Meet our Parent Ambassadors! Learn more about their LILA families and send them an email to gain insight into their experiences at the International School of Los Angeles.
Joke Fincioen
Grades: 4th and 6th
Campus: Los Feliz
We’re a non-French speaking family; dad hails from Cleveland, mom made it across the pond from Flemish-speaking Belgium. We chose LILA because of its French curriculum, academic roots, and global perspective. But LILA has turned out to be more than our kids’ school, the parent community has been very welcoming and fun.
Sara Sedlacek
Lucas Carter
Grade: Kindergarten
Campus: Los Feliz
We are a family of four (children are 5.5 and 2.5 years old) from NYC and Paris, living in the hills and doing our best to keep up!
Fiona Reinhardt
Grades: 5th, 7th, and 9th
Campus: Burbank & Los Feliz
Hello! My name is Fiona Reinhardt and I am a LILA Ambassador. I live in Sherman Oaks with my husband, Sandro, and our three kids: Sofia, Charlie, and Luc. Our kids have all been at LILA since pre-K, and it has been a wonderful experience. Please reach out to me for any information about our incredible school!
Maja Shipp
Grades: 7th and 10th
Campus: Burbank
Will and I have been sending our daughters Zoë, and Natalie, to LILA since pre-K. We love being part of our beautiful international community that reflects who we are as a family so well.
Jessica Rivera
Grades: Pre-K and 2nd
Campus: Los Feliz
Cuban-Peruvian-American family of five, including our two human children, ages 4 and 7, and Peter, our beloved pup. We have been at LILA for 5 years and feel so grateful to be part of this great community.
James Bulliard
Grade: Pre-K
Campus: Los Feliz
We are Megan, James, Hugh (4), and Edie (3). We are expatriates (one Canadian and one Swiss-Canadian) and we speak English and French at home. Beyond the desire to raise our children bilingually, we chose LILA because of the quality and rigor of the instruction and because of the IB programme. LILA is outwardly focussed in a way that most LA private school aren’t, and we like the school’s values and international outlook. It’s a refreshing perspective and a healthy one for kids being raised in LA. We also heard how welcoming, committed, and strong the LILA community is, and we can eagerly confirm that. It’s a wonderful group of educators and parents.
Yohannes Rose
Grades: Pre-K and 1st
Campus: Pasadena
We are recent transplants to Pasadena. We have a 6 year old who started in preschool after having attended Pacific Oaks Children’s School. She is extremely athletic and enjoys taking ballet, gymnastics, and tennis. She also loves to draw and paint. Our younger daughter has a very creative imagination and loves to sing. I am a stay-at-home dad who leads the Black affinity group and participates in the Parents for An Inclusive LILA alliance, What Is Allyship? book club, and The Bookshelf initiative. I will also serve as vice president of the Pasadena Parents’ Association (PA). I enjoy exercise and cooking for my family. My husband works in commercial real estate and enjoys cycling and skiing.
Nancy Moreno
Grade: 2nd
Campus: Los Feliz
Our daughter joined LILA in Kindergarten in August 2020. While we don’t speak French at home, her time at LILA, even through the pandemic, has immersed her in the language and a lovely community of multicultural families. She understands and speaks so much French now, it’s truly amazing! We appreciate the curriculum and approach to learning through critical thinking.
As a volunteer in many areas of LILA, it’s been wonderful to get to know LILA from the inside. From the campus administration to teachers to supervisors to fellow parents, everyone is caring, thoughtful, approachable, and strives to create a place where my daughter feels a sense of belonging. Happy to share more about our experience any time. 
Jeff Vespa
Grades: Pre-K and 2nd
Campus: Los Feliz
My name is Jeff vespa and my wife is Emily. We have two daughters: Genevieve, who is 8 years old and is in 2nd grade, and Josephine, who is 4.5 and is in Pre-K. We have been going to the school of 5 years and we love it. Neither my wife or I speak French or another language. I am very active with the school in volunteering and being an ambassador. We love the LILA community.
Patrick O'Neal
Grade: 4th
Campus: Los Feliz
We are a two-daddy family with a 4th grader (9 year old) who attends the Los Feliz campus.
Andrea Bidart-Oteiza
Grade: 10th
Campus: Burbank
We have one son currently in 10FB (French baccalauréat track) who has attended LILA since preschool. We love LILA and are so happy we chose this school!
Brian Setzer
Grades: Pre-K and Kindergarten
Campus: Los Feliz
We are Andrew, Brian, Alex, Astrid, and Matisse: We live in Hancock Park and love treating every day as an adventure where we learn amazing new things and meet interesting people.
