3rd Grade Faculty

Head of Primary School

Sagrario Argüelles

Sagrario is a passionate professional with more than 20 years of experience in a wide variety of educational settings. She is a lifelong learner that believes that students learn best when they are empowered and feel ownership of their learning. Sagrario has a BA in Education from the Pedagogical University in Mexico and has taken different undergraduate courses from Stanford and Harvard University. She is bilingual in Spanish and English and has a deep understanding of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

Sagrario was born and raised in México City. During her journey in education she worked in different schools in México such as Alexander Bain and the American School Foundation, where she held different teacher and administrative roles such as, lower school teacher, Primary Years Programme (PYP) coordinator and dean of students. She began her career in the United States in 2008 at Escuela Bilingüe Internacional in Oakland, California where she came to implement the Primary Years Programme (PYP). She held the roles of Assistant Head, PYP Coordinator and Director of Curriculum and Learning for Pre-kinder to 8th grade and oversaw the Middle Years Programme (MYP) implementation.

Her passion for education has also allowed her to do significant work for the IB as a workshop leader, consultant, school evaluation and accreditation leader and IB field representative in charge of the quality of the workshops given in The Americas. Sagrario has also been instrumental in the implementation of new IB services for schools at a global level, to develop a quality curriculum in schools.

Sagrario has sought to share best practices wherever she has taught, presenting at educational conferences such as the IB Regional Conference and the California Association of Independent School Conference.

Sagrario describes herself as an inquirer and is a true believer that as educators we need to nurture each child’s love of learning by cultivating academic excellence, emotional intelligence, and social engagement.

Head of Preschool & PYP Coordinator

Julieta Carrillo

Julieta Carrillo is a bilingual teacher and administrator who came to Magellan in 2014 as the PYP Coordinator. She is also an Apple Certified Teacher and an IB Educator. She has a Bachelor Degree in Early Childhood Education specialized in Bilingual Education and Curriculum Design. Julieta has been in Education for 25 years in many private bilingual IB schools in Mexico City, such as Instituto Educativo Olinca, The Churchill School, Colegio Williams and Colegio Internacional de México.

After teaching 8 years, recognizing the value of the IB programmes and living by the philosophy of the PYP,  she became a PYP Coordinator in 2005 and since then, she has led different schools through the process of IB verification and evaluation visits in a very successful way.  She proudly guided all the self-study process for The Magellan International first evaluation visit.

IB Educators perform three different roles: as a workshop leader, Julieta has been training teachers and administrators in regional and on-site workshops throughout IB Americas. As a site visitor, she takes part in visiting teams that authorize and evaluate schools and as a consultant for interested schools through their feasibility study and early implementation of the PYP. These experiences enable her to enrich her role at MIS because she has plenty of opportunities to discover the power of different realities and perspectives in our globalized world.

Julieta describes herself as an inquirer by nature and a creative open-minded life long learner.

Lead Teacher

Paola Nureña

Paola Nureña studied at the Catholic University in Lima, Peru, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Primary Education and a Master’s degree in Education with a specialization in Learning Difficulties. Paola has five years of experience as a PYP lead teacher at the Hiram Bingham School in Lima.

Spanish Teacher Assistant

Elsy Lozano

Elsy Lozano grew up in Los Llanos Orientales, in the southern part of Colombia, where she learned how to ride horses and enjoy the freedom of ranch living. At a young age she moved to Bogata where she attended Corporacion Universitaria Unitec obtaining an Associate’s Degree in Administration. Her husband’s job brought her and her family to the United States, New Hampshire, in 1997.

Her passion for working with kids began in 2003 when she started working as a volunteer at the Adult Learning Center Child Day Care in Nashua, NH, assisting with the daily plans, activities, and supervision of children. In 2003, she moved with her family to the Austin area where she worked for AISD becoming an established and respected assistant for teachers, preparing materials and instruction as well as meeting the physical and intellectual needs of students with and without disabilities. She has been teaching students in both Spanish and English language for the last 15 years.

One of her favorite pastimes is reading. Her favorite books include One Hundred years of Solitude, Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Angels and Demons.

English Teacher

Alicia Villareal

Alicia is thrilled to be an English Teacher at Magellan.  She holds a BA in Psychology and Sociology from Texas A&M University-Kingsville as well as a Texas Teaching Certificate in Early Childhood to 6th grade. She has taught a variety of elementary grades; this will be her 5th year teaching elementary school.

