Principal's Message
Dear students, colleagues, and parents,
As the director of the “Fanari-Academy of Greek Education” school, it is my great honor to lead a school which is unique in the western United States, as it is the only independent Greek school created and run by parents. Its mission is the teaching and dissemination of the Greek language, Hellenic history and culture.
Fanari Academy was founded through the love and hard work of teachers and parents for the Greek language. It did not take long for the positive results of our efforts to be realized in the initial academic years, when students took part and excelled in the Greek Ministry of Education language exams.
The school has created a dynamic environment where every member can contribute to creating a positive climate for teaching of the Greek language, while establishing lifelong friendships. At Fanari Academy, teachers and parents also educate the children by example of our efforts!
Your sincerely,
Eva Constantin
Our Teachers
Learn more about our teacher’s background, where they come from and what they like.
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Athena was born and raised in the Greek community of Melbourne, Australia and Greek was her first language. She has taught at every level, from preschool, elementary, middle, high school, and college/university, in both the private and public sectors.
She has Greek language teaching experience at the preschool and elementary levels, and has tutored middle, high school, and adults. Her focus on the Greek language has been on dialect, grammar, spelling, composition and culture.
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Despina was born and lived in Peristeri, Athens, Greece, until she left to study at the University of Ioannina. Prior to moving to the US in 1997, she worked as a kindergarten teacher in Athens. She has worked as a teacher and volunteer in her son’s classrooms since moving to Santa Cruz in 2002. Despina believes every child is special and unique, and learns in a different way and at a different pace. This is a philosophy she brings to her teaching at Fanari.
Despina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Ioannina, Greece. She also received a certificate in "Teaching Greek as a Foreign/Second Language" from the University of the Aegean, Greece.
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Sofia Petini was born and raised in Athens, Greece, and lived there through her early professional career as a designer and specialist in media publications.
Sofia has a deep love for Greek language and culture, and maintains this strong connection through her 8-year tenure teaching at Fanari and with its community, as well as seeking out Greek live music!
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Tania has a passion for working with Fanari’s youngest students and has been teaching Greek since moving to the USA in 2019. She loves traveling, reading books, listening to music and exploring the world with her family!
Tania earned a Bachelors in Early Childhood Studies from the Technical University of Thessaloniki, and a Masters in Educational Technology from the University of Nicosia, Cyprus.
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Zoi emphasizes collaborative group learning, through teamwork, discussion, dynamic role assignment, and interactive exploration of subjects. Beyond being an educator, she is a lover of geography and traveling to diverse destinations, reading books, and staying active through various group workout activities, such as pilates.
Zoi earned a Masters in Intercultural Education and Bachelor’s in Primary Education from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She recently completed a Masters in Critical Pedagogy from the University of Rethymno.
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Katerina's passion for teaching and love of the Greek language and culture drew her to Fanari soon after she arrived in California.
In addition to teaching at Fanari, she leverages her professional experience having run her own law firm specializing in intellectual property, labor, civil and public law in Athens to her current work at a Bay Area law firm.
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Evanthia Beli Constantin is a founding member of Fanari Academy. Eva taught and directed children’s dance groups in the Greek public school system before moving to California with her family in 2003.
She initially taught Greek at the Belmont Holy Cross Greek School, and has been teaching at Fanari Academy since 2006. Her two daughters, now high schoolers, were among the first students at Fanari and achieved certification in Greek language proficiency.
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Matina's passion for educating young children was inspired by her own kindergarten teacher, and she carried it forward into a career as a kindergarten teacher, first in the Greek public school system, and now at Fanari.
Matina holds a Bachelor's degree in early childhood education from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
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Filareti is a licensed child-adolescent psychologist in Greece and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in CA.
Filareti is particularly interested in identifying a student’s learning profile and incentives, and has extensive experience counseling students, parents and teachers on study skills, school performance, and other related topics.
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Evgenia Fkiaras was born and raised in Oregon to Greek immigrant parents from Velventos, Kozani.
Evgenia is passionate about teaching and sharing her Greek heritage, first through her love of traditional Greek dance, and starting in 2019, through her Greek language teaching at Fanari.
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Penny Kalafataki is a founding member of the Irreversibles - Dream Drama group (Μη Αναστρέψιμοι - Ονειρόδραμα) and has been acting with them since 2004. She has staged many children's shows for preschoolers and first graders.
She was nominated for the second female role award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2001 with the film "The Shadow Game". She has taught acting, choreography, improvisation and has been a Music Theory professor at a Conservatory.
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Andromachi Spyropoulou was born in Athens, Greece and raised in Tripoli, Arcadia. For over a decade, she practiced law in Athens until moving to San Francisco in 2016. Andromachi began teaching at Fanari in 2019, bringing her deep appreciation for the beauty and richness of the Greek language to her students, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation for the language and culture.
Andromachi studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, graduating with High Honors. She has been a Contracts Manager at a private company in San Francisco since 2016.
Our Volunteers
Administration – Team supporting various administrative tasks such as office organization, transportation, etc.
Events – Team responsible for organizing events and gatherings such as the Carnival party, impromptu dinners, and more.
Community – Team supporting our teachers in annual school functions such as Christmas celebration, bake sales, Independence Day celebration, and the End-of-Year Graduation party.
Social media – Team curating content for online and social media posting to keep our global community of students, parents, extended families and friends informed and engaged.
Fundraising – Team focusing on creating sponsorship opportunities – Benevity, Auctions, etc. – for our community of sponsors in the US and abroad.
Fanari Board Members
Tasos Constantin
Co-founder, Facilities Director
Tasos is a pharmacist, born and raised in San Jose, California of a Greek father and Greek American mother. He lived in Greece for many years while studying as a university student in Thessaloniki and then working for European pharmaceutical companies in Athens. After moving back to the USA in 2003 with his young family, the need for a quality Greek language and cultural program for his children and the children of his south bay community became apparent. With his spouse Evanthia, he is a founding member of Fanari Academy . He believes that the Greek language should be taught by trained teachers and include exposure to the current culture and customs of Greece. Today his own grown daughters, and the children of other founding families of Fanari, have proven that those who learn the language and culture of Greece can maintain a relationship with the past and present of Hellenism.
Gabriel Tavridis
Member of the Board
Gabriel was born in Greece and moved to California in 2006 to attend Stanford GSB. Since then he has held product leadership roles at Adobe, Appcelerator, Twin Prime, Salesforce and Imply. He is responsible for the San Francisco location of Fanari Academy and his older daughter is a Fanari Academy student
Napoleon Bletsas
Treasurer and CFO
Dimitris Fotakis
Chairman of the Board
Dimitris was born and raised in Patras. He came to the US in 1985 for graduate studies. Dimitris holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering and Informatics from the University of Patras, Greece, an M.S. degree in Computer and Electrical Engineering from George Mason University and an MBA from San Jose State University. Dimitris has lived in the Bay Area since 1991. He has worked for a number of technology companies and has founded a few start-up companies. Dimitris is currently VP of Operations and Technology at Portus Inc. He has three kids, all students at Fanari. His vision for Fanari Academy is that of a strong, independent school that promotes greek language and culture via high quality instruction and fosters a thriving community for students and their families.
Tasos Anastasakos
Member of the Board
Tasos was born and raised in Greece. After graduating with a Diploma degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Tasos came to the US for graduate studies and received his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston. He is currently a Principal Scientist at Yahoo! Labs. Tasos has one child attending Fanari Academy.
Nikos Papageorgiou
Member of the Board