Faculty and Staff

Sara Varela-Acevedo was born in Mexico City and raised in San Diego, CA. Raised in a bicultural household, travel between the US and Mexico set her strong roots in cross-cultural understanding and a love of travel. Her professional background is in international higher education, where she was involved in student services, English language instruction and enrollment. EBI’s mission resonates with Sara’s own educational philosophy and she is excited to be a part of and promote EBI’s community. 

Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Paloma Baquerizo holds a Law degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. After working as a Public Defender and an International Contracts Attorney, she moved to Berkeley. Here in the Bay Area she worked in Immigration Law for over 15 years. A firm believer in multilingual immersion programs, she and her husband are raising two trilingual sons. Paloma has seen the benefits of an international education both, in the academic and cultural aspects. She is proud to be involved in EBI’s pioneering program where she can bring her experience and enthusiasm.

Jennifer holds dual citizenship in the United States and Peru, where she grew up. She completed undergraduate work in early childhood education at the Universidad Femenina del Sagrado Corazón in Peru. Jennifer has worked in early childhood education for over 18 years, both in Peru and the United States. This extensive experience has supported her to develop a deep understanding of how young learners make meaning of themselves and the world around them. After moving to the Bay Area, Jennifer studied educational administration at San Francisco State University, where she received her master’s degree. In addition to teaching, Jennifer has several years of experience as a pre-kinder director. Jennifer’s educational philosophy aligns closely with that of the International Baccalaureate, and she is anxious to share her extensive knowledge of early childhood education with our community. In addition to being a new EBI team member, Jennifer is an incoming EBI parent with twins entering pre-kinder in the fall. Jennifer’s partner, José Antonio, is EBI’s Middle Years Programme coordinator and middle school individuals and societies teacher.

Zeltzin was born and raised in Mexico City, where she studied Law, and practiced Intellectual Property Law with a focus in trademarks and copyright. She obtained her certificate in Spanish-English Legal Interpretation from SF State University in 2016, and considers bilingualism a valuable and extremely useful skill in today’s increasingly global community. Zeltzin joined the EBI community in the Spring 2012 and is very happy to be a member of a team in which diversity, the richness of different cultures, and learning are present every day. She lives in Oakland with her husband Russell, and they both enjoy to travel, try new restaurants and revisit old favorites, and every now and then, to just stay home and watch movies.

Linda, a native Californian, moved up to the Bay Area from Los Angeles in 1995, after careers in journalism and politics.


As an accounting professional with a special emphasis on television and film production and distribution, she started working as a contractor with EBI in its early years and has enjoyed, over the past 10+ years, the challenge of building—from the ground up—an entire accounting infrastructure to support the financial operations of the organization. In the fall of 2018, Linda officially joined the staff of EBI as an employee.


Linda is an avid gardener who lives with her husband, Jeff, in Sebastopol. She also serves as Treasurer of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.

Sandra was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela where she earned her degree in Computer Science at Intituto Universitario de Tecnología Venezuela. She has over five years of experience teaching Spanish as a Second Language. She worked as a Spanish Instructor and Director Assistant in Houston, Texas where she lived for 5 years. Sandra also has over 10 years of expertise in networking technology. Sandra has been part of the EBI family since 2006. Sandra has managed the operations and technology of the school over the last three years. Sandra is married and the mother of one son.

Daniel was born in the United States and, at the age of four, moved with his family to La Paz, Bolivia. He still vividly remembers the first week of preschool as the only non-Spanish speaker in his class: the initial feeling of isolation, followed by the elation of learning a new language and an exciting door opening in his world as he became bilingual and bicultural. Daniel lived in Bolivia for the rest of his childhood until he went off to university in Illinois for a second round of cultural shock, this time in reverse. Not surprisingly, Daniel became a foreign-language teacher. His first posts were as an English teacher: three years in Japan, one year in Nicaragua, and back to his Bolivian hometown for two years.

In 1995 Daniel moved to California and taught middle-school Spanish for eight years at Redwood Day School in Oakland, followed by five years teaching high-school Spanish at Bentley High School in Lafayette. At Bentley, Daniel transitioned into administration as the school's junior class dean. Most recently, before coming to EBI, Daniel was a vice principal at Berkeley High School.