As the children enter second grade, they dive deep into an ocean of exciting opportunities in English literacy and build upon the knowledge and skills acquired from previous years’ learning.  Each child adds his/her unique learning style, interest and personality to the classroom. Alicia’s goal is to teach to the uniqueness of the child in an authentic and meaningful way while integrating with the PYP curriculum.  Students will focus on integrating the Units of Inquiry with a variety of literature from both fiction and non-fiction texts to acquire reading and writing skills. Students will also learn how to incorporate the “Writing Traits” into their writing.  In addition to valuable reading and writing knowledge, they will practice listening and oral skills by presenting their writing pieces to others, working in small groups and participating in class. Alicia’s teaching style includes a variety of instructional strategies such as modeling, differentiated small group instruction, the use of student rubrics, peer and teacher conferences, and inquiry based model practices.

Alicia looks forward to a fantastic year working with the students and families!

Physical Education Teacher & Athletic Director

Darrell Greenfield

Darrell was born in San Antonio, TX. He has lived primarily in central Texas his whole life, except for a few years in New Jersey.  Currently, Darrell is in the process of obtaining his Bachelor of Science of Kinesiology and Physical Education.  He will be the PYP and MYP Physical and Health Education teacher.  He will also be working as the Athletic Coordinator at MIS.

While working outside of the education field, he has continued to hold positions working with youth throughout the Austin area, including Cedar Park and Round Rock.  He has coordinated and helped develop several youth programs including soccer camps, after school programs, and basketball academies.  Darrell also owns a small business for youth athletic development where he has trained athletes from the ages of 5-18 in a wide range of sports such as track & field, basketball, football and soccer.

Darrell is married and a father of 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls).  When he is not working, he is usually outside reading a good book or inside playing the latest video game.  His latest hobby is to go hiking in the Austin greenbelt. Darrell enjoys attending Austin Spurs and Texas Longhorn basketball games here in Austin or traveling to San Antonio to walk the River Walk and attend a San Antonio Stars WNBA game.

Music Teacher, Upper Primary & Middle School

Carlos Cita

Although he began college as a Classical guitarist and music major, he switched to Music Education with a focus on IB programs in order to learn more about how young students promote their natural talents based on the IB philosophy.

Since graduating from college, Carlos’ love for performing and studying music have led him to a variety of positions within his professional career. He has played classic guitar in a duet with a violinist, as well as, electric guitar for different rock and jazz bands. Carlos has served as consultant on musical projects in Colombia with his Professor, Victor Taboada. It was during his work with Professor Taboada that Carlos learned a deep appreciation for the power of music to develop social skills, memory, coordination in young learners, and to open communication between people of different cultures.

Carlos returned to Saint Thomas University in Bogotá, Colombia, to pursue a Bachelors in English as a foreign Language. There, he was one of ten music teachers chosen to participate in a project connecting the university and high schools offering the IB Music Diploma Program.

Carlos has taught in private schools, music academies, and at the National University of Colombia as part of the extended music program. In addition to his work at Magellan International School, Carlos serves as an examiner of Music for the IB MYP program.

Carlos is passionate about his family (two boys and his wife). They spend time doing different activities such as biking, swimming and exploring Austin.

Mandarin Teacher

Weiwen Fowler

Growing up in a Taiwanese family of educators, Ms. Weiwen always has seen teaching and learning as a priority. Her immense interest in languages led her onto the path of Anthropology and foreign languages at the National University in Taiwan. As part of her university program, she expanded her language repertoire into Spanish, French and Japanese. She later obtained her MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at Monterey Institute in California, and a MA in Linguistics at University of Texas at Arlington. Upon graduation from TESOL, she taught Mandarin Chinese at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. She has also taught English for 4 years in colleges in Taiwan and 2 years in Japan. Her specialty and experience in English teaching and learning consistently enhanced her reflection on her own native languages, and eventually motivated her to become a Mandarin Chinese teacher.

Ms Weiwen has been a devotee of student centered learning and communicative language teaching. She strives to know each individual student and his/her learning style to help them learn the target language in a meaningful way, and ultimately help them know their own strengths and build confidence. Language learning is such an intriguing human activity that she believes will be remarkably beneficial to any human being in all aspects of life. Weiwen wants to focus on children’s language learning now and discover the world together with them.

Ms Weiwen is also a trained interpreter and translator. She volunteered as an interpreter in several church events in Taiwan. She is also part of the Chinese and English translation team for the book, “Taiwan’s struggle: Voices of the Taiwanese” (Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, February 18, 2014).

PYP and MYP Art Teacher

Paula Trejos

Paula Trejos was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Upon graduation from high school, she attended the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, where she received a degree in Fine Arts. While at university in Colombia, Paula was fortunate to play volleyball at the highest level. Not only did Paula play for her university, but also for the Colombian National team four times. She had the privilege of traveling throughout South America, the Caribbean and Central America. In 2008, she received an offer to play volleyball at Pratt Community College and to attend school in the United States.

