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 and Burbank
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 and 1st
Campus: Los Feliz
We are a family of four (children are 6 and 3 years old) from NYC and Paris, living in the hills and doing our best to keep up!
Fiona Reinhardt
Grades: 6th, 8th, and 10th
Campus: Burbank
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: 8th and 11th
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: Kindergarten and 3rd
Campus: Los Feliz
Cuban-Peruvian-American family of five, including our two human children, ages 5 and 8, and Peter, our beloved pup. We have been at LILA for 6 years and feel so grateful to be part of this great community.
James Bulliard
Grade: Kindergarten
Campus: Los Feliz
We are Megan, James, Hugh (5), and Edie (4). 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.
Christine Kim
Grades: Pre-K and 3rd
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.
Patrick Adams
Grade: Kindergarten
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…
Jeff Vespa
Grades: Kindergarten
Campus: Los Feliz
My name is Jeff Vespa and my wife is Emily. We have two daughters: Genevieve, who is 9 years old, and Josephine, who is 5. 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.
Jennifer Moore
Grades: 1st
Campus: West Valley
Our son Jonathan started at LILA in Kindergarten without any previous French experience and we knew from the beginning that LILA was an amazing and welcoming environment. My husband Peter is a Seattle native, I’m a Chicago native, and we found a fantastic community and education for our LA-raised son at LILA.
Andrea Bidart-Oteiza
Grade: 11th
Campus: Burbank
We have one son currently in 11FB (French baccalauréat track) who has attended LILA since preschool. We love LILA and are so happy we chose this school!
Brian Setzer
Grades: Kindergarten and 1st
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: 11th
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: 9th
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: 5th and 7th
Campus: Los Feliz and Burbank
We are an anglophone family with two boys, Henry and Jack. We live in Studio City and are in the entertainment industry.
Jeanne Roué
Grades: 1st and 5th
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: 1at
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: 2nd and 6th
Campus: Los Feliz and Burbank
Laura is a business attorney and Adam is a producer. Our girls Ella and Mia have been at LILA since kindergarten (Ella) and preschool (Mia). We live in Los Feliz with our dog, Georgia.
Ali Monchick
Grade: Pre-K
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: 1st and 3rd
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: Pre-K and 1st
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 pre-K and Quincy is in 1st grade 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: Preschool and 2nd
Campus: West Valley
My name is Christopher Ahuja and my spouse is Maggie Nguyen. We are raising our daughters in Tarzana, with both Athena and Artemis attending the West Valley campus. 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: 12th (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.
Thomas Storck
Grade: Pre-K
Campus: Pasadena
We are a French-Taiwanese-American family: Jenny (Taiwanese-American, entrepreneur), Thomas (French, working in Tech) and Anna (all of the above, opinionated 5 years old). We moved from NY a 1.5 years ago and found a second family in LILA. Anna loves the school and she has been thriving both academically and socially. Feel free to reach out!
Rory Haines
Grade: Preschool and 1st Grade
Campus: Los Feliz
We are Rory Haines and Kathryn Catmur, two Englishers, with two little Americans, Lazlo and Tiago. We are both in the creative industries.
Brooke Osswald
Grade: Preschool and 1st Grade
Campus: Los Feliz
Hello! We’re a couple of English-speaking Americans working in the entertainment industry and raising our two spirited children in Studio City. We have a daughter in preschool & a son in 1st grade. Being from Connecticut and Ohio respectively, and having zero experience with an international education, we were curious how the French would go; it’s been amazing to see how the children have embraced it. They absolutely love their school, and we love being a part of LILA’s warm & vibrant community. We’d be happy to chat about adjusting to a new school, finding creative ways to nurture our children’s diverse learning styles and social/emotional needs, or commuting to Los Feliz from the valley (honestly it’s not that bad! we have lots of podcast recommendations if you’re interested).
Michelle Cardno
Grade: Preschool
Campus: Los Feliz
We are Michelle, Don & Rosie (preschooler at Los Feliz) – an American and British family that does not speak French at home! We are so happy with our decision to enroll our daughter into LILA. The education is outstanding and the community is simply wonderful!
Lindsay Raffaele
Grade: Preschool and 1st Grade
Campus: Los Feliz
Hello! We are Lindsay, Andrew, Enzo and Elio. We are very happy that we ended up at LILA! Neither of us speak French, however Andrews does speak Italian. We are in agriculture (we own a vegetable farm in Los Angeles). We love the community at LILA – they have really become some of our best friends.
Melissa Rundle
Grade: Kindergarten
Campus: West Valley
Hello! My name is Melissa and my husband Eric and I have had the absolute pleasure of sending our daughter to school to LILA since preschool. She is now in Kindergarten and absolutely loving it! We are a non-French speaking family, but our daughter is already fluent and thriving in the warm, welcoming and international community of the School. Our son Darian will start preschool this August. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. Thank you!