Faculty & Staff - Old

Claudia Müller | Principal
English, French, Global Citizenship

Claudia grew up close to Berlin, Germany. She earned her education degree from the University of Potsdam with a focus on English and French, and her PhD in English Didactics from the Technische Universität Braunschweig. Claudia has worked for over ten years as an educator in Germany and the US. In her free time, Claudia is a board member, volunteer, and DJ for San Francisco Community Radio and she enjoys exploring the Bay Area’s outdoors. Claudia can be reached at cmueller@ebgis.org.

Daniela Klimetschek | Director of Middle School
Ethics, German, History

Daniela earned her Gymnasium teaching degree (equivalent to a US master’s degree in education) at the Technische Universität in Berlin. She has eleven years of teaching experience in Germany and the US including German, English, Drama, and Humanities, as well as preparing students for the German Abitur university-entry examinations. She enjoys spending time with her family and traveling around California and the US. Daniela can be reached at dklimetschek@ebgis.org.

Lisa Vestewig | Director of Elementary School
Elementary School

Lisa grew up near Ulm in the South of Germany. She earned her education degree from the University of Education in Ludwigsburg with a concentration in German, English and PE. Lisa has eight years of experience teaching in elementary schools in Stuttgart, Germany and the US. Lisa enjoys traveling, being with friends and dancing. Lisa can be reached at lvestewig@ebgis.org.

Katharina Wojak | Preschool Director
Preschool

Katharina was born in Poland and grew up in Germany. She completed professional training in the fields of early childhood education, holistic healing pedagogy, and management, and has eighteen years of experience as an early childhood educator and administrator. In her free time, Katharina enjoys traveling around the world, studying Spanish, and spending time outdoors.

Elisabeth Andres
Middle School

Elisabeth grew up near Paderborn, Germany. She earned her education degree from the University of Bielefeld, specializing in Biology and Philosophy/Ethics. After completing her studies, Elisabeth completed a traineeship as a high school teacher in Berlin. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, drawing and playing board games. Elisabeth can be reached at eandres@ebgis.org.

Grace Buka
Preschool

Grace was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and moved to Germany when she was eight years old. She grew up in a small town near Stuttgart. Grace became a state-certified early childhood educator (Erzieherin) in 2013 and taught in a Froebel kindergarten prior to joining EBGIS. In her free time, Grace enjoys being in nature, practicing martial arts and reading. Grace can be reached at gbuka@ebgis.org.

Alexander Dippon
Preschool

Sarah Ernst
Physics

Sarah graduated from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich with a physics degree and is a private teacher for Mathematics and Physics up to university level. Sarah has been working as a university physics laboratory instructor for the past two years. She is passionate about both theoretical/mathematical as well as experimental physics. Sarah is happiest when surrounded by nature; she practices yoga and enjoys hiking and riding her bike on the Bay Trail.

Jana Ezawa
Elementary School, Art

Jana grew up outside of Bremen in Northern Germany. After earning her primary and secondary education degree at the University of Oldenburg she taught Art, Math, and German Language and Literature for ten years in Germany and the US. Jana has always enjoyed raising the cultural and artistic profile of her schools by creating collaborations with local art institutions. Jana can be reached at jezawa@ebgis.org.

Yvonne Greene
Preschool

Yvonne grew up in southern Germany. After earning a business degree in Freiburg she moved to the Bay Area and has worked in the field of early childhood education for over five years. Yvonne loves spending time with her family, traveling and arts and crafts. Yvonne can be reached at ygreene@ebgis.org.

Johanna Haertl
Elementary School

Johanna grew up in a small town in southern Germany. She earned her degree in primary education from the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg with a concentration in Biology, German, Mathematics and Art. Johanna then taught elementary school near Nuremberg and in Munich. Johanna enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities including hiking, mountain biking, swimming and traveling. She can be reached at jhaertl@ebgis.org.

Ingrid Haider
Kindergarten

Ingrid grew up in a small town in Austria. After completing her education as an early childhood teacher in 2000, she worked as a preschool and kindergarten teacher in Vienna, Austria. In 2013 she earned her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy at San Jose State University and has experience as a therapist in pediatric private practice and schools. Ingrid enjoys time with her daughters, music, podcasts, yoga and the outdoors. Ingrid can be reached at ihaider@ebgis.org.

Neil Hetrick | IB Coordinator
English, Middle and High School

Neil grew up in Northeast Ohio. He acquired a passion for German language and culture in his junior year of high school when he participated in a youth exchange program near Bremen, Germany. Since then, he has lived, worked, and studied in Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Spain. Neil earned his undergraduate degree in multi-age German education from the University of Toledo, and his MA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) and international education management. In his free time, Neil enjoys traveling, trail running, and baking bread. You can reach Neil at nhetrick@ebgis.org.

Christiane Hissbach
Kindergarten

Anna Jordanic
Elementary School

Anna grew up close to Frankfurt am Main, Germany. She earned her education degree from the University of Gießen, majoring in Biology and Geography. After completing a further course of study in primary education, Anna spent two years teaching elementary school. Because of her Croatian roots, Anna grew up bilingual, and she loves learning about other cultures. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, spending time with friends, backpacking and sports. Anna can be reached at ajordanic@ebgis.org.

