Paola Bonfanti: Meet our Pedagogical Director of Elementary Education

PROFILE

Born in Italy, Paola Bonfanti do Amaral is married to a Brazilian and has been living in Brazil for more than 20 years. Her daughters live in Denmark and Australia, respectively. Her holidays are always spent where she is originally from, Trezzo Sull’Adda, a small Italian town near Milan.

Despite being fluent in five languages, English, Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian, Paola intends to take up Japanese language lessons sometime this year for a very special reason: she and her husband were selected as volunteers for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.

One of her main passions is reading good books, especially historical novels. She also follows in the footsteps of her triathlete sister by practicing sports activities such as running and swimming. “Mens sana in corpore sano (A sound mind in a sound body)” she concludes.

EXPERIENCE

A Foreign Language and Literature major from the University of Bergamo, Paola did not always know that she would work in education, her work experience and professional focus had been as an interpreter in Italy.

When she got to Brazil, her first activity was to teach languages, that was the occasion that made Paola fall in love with the art of teaching. Throughout her 16 years working in bilingual education, she acquired a master’s degree in International Education by Framingham University (MA) and extension courses at Harvard.

An experienced and enthusiastic teacher, she was the educational coordinator of other renowned institutions, a position that made it possible to visit schools and projects all over the world.

In 2018, Paola decided to expand her horizons, and that is how she eventually joined Red House, a place she considers very special.

“It is an innovative school with an international program that makes all the difference. We take special care of our students and families. This is our essence: a formidable something that makes our school unique. Respect for differences is one of our greatest pride,” she says.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]