. She also holds the Certificate for Teaching Romanian and French from the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest and in 2005 she earned the Qualified Teacher Status (PROFESOR I – LB. ȘI LIT.ENGLEZĂ).

Simona Manole
Cover 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.

Ruxandra
Cover 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.
Student Support, SEL & Special Educational Needs

Andreea Alexandrescu
SEL & Learning Support Coordinator
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.

Julie Dinca
Primary Student Support Team Lead
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
Secondary Student Support Team Lead
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.

Ilinca Vlaicu
Secondary School Counsellor
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.

Mirela Lefter
Primary Learning Support
Mirela graduated from the Academy of Economics Studies in 1997, in Bucharest, Romania. Driven by a passion for education, she furthered her professional development by enrolling in specialized courses at the College of Allied Educators in Singapore. She completed training in Phonics and Phonetics and Learning Disorders Management and Speech Language Development.
Ada Cojan
Secondary Learning Support
Ada Cojan is a psychotherapist and a clinical psychologist and has joined Verita as teaching support. She studied for a bachelor’s degree in pscyhology, graduating in 2012. Following graduation, she was keen to gain more specialised knowledge, so she completed a two year course in Adlerian psychotherapy, which is known as the most advanced course in the field of pscyhology.

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
EYFS & Primary School 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.

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.

Alexandra Sare-Alba
Financial Officer
Alexandra was born in Breaza and she came to Bucharest for studies. She graduated Finance and Banking at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and she also took her second degree in Marketing. She has 15 years of experience in working with clients, loans and also with numbers, mostly in financial banking institutions. As a hobby, she likes to take long walks in nature, travel and enjoy new experiences with her loved ones.

Oana Mihai
Financial Controller
Oana graduated Finance and Banking at the Academy of Economic Studies from Bucharest, began her career as accountant, continued with tax advisory and audit before starting the role of Controller over the last 20 years. As Controller she had the opportunity to be involved in reporting, internal control, project management, KPIs, business analysis. Besides “number things”, to bring balance to her life Oana enjoys spending time with the family and friends, gardening, trekking, observing nature, philosophy, art. Also, periodically she is involved in volunteering activities with children or senior people.

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.

Claudia Vasile
Junior Accountant

Cristina Mica
Project Coordinator
Cristina graduated from University of Bucharest, Faculty of History. After graduation, she worked for 7 years in the IT and digitization industry where she was responsible to deliver on time, scope and budget for the projects she managed. History is still one of her great passions, but she discovered that she also loves the work that project management entails.

Alexandra Ivan
HR and Purchasing Specialist
Alexandra graduated from the Law University in Bucharest. After graduation, she worked as a freelancer with a German IT company. She is a continuous learner, always seeking out new information and best practices to stay current in the field of HR. However, her approach goes beyond technical knowledge. Alexandra believes that creating a culture of kindness, acceptance, empathy, and inclusion is essential to building a workplace where people feel valued and supported.
As an HR specialist, Alexandra is dedicated to creating a workplace that fosters a sense of community and belonging. She believes that empathy and kindness are crucial in creating an environment where people feel respected and supported.

Laura Vilceanu
Front of the House Officer
Laura was born in Romania, but raised in Canada for more than 8 years. She has decided to return to Romania because it is her native country and she wants to know more about the culture and see more of Romania touristic areas.

Iulian Dragne
Purchasing Coordinator

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.

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
Tech 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.

Tanta Dragoi
School Nurse
Tănțica is not just a very experienceed nurse (she worked more than 20 years in a public hospital) but she is also very passionate about her work and her personal development which made her leave the country and work for 3 years in Germany. After returning back to Romania she decided to provide her experience exclusivelly to children because she loves to be around them and see their joyfull faces.

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
