Silvina Montrul
Director
Silvina is Professor of Spanish, Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition and she founded the University Language Academy for Children in 2010. She is also the Head of the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. She was born, raised, and educated in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where she obtained degrees in teaching English as a foreign language and began her career teaching English to children. She holds a PhD in Linguistics and has been at the University of Illinois since 1999. She is the mother of two bilingual children.
REJANE DIAS
Academic Coordinator
Rejane holds a Masters degree in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Illinois and is currently a doctoral student specializing in bilingual education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She has extensive experience working with school-age children in Brazil and in American schools. She has been teaching at the University Language Academy for Children since its inception both in the academic after school program and in the Summer Camps. She is also the academic coordinator of the after school program.
ALEXANDRA MORALES
Curriculum Designer and Teacher
Alexandra Morales was born and raised in Puerto Rico where she obtained an MA in Spanish Linguistics. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Spanish Linguistics in the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese at the University of Illinois specializing in second language acquisition in school-age children. She has been teaching at the University Language Academy for Children since its inception both in the academic after school program and in the Summer Camps. She has also contributed to building the curriculum for our program..
Christina De Angelo
Teacher
Christina holds a Masters degree in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She completed her thesis on second language acquisition of Spanish in English-speaking, American students. Christina was born and raised in Hamtramck, MI and began her Spanish studies at the age of 6. At 16 she began teaching in Spanish immersion programs for K-12 children.
LAURA ROMANI
Teacher
Laura is of Mexican origin and holds a B.A. with majors in Spanish and Anthropology. She is currently completing a Masters of Education, an elementary teacher's certification, and bilingual, ESL, and middle school endorsements. She has experience working with native Spanish speaking children in local public schools and abroad in Costa Rica. She also has worked as a teacher's aide for the University Language Academy in past semesters. Laura also has expeience teaching Spanish to adults has a passion for helping students reach their potential.
SEVERINA COX
Teacher
Severina is a native speaker of Spanish. She was born in the Dominican Republic and has a Masters in Business Administration. She has been working with school kids for the last 4 years. Severina works in the Arcola School District as an ESL teacher assistant, providing help to students from 1-3 grades in the classroom and ESL services to Pre-k (outside the classroom). She has experience teaching Spanish in after school programs.