About Us
Maple Bear schools offer full Canadian programs utilizing Canadian methodology and curriculum developed by our own experts from the ground up for preschool, elementary, and high school.
We take our responsibility to our students and their parents very seriously. Strict quality controls ensure we deliver the very best Canadian practices in education.
There are currently more than 300 Maple Bear Early Childhood, Elementary, and High Schools operating or opening in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Morocco, China, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kenya, the Philippines and the United States.
The head office of Maple Bear Global Schools Ltd is located in Vancouver, Canada.
The Story of Maple Bear
The idea to develop Maple Bear Canadian schools grew out of the work of the Canadian Education Centre Network (CECN), a non-profit organization supported by the Government of Canada and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada which was mandated to market Canadian education abroad to attract foreign students to study in Canada.
Maple Bear was born after CECN managers overseas recognized there was a domestic demand for high quality, bilingual Canadian education from emerging middle class parents, many of whom had studied outside of their own countries in general and in Canada in particular.
The first Maple Bear Canadian School to open was in Indirapuram (New Delhi), India in 2005.
In 2007, Maple Bear became a privately owned company with a dozen schools operating in Korea, Brazil and India. Those numbers quickly changed as news of the excellence of Canadian immersion and bilingual education spread, especially among parents who could see the positive outcomes in language, learning and behavior of their children.
Today, there are more than 300 schools in sixteen countries with more than thirty thousand students studying at Maple Bear schools worldwide.
We invite you to join the Maple Bear global family as an owner, a student, a parent, a teacher or a member of the Canadian faculty.
Maple Bear Faculty
Angela Quinn
Angela Quinn has over 35 years of experience teaching from Kindergarten to Grade 12 as well as adults. She has a Master's degree from the University of Ottawa as well as Specialist Certification in Second Language Learning
and Special Education. Angela has worked as a classroom teacher, an Elementary School Principal and Second Language Curriculum Consultant. She has presented workshops on the following topics: literacy strategies
(read aloud, shared reading, guided reading and independent reading), writing, organizing and implementing learning centres, comprehension strategies, differentiated learning, classroom management, assessment and
evaluation, planning and delivery of curriculum.
Angela has worked as a Maple Bear Academic Support trainer in Brazil, Mexico and Morocco.
Art Pfeffer
Art Pfeffer has 34 years of experience teaching levels 1-9 with a specialization in early years and special needs children. He has an Administrative and Principal certification, as well as a double Post Baccalaureate in Administration and English as an Additional Language. He has an extensive background working with adults and mentoring graduating student teachers at the University of Winnipeg, Faculty of Education. His work has included designing and presenting on-line training seminars for new teachers in preparation for work in Asia, working as a school director and country curriculum director in South Korea, as well as writing and editing curriculum. He has worked for Maple Bear for 11 years since 2007 and has provided service in Korea, China, Vietnam, Mexico, Turkey, and Brasil. His Maple Bear experience helping schools to become established, ordering books and materials, supporting teacher training and mentoring of administration, as well as a wide range of teacher and parent presentations.
Beverley Bennett
Beverley Bennett’s introduction to Maple Bear was as acting principal to assist with a school opening in Brasilia in 2010. Since then, she has had the opportunity to visit ten Maple Bear countries, providing a wide range of services
from initial training, classroom support, to training and quality assurance. A highlight for Beverley has been developing and delivering literacy instruction workshops.
On top of her training work, she has also worked in Sao Paulo in the central office and teaches University of Winnipeg courses to Maple Bear teachers in Brazil as well as to Canadian education students in Thailand and China.
She especially enjoys her role in preparing new Canadian expert trainers for their first assignments. Beverley holds a Master of Education from McGill University. For her, Maple Bear has been a fulfilling second career in education.
Brenda Gear
Brenda Gear holds an M Ed from the University of Western Ontario and a B Ed from the University of Windsor. She holds certificates as a Primary Education specialist and a Special Education specialist. Brenda has worked as a Kindergarten teacher, elementary teacher, teacher of gifted students and a School District Consultant in Special Education early years. Brenda is the recipient of the Award of Distinction for outstanding contributions to education in London, Ontario. She has had a very successful career as a Principal and Vice Principal of elementary Schools in Ontario, Canada. Brenda served as Director of Maple Bear in Korea for two years and has also conducted Maple Bear extensive training sessions in India, Brazil and Mexico.
Bunny Mitchell
Bernice (Bunny) Mitchell has over 35 year’s professional experience in the field of education. She has taught students in the primary, elementary, junior high and high school grades and students with special needs. She has worked
as a Student Services teacher (resource and counselling). Her leadership experience includes positions as a district coordinator, school vice-principal and principal at the elementary, high school and post-secondary levels.