After two first team All-American years at Pratt, where she set the school record in aces, she received a full scholarship to play volleyball at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas. Before leaving Pratt, she was inducted into their Athletic Hall of Fame. In her two years at Wayland, she set numerous records while being named first team All-Conference twice and receiving Team MVP her senior season. Paula also excelled in art, her area of study. She finished 20 original pieces and was published in the local newspaper. In addition, she won the Plains Art Association Scholarship award, which judged two original art pieces from their gallery.

In 2012 she received her degree in Graphic Design from Wayland Baptist University. At Wayland, Paula participated in youth coaching and assistant coaching at Plainview Christian Academy High School. She began to coach the 14’s and under team with the Max High Performance volleyball club in Austin, while substituting for AISD. After five successful years as a preschool PYP Lead Teacher, Paula Trejos (Lacey) will move to the art department this year. She is excited to share her passion for art with both PYP and MYP students. Paula has a BA in Fine Arts from Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Colombia and a BA in Graphic Design from Wayland Baptist University. She holds teaching certifications in art, bilingual education and Spanish.

Counselor

Alessia Bulsara

Alessia Bulsara grew up in a multicultural family, living in her father’s native India for five years before residing in Houston, Texas with her mother’s Catalan family. She received her Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of Houston, later returning to obtain her Masters of Education in Counseling. Alessia is currently a Licensed Professional Counselor, as well as a certified teacher, in the state of Texas and is also working towards becoming credentialed as a Registered Play Therapist.

Alessia’s passion for counseling children and families only grew as she completed her practicum hours for her master’s degree, and later stayed on to continue working as a counseling intern, at a child psychologist’s private practice in Houston. There, Alessia was able to attain experience and clinical skills providing individual, group, and dyad counseling services, both in office and in the school setting. Following this, she worked as a Professional Educator at the Monarch School and Institute for two years before moving into the role of a Therapeutic Coach, providing students with neurological differences individualized social, emotional and self-regulation/management support. Alessia simultaneously worked with children and families in a play therapy private practice in Houston, providing individual counseling services, parent support and online resources.

Alessia primarily utilizes a child centered therapeutic approach when working with children, meeting the child where they are at. She truly believes in the importance of a strong foundational relationship in order to provide support to the child and their family, and works as partners with parents, teachers and other supports in the child’s life to create a tailored, consistent and unique plan which focuses on the whole child.

In her spare time, Alessia enjoys travelling and exploring new places, yoga, and photography. She is very excited to be a part of the Magellan team.

Learning Specialist

Daniela Melo

Daniela Melo is Magellan’s Learning Specialist in lower Primary (K-3). She has a Master of Arts in Special Education from UT-Austin and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Communication Disorders. After working for five years as a speech therapist and resource teacher in her native Mexico, Daniela moved to Austin where she has worked as a bilingual special education teacher and department coordinator for the past nine years.

Primary English Teacher

Wendy Cody

Wendy was born in New York, NY and grew up in Connecticut. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Connecticut and a MA in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. She began her teaching career as an English teacher in Granada, Spain, went on to teach 4th-6th grade in a Montessori school, followed by several years of elementary and ESL teaching experience in CT and Maine public schools. She holds professional teaching certification in both Elementary Education and English as a Second Language. Wendy’s teaching is based on being a model of a curious, lifelong learner with a love of literacy. She thoroughly enjoys nurturing childrens’ literacy development.

Primary Teaching Assistant

Ana Figueroa

Ana Figueroa was born and raised in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Throughout her childhood, she attended schools with English programs and became fascinated with the language. In 2009, Ana and her family moved to the United States and began a new journey in Idaho. Eventually, her family ended up in Pflugerville, Texas, where Ana attended high school. She graduated from Texas State University with a BA in Anthropology and minored in Criminal Justice.

Ana has been involved with MIS since 2017, mostly recognized for her work in Summer Camp. Since her first interaction with Magellan, Ana was captivated by the school’s mission and practice of the IB learner profile. In 2020, Ana worked as a private Spanish Immersion teacher for preschool students learning at home. She was inspired to use the IB attributes and inquiry-based learning during her private teaching. When schools returned to full capacity in 2021, Ana was invited back to MIS to work as a Teacher Assistant in second grade. She considers being part of the Magellan community a privilege and is grateful to be somewhere that feels like home.

Ana is passionate about being a lifetime learner and advocating for equity and diversity. She believes nurturing children to be multicultural and principled thinkers is essential because they are the minds of the future. She is dedicated to creating a safe, empathetic, and stimulating environment so children can develop physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Ana appreciates the simple things in life— art, music, nature. She is passionate about learning diverse experiences and cultures throughout the world, and she hopes to influence her students to do the same.

