Conférence des Directeurs

Jennifer Armstrong is a Canadian national. Passionate about languages, bilingualism and holistic, child-centred pedagogy, Jennifer followed a BA in Canadian Studies and French Language and Literature with a second Bachelor’s degree in Education, both at the University of Toronto. After teaching for several years, Jennifer completed a Masters in Curriculum and Applied Psychology, with a dissertation focused on Bilingualism.

Having been successively a teacher, French language consultant to the Trillium Lakelands Board of Education, Director of Academics, Vice Principal and Principal of schools in Canada, Jennifer was recruited by Ecolint in 2009 to open and run the new Primary school at La Châtaigneraie, devising the innovative new approach to bilingualism that is in use today.

In addition to her duties as Primary Principal at La Châtaigneraie, Jennifer is also the safeguarding and child protection lead for Ecolint, overseeing the implementation of the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

Jennifer is also a highly-experienced practitioner and advocate of the Reggio Emilia approach to primary learning, which is the underpinning of the PYP pedagogical approach. She was the Founding President of the Ontario Reggio Association and, previously, sat on the Board of the North American Reggio Educators Alliance. Jennifer has also lectured and delivered keynote addresses at many Reggio-inspired conferences and university symposia in the USA, Canada and Singapore and is the author of a chapter in a National Association for the Education of Young Children textbook for education programmes on Reggio-inspired practices in primary school.

Jennifer is married, with two adult children who both graduated from La Châtaigneraie. She enjoys skiing, cycling, sailing, kayaking and is an accomplished musician, playing both piano and ‘cello.

Gilbert Ekotto arrived at Ecolint in August 2022 after more than two decades at the French-American School of New York, which he taught in and helped grow to a school that today serves all year levels and offers the French and International Baccalaureate. His strong leadership skills and dedication to the teaching of French have been recognised and rewarded, including with the Outstanding Leadership Award from Concordia College’s Language Villages in Minnesota (USA). Passionate about societies and people, Gilbert co-founded an orphanage in his hometown of Douala, Cameroon. His pedagogical interests and areas of expertise include the field of Economics, Social Studies, Philosophy of Education and World Literature. Devoted to students, Gilbert appreciates engaging with colleagues on ways in which our thinking can open up about where our students are going into the future.

Gilbert studied Quantitative Economics at the University of Minnesota and obtained his Masters in Education Leadership from Moreland University (USA). He also holds a Positive Discipline Certificate and is a graduate of the Emerging Leaders Institute of the New York Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS).

An American national of Cameroonian descent, Gilbert is fluent in French, English and the Duala language. He is a football, world cuisine and world music enthusiast, and an indefatigable traveller, enjoying discovering a new country every year! He is married to a Québécoise and has one son.

Isla Gordon has been associated with Ecolint as a student, teacher, parent and alumna since 1980! Having completed her schooling at Ecolint, Isla studied at the Universities of Geneva (CH), Surrey, Oxford Brookes and Durham (all UK) and holds undergraduate qualifications in the Arts, Psychology and Education, post-graduate studies in Educational Leadership & Management and an MA in International Education. She is also a certified professional coach, holding a qualification from the International Coaching Federation.
 
After teaching in both Primary and Middle Schools in the UK post-University, Isla rejoined Ecolint in 1999, spending five years as a homeroom teacher at the Pregny Rigot site, before moving to La Châtaigneraie as a homeroom teacher, Assistant Principal and then Primary Years Programme coordinator until 2014. Isla returned to Pregny in 2017 from a two and a half year assignment as Junior School Principal at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, where among other achievements she was responsible for moving the school to a fully bilingual Junior School, pioneering a new translanguaging approach. Isla was appointed as Campus Principal in 2022 and took over leadership for all primary classes in 2023. She has also co-authored a number of chapters on bilingualism. Isla has been an active International Baccalaureate educator network (IBEN) member since 2007, serving as a workshop leader, school consultant, and school visitor team lead.
 