Olivia Kistler
Elementary School

Olivia grew up near Zurich, Switzerland and earned a degree in primary education in Rorschach. After teaching in Switzerland she traveled around the world before returning to Europe and teaching first grade at the Swiss School in Milan. Olivia believes in creating an engaging school environment through stories and imaginative lessons. She still loves traveling to new places, hiking in nature, reading and playing board games. Olivia can be reached at okistler@ebgis.org.

Mónica Lomas
English

Monica grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She studied Modern Languages at the University of New Mexico with a concentration in Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Monica went on to study Elementary Education at the College of Santa Fe. She has been in the field of education for a decade working with all ages from kindergarten to high school. Her experience ranges from teaching in a bilingual Spanish program to curriculum development to consulting work with the San Francisco Unified School District. Monica enjoys time with her family, dancing flamenco, and creating block prints. Monica can be reached at mlomas@ebgis.org.

Petra Phouasalit
Preschool

Petra grew up near Passau, Bavaria, then moved to the United States where she earned her preschool teaching credentials. She has four years of experience as a preschool teacher and finds tremendous joy and excitement in her work. Petra enjoys hiking, cooking, and watching Korean and Chinese dramas. Petra can be reached at pphouasalit@ebgis.org.

Emily Rubis
Music, Studio

Emily grew up in Minnesota where she attended St. Olaf College, double majoring in German and Biology. Deciding after this that music was her passion, she earned a Bachelor and Master of Music at San Francisco State University in Piano Performance, and most recently completed her MA in Musicology at Humboldt University of Berlin in 2015. Emily has performed, taught and written about music for over 10 years and has spent 7 years living in Germany where she also taught music and worked as a translator of musicological texts. Emily can be reached at erubis@ebgis.org.

Sabina Veit
Art, Geography, PE, Middle School

Sabina grew up in Switzerland and earned her education degree at the University of Applied Science in Berne. She has a wide range of teaching experience including Art, Physical Education, Geography, Ethics and Arts and Crafts from kindergarten to high school. Sabina has taught at schools in Switzerland including a school for hearing impaired students, as well as the German International School in Sydney, Australia. Sabina enjoys spending time with her family, swimming, hiking, nature, good food and cooking. She can be reached at sveit@ebgis.org.

Haley Wooning
English Language Arts

Born in California, Haley spent her childhood between the Bay Area and the Netherlands. She received her MA degree in English Literature and writing in 2019 and has ten years of teaching experience. An avid reader and writer, Haley has over thirty publications under various pen names and one book of poetry. In her free time, she enjoys reading, horseback riding and puzzles.

Franklin Brown
Office Manager

Franklin grew up in Prague, Czech Republic and Akron, Ohio. He studied Linguistics and German at Gordon College, in Wenham, MA and continued his education with a MSc in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh, concentrating on Semantics, Philosophy, and Language Classification. Franklin has lived and worked in Lithuania, Scotland, New Zealand, and the Solomon Islands. In his free time, he enjoys playing the piano, reading, exercising, and gardening. Franklin can be reached at fbrown@ebgis.org.

Pia Newton
Admissions Manager

Pia grew up in Stuttgart in southern Germany. She studied Business Administration for Non-Profit Organizations, graduating in 2018. Pia has experience in the fields of administration, organization, marketing and communication, and volunteered at a children's camp in Stuttgart over an eight year period. In her free time, Pia likes to be active and loves being in nature. Pia can be reached at pnewton@ebgis.org.

Samuel Hedrick
Operations Manager

Samuel was born and raised in Northeast Ohio. After completing an exchange year in Wiesbaden, Germany as a Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholar, he went on to earn his BA in German Studies and International Relations from Kent State University, and his MA in Political Science from the Goethe University Frankfurt. Samuel has lived and worked in Germany for over six years, where he was working in the diplomatic field. In his free time, Samuel enjoys traveling, hiking, running, and playing the cello. Samuel can be contacted at shedrick@ebgis.org.

Zoë Riering-Czekalla
Administrative Assistant

Zoë is originally from Kiel, Germany and moved to the Bay Area as a child. After working in the insurance field, she attended UC Berkeley and recently graduated with a degree in Sociology. In her free time, Zoë likes to roller skate, cook and hang out with her little dog Fritzi. Zoë can be reached at zriering@ebgis.org.

Heather Ware
Extended Day Coordinator

Heather has many years of experience in running aftercare classes and camps. In addition to her training as an art teacher and her experience as an enrichment class supervisor, Heather is an interdisciplinary multi-media educator/artist with a focus on empowering youth through art and interdisciplinary creativity with an emphasis on inclusive community-building activities. Heather can be reached at hware@ebgis.org.

Constanze Dangelmaier
Extended Day Teacher

Constanze grew up in the foothills of the Alps in the beautiful Allgäu region of Bavaria. She earned her Masters Degree in Sinology, Philosophy and Psychology from Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. She also studied Chinese in Taiwan and Beijing, living in China for two years. Constanze has over five years of experience teaching German and English in Asia, Europe and the US. She loves singing, playing the violin and viola, arts and photography. She can be reached at cdangelmaier@ebgis.org.

Yoko Kurotani
Extended Day Teacher