Primary Innovation & Design Teacher

Sophia Pellegrini

Sophia has more than 20 years of experience in education in both public and private schools. She graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Elementary Education and holds certifications in Special Education and ESL. Her passion is to help students become creative problem solvers and independent thinkers.

Head Librarian

Marion Rocco

Marion Rocco earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education & Child Study from Smith College in Northampton, MA. Her first job after college was working for the acclaimed author and illustrator Eric Carle. It was through this work in his studio that she discovered the magic and power of picture books. Marion returned to school and completed the Master of Science in Information Studies from The University of Texas at Austin. Since graduating, she has worked in school and public libraries and as an Austin ISD Program Specialist focusing on teacher and librarian professional development. She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Austin where she teaches an undergraduate course in Children’s Literature.

Marion’s interest in global and international literature keeps her active in professional organizations including the American Library Association and the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY). She served on the Batchelder Award Committee for best international children’s book in 2014 and co-chaired the USBBY conference that took place in Austin in 2019. Marion has presented on international and bilingual books at the International Board on Books for Young People, International Literacy Association, and Texas Library Association conferences. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Learning Technologies from the University of North Texas.

Nurse, Anderson Lane

Deepa Vinodh

Deepa was raised in Toronto, Canada where she successfully completed her Bachelors
of Science in Nursing degree. She has been a nurse for the last 18 years, 16 of which
were spent in the Emergency department at the University Health Network (UHN), one
of Canada’s top research and teaching hospitals. During her time at UHN, Deepa also
served as the Nurse Educator for the emergency department and has completed a
couple of research fellowship projects to improve patient safety. She pursued her
passion for teaching by becoming a clinical course director for undergrads and
international nursing students at York University.

Deepa enjoys practicing hot yoga, hiking, cooking, baking and travelling. She currently
has a first grader at Magellan and is looking forward to expanding her role
professionally at Magellan International School.

Lead Teacher

Orlando González

Orlando González grew up in a quiet town in Northeast Texas. He was actively involved in sports and academics throughout his high school years. As a high school student, he earned multiple awards for academic excellence. Among those awards is the Eagle Scout Award. His passion for teaching started at the Child Development Center of Mount Pleasant, which is accredited by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). During this time, he helped organize and was part of many after school programs such as PATH (Parent Are Teachers at Home), Fatherhood Night, and 21st CCLC (Century Community Learning Centers).

These programs aimed to provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children and parents, particularly those whose students attend high-poverty and low-performing schools. It was during this time that Orlando discovered his passion for teaching and love for children. For his hard work and dedication, Orlando was awarded the “Above and Beyond Award” given by the superintendent of the school district to a member who excels in performance.

At the age of 20, Orlando moved to Austin. During this time, he taught at Lake Hills Montessori as the primary I teacher assistant while he attended Austin Community College. LHM provided extensive Montessori method training, which allowed him to conduct and implement his own curriculum in Spanish during his third year there. Orlando also attended Texas State University. He plans to pursue a Masters in Developmental Psychology and become a Diagnostician. Orlando is proud to be part of the Magellan International School’s team and is committed to its mission.

Primary Instructional Coach & Assistant PYP Coordinator

Paola Samaniego

Paola Samaniego is from Quito-Ecuador, and this is her fifteenth year teaching. She has has experience working with children between the ages of two months and eight years old. This is her tenth year teaching Spanish. Paola received a BS in Early Childhood Education and Developmental Psychology from Keene State College in New Hampshire. Paola later earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Jaen’s University in Spain. Paola loves the PYP program and implementing it in the classroom. In the last year she has been learning more about sensory integration and self regulation. She is a firm believer in differentiation in the classroom, every child learns differently and as a teacher she wants to be able to provide many opportunities in order to acquire the skills needed to become lifelong learners!

She believes the inquiry based program works for children of all ages, but especially with young children who have that natural curiosity and desire to learn how the world around them works. She welcomes all your input and support throughout the school year!

Librarian

Avien Seigfried

Avien is a recent Master of Library Science graduate from Texas Woman’s University with a B.A. in English from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. She worked for the Corpus Christi Public Library System for two years while working on her practicum in library technology and social media before becoming a Youth Services Librarian. In her undergraduate years she participated in the Disney College Program in Orlando, Florida for Merchandising and tutored ESL students at the CASA Writing Center at TAMUCC.

Avien originally wanted to become an English Second Language teacher abroad, but chose to go back for her MLS a few months after graduation after finding part-time work in a library. Avien’s interests in libraries started on a 2017 study abroad to Scotland where she visited the National Library of Scotland to study Scottish Crime Fiction and was intrigued by the mix of old architecture and modern technology in the library.