Fully bilingual herself, having grown up largely in Suisse Romande, Isla holds both British and Swiss nationalities and is the mother of an adult daughter, herself an Ecolint alumna. When not indulging in her professional passions within Professional Learning Communities, Isla loves to spend her time outdoors hiking, biking, skiing and horseback riding, and is actively involved in promoting animal welfare, as well as development and environmental awareness through education.

A Canadian national, Mirna Hafez-Farah grew up in Lebanon before moving to France and then Canada. She came to Ecolint from TFS - Canada’s International School, where she took on the roles of teacher, Vice-Principal, Primary Principal, Middle School Principal, Interim Head of School and Advisor to the Head of School. She has also taught in public schools in Ontario. Her pedagogical specialities include language acquisition, learning through play, literacy, plurilingualism, student-centred learning and differentiated instruction.

Mirna holds a Masters in Educational Administration and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, as well as an Advanced Leadership Certificate for International School Leadership. She is also fully trained in the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, the Reggio Emilia approach and the teaching of French as a Second Language. Her expertise in pedagogy and leadership of schools has been recognised internationally, including by France’s Ordre des palmes académiques.

Fully trilingual in French, English and Arabic, mother of two adult children, Mirna enjoys travelling, world cuisine and world music, reading, countryside and city walks and watching movies.

Joining Ecolint straight from the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), where he was Chief Academic Officer since 2015, Dr David Hawley is a US and Canadian dual-national who has worked in international schools in the US, Canada, Europe and Latin America in a career in education spanning over 35 years.
 
After a first degree in Biology & Earth Sciences from Framingham State University, near Boston, Massachusetts, David subsequently read for a Masters in Education, followed by a Doctorate in Education, at Harvard University. Starting his teaching career in Guatemala and Venezuela, where he mastered Spanish, David had his first taste of school leadership in Costa Rica, in 1986. He has been leading major international schools across the globe ever since, including the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada, Atlanta International School in the USA and Frankfurt International School in Germany. 

A former Board Member and Accreditation Officer for the Council for International Schools, David has also had the opportunity to lead visits of many other international schools, and has been awarded the Leading Edge Award for curriculum innovation by the National Association of Independent Schools.
 
Married, with two adult children who both attended international schools for their entire school careers, David is also a trained firefighter, first responder and sailing instructor. Passionate about cycling, David has twice cycled coast-to-coast across Canada, and also enjoys the other triathlon disciplines of running and swimming, as well as baking his own bread and reading about many subjects, especially science, pedagogy and human development.

David was appointed Director General of Ecolint in 2017.

A French national, Soizic Le Clère joined Ecolint as Director of People and Culture in July 2022. Passionate about people and organisations’ development, she brings with her an extensive experience as Director of Human Resources in complex multinational and multicultural environments, the most recent of which was for General Mills’ operations in Switzerland, France, Spain, Greece, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. 

Soizic’s educational background has served as a solid foundation for her professional experience, having studied Social Law and Human Resources Management early on and completed this training with an Executive Masters in Business Management from the École des hautes études commerciales de Paris. She is currently also preparing a certification in coaching.

Married with two daughters attending La Châtaigneraie, Soizic enjoys spending time with family and friends, going on countryside walks, doing pilates and practising sophrology.

With a BA in French & Russian from Connecticut College and an MA and PhD in History from Georgetown University, Dr Karen Taylor has an impressive record as an academic and teacher and lecturer at both school and university level.

With research interests as varied as philosophy, pluri-lingualism and language acquisition, trans-culturalism and the history of women’s education, Karen has worked at Harvard University, Georgetown University, George Mason and the Smithsonian Museum, and in schools in the USA and Europe. Prior to coming to Ecolint in 2015, Karen was a Dorm Head at The American School in Switzerland (TASIS) in Lugano.

Karen has been published extensively in academic journals and books, regularly presents at education conferences around the world and has been the recipient of numerous academic grants and prizes. An American and French citizen, Karen has lived in Europe since 2008 and speaks French and English fluently, as well as Russian, German and Italian.

Karen has one adult daughter. She enjoys reading, cooking, walking in the countryside and needlepoint.