Staff & Faculty

Derek also worked with local NGO-s to provide educational opportunities to disadvantaged communities. One of the founders of Abbey Road, Derek has extensive experience in education, social sciences, management, foreign languages and overseas travel.

She holds an M.A. in French Literature from Louisiana State University (1998) and a Ph.D. in Educational Studies and French from Emory University (2002). Her research on motivation and language learning during study abroad has appeared in several journals, including Foreign Language Annals (2003 and 2010), the Journal of Studies in International Education (2010) and an edited volume entitled Identity and Second Language Learning (2007). Heather has been instrumental in conducting a special university-level study on the Abbey Road Educational Method, publishing her findings and presenting them at academic conferences around the world.

As Abbey Road’s Admissions Director, Marianna coordinates informational events with schools, educators and families in US and Europe. She currently resides in California.

He received his M.A. from Nice University in 1996 and brings over 12 years of experience in European program development and high-school foreign language instruction in addition to his expertise in French culture through his work with St-Laurent’s Association de Gestion et d’Animation Soporative et Socio-Culturelle. Fabien works closely with Abbey Road’s French homestay families, fostering excellent relationships from which Abbey Road students benefit year after year. In addition to his native French, Fabien is also fluent in English, Italian and Indonesian.

He grew up on Long Island, but currently lives in Boca Raton, FL. Andrew hosts many informational meetings with prospective families in New York and Florida during the year. Andrew can be reached directly at: 646-556-5953 or through email: andrew@goabbeyroad.com.

He is currently earning his master’s in Archaeology from the University of Oxford. While an undergraduate, John participated in study abroad programs in Athens, Greece and Venice, Italy and also spent two summers working on excavations in Jordan. An AmeriCorps alumnus, John also holds an M.A. in Education from the City College of New York. He has extensive travel experience in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Jeanne received her B.A. from Loyola Marymount University in music and an M.A. in Florentine Renaissance music and early German symphonies from UC Santa Barbara. After completing her master’s, Jeanne began Ph.D. work in Italy and lived abroad for several years after. Jeanne has participated in many history and language-related professional development programs abroad, from the Goethe Institute’s Transatlantic Outreach Program in Germany to a Fulbright-Hayes Program last summer in China to learn about China’s ancient and contemporary capitals. Jeanne is fluent in Italian and German and conversationally fluent in Mandarin and French.

Prior to this, he taught French language at the University of Vermont while completing his Master of Arts in French at the same institution. His M.A. included the successful defense of a thesis examining nationalism in the literary works of Belle Époque author Louis Pergaud. Karl developed an interest in Pergaud’s unique writings while studying at the Université de Franche-Comté’s world renowned Centre de linguistique appliquée à Besançon (France). He also holds a B.A. in French language and literature from Stony Brook University. In addition, Karl is an expert in foreign language pedagogy. He has been developing and teaching language programs for nearly twenty years.

Most recently, he taught “Ancient Rome” at Northeastern University in Boston and is slated to be a teaching fellow for “Roman World” at Harvard in the Fall. Chris lived in Rome while pursuing his B.A. and lived in Paris while performing medieval manuscript research under his adviser for an upcoming edition of the Corpus Christianorum. He gives lectures on ancient art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, conserves cuneiform tablets at the Semitic Museum at Harvard University and recently received a fellowship from Harvard to design a multimedia museum exhibit focusing on Greek and Roman coins. Chris also acted as a Freshman Adviser at Harvard from 2010-2012. He has been faculty on two previous Western Civilization programs for Abbey Road. In addition to specializing in ancient history, art and archaeology Chris is also an avid coffee roaster and gelato connoisseur, skills which come in come in handy in Italy. When not teaching, he trains for ultramarathons and races for Harvard’s cycling team.

Hannah spent a significant amount of time in Florence, Italy living, working and using the city as inspiration in her artistic practice, something that greatly aids her in teaching experiential digital photography courses with Abbey Road. For the past two years, she has worked as a freelance photographer and photography assistant. Her passions are photography, Italy and soccer. Hannah is fluent in Italian.

She is currently serving as a professor of Spanish at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also completed an M.S. in Spanish Literature in 2010. Encarnación loves the culture of Spain, particularly flamenco music, and has lead many workshops in Flamenco dance during her summers with Abbey Road. She is fluent in Spanish.

José currently teaches at a magnet school for the Arts in Atlanta where he is also the school’s tennis coach. He has worked for Abbey Road for over five years, first as an instructor and then as a Program Director for several programs including Florence and Cádiz. His main interests are traveling, foreign languages and films, international foods, and tennis. In addition to his native fluency in Spanish, José also speaks Italian and Portuguese.

Ilene has worked in various educational settings, most notably on the founding staff of a start-up charter school in Harlem, where she was later the Dean of Students, and through Teach for America. She is now a teaching artist in Manhattan, coaching adults and children through the intricacies of creating stellar images. In her spare time, she shoots events and portraits while running her own photography business. Ilene is fluent in Spanish.

Paul obtained his B.A. from Tufts University and later went on to complete his M.A. in School Counseling from NYU. A native of Boston, Paul thoroughly enjoyed his work on the College Prep Program at Emerson College in 2010. A dynamic and enthusiastic academic with experience in the entertainment industry, Paul uses his diverse background and personal experience when working with students.

Matthew served as an instructor for Abbey Road's 2018 Modern Europe and 2016 Western Civilization programs. Matthew’s interest in history grew out of a desire to fundamentally understand how human societies work by studying the big trends, movements, connections, networks, and revolutions of the global past.

Kyle was also in a collegiate A Capella group for three years, an actor/thespian for another three years, and played the trumpet in band for nearly five years. In his free time, he enjoys watching French films, playing tennis, arranging A Capella songs, hiking, and traveling!

Jacob has been in education for 15 years and currently teaches French at Bozeman High School in Bozeman, Montana. Jacob loves traveling the world, and spending time hammocking in the mountains.