Marisé Samitier
Grade: 10th
Campus: Burbank
We are a family with roots in Spain and the US. Sofia, our beautiful (inside and out) daughter, keeps David, dad, and Marisé, mom, young and playful. We love walking our three dogs in the park, traveling around the world, and spending time with friends and family. As a family, we are adventurous, open, curious, reliable, and team players. We have been at LILA since Pre-K (12 years! and counting) and feel honored to belong to an amazing international and multicultural community.
Claudine Kushner
Grade: 8th
Campus: Burbank
We have been a LILA family since 2012. My daughter started at the West Valley campus and now she is at Burbank. My husband and I are both American, though I do have French heritage on my side. We love being on this bilingual journey. The community, friendships and faculty cement our love for this wonderful school. C’est fantastique!
Marion Billet
Eden Miller
Grades: 4th and 6th
Campus: Los Feliz
We are an anglophone family with two boys, Henry (4th grade) and Jack (6th grade). We live in Studio City and are in the entertainment industry.
Jeanne Roué
Grades: Kindergarten and 4th
Campus: Pasadena
We are a Franco-American family (Chris is American and Jeanne is French). We love LILA and particularly our Pasadena campus. There is an outstanding crowd of people there, always ready to help. We love you, LILA Pasadena community!
Lauren Jolly
Grade: Kindergarten
Campus: West Valley
I am the proud mama bear of my little cub who currently attends the West Valley campus. We have been members of the LILA community since preschool (2020) and despite starting during a pandemic, we have found a home within LILA and are proud of who our little guy has become. Happy to answer any questions. Feel free to reach out to me.
Laura Smolowe
Grades: 1st and 5th
Campus: Los Feliz
Laura is a business attorney and Adam is a producer. Our girls Ella (5th) and Mia (1st) have been at LILA since kindergarten (Ella) and preschool (Mia). We live in Los Feliz with our dog, Georgia.
Ali Monchick
Grade: Preschool
Campus: West Valley
Sydney and I were drawn to LILA for the international community and its openness and warmth. We speak mostly English at home, but also some German, Italian, and of course, French! We love singing and playing instruments together.
Anna Paternot
Grades: Pre-K and 1st
Campus: Los Feliz
We’re a family with an international background, speaking multiple languages at home, which somehow made our older daughter speak with a Swedish accent and our younger daughter speak with a Boston accent: a very interesting combo. We love LILA for the strong values that support diversity, a variety of cultures, and incredibly high academic standards. This place truly feels like home with an extremely friendly and supportive international community.
Sibel Roman
Grades: Kindergarten and 2nd
Campus: Los Feliz
We are a multi-cultural (half French speaking) family who wanted an inclusive global community. We feel we hit the jackpot at LILA. We have been with the school since our eldest was in preschool at the ELC (Early Learning Center). Our LILA community has been the highlight and kept us afloat during the last couple years!
Kalli Clark-Sternberg
Grades: Preschool and Kindergarten
Campus: Los Feliz
Hello, we are Kalli, Al, Quincy and Silvester, the Shuckburgh/Clark-Sternberg family! We are a British family living in Silver Lake. Silvester is in preschool and Quincy is in kindergarten at the Los Feliz campus. We love LILA because of the international community with similar values in both education and life! We don’t speak French at home and have been amazed by Quincy’s progress over the last two years. We both work in the music industry and thoroughly enjoy the Cali lifestyle – surfing and hanging at the beach.
Christopher Ahuja
Grade: 1st
Campus: West Valley
My name is Christopher Ahuja and my spouse is Maggie Nguyen. We are raising our daughters in Tarzana, with our first born Athena attending the West Valley campus. Artemis is looking forward to attending in the near future. The school is wonderful with a great community of parents and teachers that challenge and encourage the children to be awesome citizens of the world.
Carrie Whyte
Grade: 11th (Alumni – Classes of 2016 and 2018)
Campus: Burbank
All three of our kids started school at LILA Los Feliz in Kindergarten. We have lived in Los Angeles since 1996. Iain is from France and I am from Texas.
Patrick Adams
Grade: Pre-K
Campus: Los Feliz
We are a family consisting of two daughters, Aurora and Elliott, two dogs, a lot of dirty clothes and an infinite amount of head colds. But loving every second of it. Well, most seconds…
Christine Kim
Grades: Preschool and 2nd
Campus: Pasadena
We are a Korean-American family – Christine (attorney), Sung (teacher), Remy, Rhys, Lux (stay at home dog), and Brumeaux (stay at home dog). We do not speak French at home and took a chance on LILA based on the school’s mission, vision, and values. It is one of the best decisions we have made as our girls are thriving and love going to school. We have cultivated great relationships with other parents and are happy to share our experience.