Daniel holds an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, a teacher's credential from San Francisco State, a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of California at Berkeley, an administrator's credential from the University of California at Berkeley, and a certificate in cross-cultural language/academic development from Stanford University. He was also trained as an IB and as an AP Spanish teacher. Daniel lives in Berkeley with his wife, Kristine (with whom he speaks English), and his daughter, Camila (with whom he speaks Spanish). 

Marina is originally from Guanajuato, Mexico where she received a bachelor’s degree in education. She is currently studying for a master’s degree in innovation in education. Marina has worked with kindergarten-aged students in a school with the IB Primary Years Programme for the last three years.

Carlota is originally from Madrid, Spain where she completed a bachelor’s degree in history and archeology. She also has a postgraduate degree in education. Carlota has most recently been a 1st grade associate teacher at EBI where she has immersed herself in and learning about the IB Primary Years Programme.

Tatiana Yadira González is Salvadorian-American born and raised in San Francisco. She has worked at EBI since their doors opened in 2006. She is studying Child and Adolescent Development with an emphasis in Young child and Family at San Francisco State University. She has worked with children for over 11 years and loves to learn how the minds of children work. She is interested in discovering what they can achieve, no matter their age. She believes that she has great potential to help them develop their minds. Tatiana has taught Pre-Kinder for the past 8 years and will begin working in 1st grade and thinks this is a great opportunity to further develop her work with children.

Deysi is originally from Los Angeles, California but lived many years in Guadalajara, Mexico where she studied her undergraduate program in tourism. Seven years ago, Deysi returned to the U.S. and settled in the East Bay. Deysi’s family is latina, and she is very proud of her roots.
Deysi’s desire to continue growing and the motivation she feels from her great love for children led her to register for courses at Chabot College where she obtained her diploma as an early childhood associate teacher. It is very important for Deysi to respect the learning styles of each one of her children and she works daily to identify and plan learning strategies that allow her students to construct meaningful knowledge.

Janira Is originally from Peru and has been working at EBI in Aventura since 2013 in Kinder and First Grade. In 2015 she received her units in Early Childhood Education. 

Karina Robleto started at EBI in 2011. She has experience working as an assistant teacher in the Pk classrooms as well as in Aventura.

Rita was born in El Salvador and moved to the Bay Area in 2008. She has been a teacher and Family Advisor for preschool and first grade for 10 years. She obtained her teaching degree from the Evangelical University of El Salvador and holds an MA in Counseling and Family Education from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Before coming to EBI, she taught 6 year-old children at Centro Escolar La Floresta. As a teacher, one of her goals is to educate children with joy and freedom. Rita has worked with the Primary Years Programme of the International Baccalaureate for six years, and hopes to encourage students to develop the attributes of the PYP profile. Rita is married and has a daughter, she also feels fortunate to belong to the EBI family.

Yanet is originally from Sinaloa, Mexico. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education and has experience working with children of various ages, including preschoolers. She has most recently been a pre-kínder associate teacher at EBI where she is learning about the IB Primary Years Programme.

Roxana Taquechel-Chaigneau, was born in Havana, Cuba where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Literature from the University of Havana. She also holds two Master's Degrees in Lexicology and a Ph.D. in Linguistics. She taught undergraduate courses in Sociolinguistics, Bilingualism, and Social Sciences and Interaction at the University of Paris. She completed her postdoctoral studies in Beijing. In the Bay Area, she has experience at the middle school level teaching Spanish classes for native and non-native speakers.

Merly Vicente was born in Lima, Peru and has a degree in Law and Political Science. Five years ago, she arrived to the Bay Area with the goal of working in the bilingual educational system. Working with children has given her a different perspective on life and changed her values and feelings in a way that causes her to feel more creative and productive within the community. Merly believes the multiculturalism in EBI is very important in a child’s life. Merly completed studies for teacher in early childhood education. She continues studying to remain current in the area of education and to enrich her work with children.