The Senior Leadership Team

The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) is responsible for the day-to-day operational running of Verita School. From curriculum delivery and staff management to student welfare and institutional planning, the SLT oversees every aspect of school life, ensuring that our vision and values are translated into consistent, meaningful practice.

Each member of the team brings dedicated expertise to their area of responsibility, working collaboratively to create a safe, structured, and inspiring environment where both students and staff can thrive. It is through the SLT’s hands-on leadership and shared sense of purpose that Verita continues to be a place where families, students, and educators grow together

Senior Leadership Team

Richard Makis Ioannidis

Founder/ CEO

Richard was born and raised in Athens, Greece. He 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.

As a full-time father of three boys, Richard is passionate about children and education and has been working for the last five years as a teacher and Director of Social Emotional Learning. Richard is also a play therapist with young children diagnosed with cancer at the Fundeni Hospital. He has over 10 years of experience with Mindfulness Parenting and teaching.

Verita 4 All Foundation

Our main focus is on Children Educational Programs for orphans and underprivileged families. Education is one of the single most vital elements in combating poverty and our goal is to freely offer and train teachers around the world with the SEE Emory University Curriculum. Other important projects include: Helping children with cancer, the Elderly and Hospice Centers. www.veritafoundation.ro.

“We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love” (Mother Theresa)

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.

As co-founder of our Verita Foundation, she has launched in 2020 CERC – Compassion in Education Resource Center, a resource platform for social-emotional and ethical learning which is intended to share our school’s valuable SEL knowledge, results and resources with educators in the Romanian public educational system.

She is a certified trainer with an SEL ( Social Emotional Learning ) course certification from Rutgers University, USA and a Mindfulness Teaching certification from Mindful Schools in the USA.

Lila is also certified by Emory University, USA as an SEEL ( Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning) facilitator.
She is also a mother and believes in the power of kindness, trusting people’s ability to find inner balance and joy of living and she wishes to contribute to a kinder, more compassionate world for our children and for us all.

Tim Springham

Head of Early Years & Primary

Tim Springham has been an educator for over 27 years. Over the past 2 decades in educational leadership in 6 vastly different global settings Tim still firmly believes that the best learning environments are where everyone feels safe secure and valued. This is what Tim sets out to achieve everyday with the Verita learning community.

Tim started his educational journey in the United Kingdom attending state school and then the prestigious University of Exeter. He then went to Roehampton Institute, part of the University of Surrey, to complete his Teacher Training. After teaching in 2 different schools in England, Tim then took the position of Deputy Head of Primary at the British School in the Netherlands. Here Tim took the National Professional Qualification for Headship and helped guide the school through a very successful ISI inspection. Tim then served as Head of Infant School at the British School of Amsterdam where another successful ISI inspection was completed. Tim then served as Head of Primary for 2 different schools in the Middle East for 5 Years and for the past 3 years was Whole School Principal, ages 18 months to 18 years with a Boarding House, of Lae International School Papua New Guinea.

He is very interested in applying current understanding of brain development to create dynamic learning environments where the principles of Vygotsky scaffolded learning are applied to complex problem-solving activities enabling learners to take risks and try new theories without fearing failure.

Tim is a collaborative leader who believes in leading by example and creating a team ethos where everyone’s contributions are valued. He has an excellent track record in developing young leaders and identifying and nurturing middle leadership.

Tim, and his family, love travelling and immersing themselves into new cultures believing that the more you experience, the greater your tolerance and understanding horizon will be. Tim particularly enjoys watching, and occasionally participating, in most sports with football being his passion.

He is delighted to be part of an excellent team at Verita and is committed to delivering the Social and Emotional Learning philosophy to all students.

Ashley Peek

Head 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.

As a school leader, he designed and implemented their standards-based assessment and reporting system for both the primary and secondary schools and led a comprehensive curricular recording and review process for the first time in the school’s history.

Julie Dinca

Deputy Head of Early Years & Primary

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.

Julie joined Verita in its first year and has seen it grow and flourish into an amazing school that values kindness, inquiry, project-based learning and innovative teaching. Julie is a tech enthusiast and as a technology integrationist, she has tried to enrich and support teaching and learning while strengthening the technology skills of students, staff, and the community. She is a Google Level II Certified Educator and carries a certificate of Leadership of Educational Technology in Schools.

Julie values the relationships between students and teachers, between teachers and parents and between all the staff and considers them to be the foundation of great teaching and learning. She is passionate about gamification, mindfulness, social-emotional and project-based learning. She has always enjoyed learning, and she is determined to inspire students to love learning and to pursue their naturally curious minds through her teaching.

Roxana Din

Curriculum Coordinator of Early Years & KS1 and EY Campus Leader

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.

Her desire to get involved in education and especially in emotionally based learning stems both from her own experience as a student/learner and from her observations of the methods children use in order to acquire certain information. She strongly believes that children need an environment which would allow them to express their needs and feelings, to know themselves in order to be able to absorb information from the outside. They only need guidance and a lot of understanding.

Irina Cazacu

Deputy Head of Secondary Middle School

Irina has been part of the Verita community for many years, during which she has worked in a variety of roles, including Early Years Teacher and Coordinator, Primary Teacher, EY and KS1 Assistant Principal, Secondary Assistant Principal for Pastoral Care, and currently, Deputy Head of Middle School.

Although her journey into working with children came later in life, it quickly became one of the most rewarding paths she could have chosen. Each day at school brings both challenges and joys, all of which she embraces wholeheartedly. Education continues to be a field that challenges her professionally while also supporting her personal growth. Irina is passionate about creating supportive, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences for all students and is grateful to be part of a team that shares this vision.

Doria Draghiciu

Deputy Head of Secondary High School

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.

Doria also helped develop a competitive project-based learning STEM program at the last high school she worked at. She is passionate about building student leadership capacity and empowering educators. In her spare time, she likes to run with her dog, take pictures and travel.

Luiza Joita

Head of School Operations

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.

Because she believes that people are multitalented and multidisciplinary and when there is an appropriate environment they can develop their inner beauty and skills, she joined Verita with the confidence that it provides the kind of space that allows children and grown ups as well, to meet the most authentic and harmonious version of themselves.

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!

Ready to send your child on
the learning adventure of a lifetime?

We develop your child’s talents, build meaningful relationships in a safe environment, and make learning enjoyable. If you’re seeking an international, English-speaking school that encourages independence, creativity, and prepares children to thrive in a global world, Verita School is the perfect choice for your family.