Bunny has delivered professional development on several topics including numeracy and literacy, social emotional needs, learning strategies, differentiated instruction and behavioral management.
Bunny holds a Master’s in Education (Educational Psychology), Pre-Master’s (Counselling) and a Bachelor of Education. She holds Level 1 and Level 2 School Administrator’s Certificates. Her roles within Maple Bear include
in-school training and initial training, along with mathematics implementation guide writing for grades 3 and 4. In addition, Bunny has conducted several central office math workshops and has helped prepare trainers to conduct
initial training.
Colleen MacDonald Macleod
Colleen MacDonald MacLeod is a graduate of St Francis Xavier University 1973-74 with BA and B.Ed. and a Certificate in Educational Technology from Cape Breton University 2002. The Strait Regional School Board employed her for 32 years,
teaching elementary education in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Upon her retirement she took the opportunity to travel and has spent time in schools in Oman, Egypt and Kenya. In 2011 she began working as a Maple Bear trainer and more recently
as an Initial Trainer.
Colleen lives in Judique, NS with her husband Archie where they raised their five children. She is a volunteer member of ‘Inverness County Cares’ providing educational
and daily life support to the 280 students of the St Charles Lwanga School in Ruai, Nairobi.
Darlene Noga
Darlene Noga is an educator and mother of two adult children from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a retired teacher with over 30 years in the Manitoba school system. When she is not busy travelling you can find her tutoring students of various age levels or supporting teachers in the classroom. In 2013 her love of children, learning and travelling led to a position as a trainer with Maple Bear Schools. As a trainer she enjoys encouraging teachers struggling with classroom management. Her focus on using positives to obtain a desired behaviour is well received by teachers. She frequently travels to various Maple Bear schools in Brazil to train teachers and also enjoy the Brazilian sun, cake, ice cream and hospitality.
Judy Kyliuk
Thirty-four years of experience as an elementary school administrator and teacher in the Canadian school system has given Judy the skills to train educators working with early toddler to Year 4 and middle years students.
Her six years experience as a trainer and initial trainer for new school start-ups and acting principal at Maple Bear schools in Brazil has familiarized her with all aspects of Maple Bear School curriculum and implementation
of its programs. Judy has a strong background in school organization and planning. Her teacher training emphasizes effective planning, assessment, and improving literacy, numeracy and science skills for all students. She has
collaborated with staff to create a respectful, safe, secure, happy environment where learning is emphasized and effective classroom management skills practiced. Judy has conducted both teacher training workshops and parent
information workshops and enjoys working as a trainer for Maple Bear Global Schools.
Terril Butterworth
Terril Butterworth has extensive teaching experience from Kindergarten to Grade 8, in addition to having been an Elementary Curriculum Consultant, a Coordinator of Elementary Curriculum for a large school district and an Elementary School
Vice-principal and Principal. Terril’s Bachelor of Education is from the University of British Columbia. She has additional specialist qualifications in Primary Education, and in Science in Primary Junior Education from Queen's University
(Ontario), and Principal's Qualifications from the University of Ottawa.
Terril has mentored student teachers from the University of Ottawa, Nipissing University, State University of New York (Potsdam) and Queen's University. She received an award from Queen's University for her work as an Associate
Teacher.
Terril has provided professional development to early childhood educators, elementary and secondary teachers, principals, and parent groups. She has been part of the province of Ontario’s curriculum implementation teams. Internationally
Terril taught two summer programs in Beira, Chimoio and Nhamatanga, Mozambique. She has also done considerable work with Maple Bear Schools in Brazil, Mexico, China, Morocco and the USA.
ĐỘI NGŨ MAPLE BEAR TOÀN CẦU
Rodney Briggs
President & Co-Founder
Rodney Briggs graduated from the University of Manitoba with a B.A. and M.A. (International Relations). He was the recipient of the J.W. Dafoe scholarship for studies in International Relations.
In 1981, he joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and served abroad at Canada's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, in the Kingdom of Thailand, studied Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan,
worked at the Canadian Embassy in the People's Republic of China, and concluded his distinguished diplomatic career in the Republic of Korea. He also served as President of the Professional Association of Foreign Service
Officers. In addition to Mandarin Chinese, he also speaks French and Portuguese.
In 1996, Rodney joined the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada as the Vice-President responsible for the Canadian Education Centre Network project and in 1997 became the first President of the newly-formed non-profit
company, the Canadian Education Centre Network. In this capacity he was responsible for building the network from three centres in the Asia-Pacific region into an entity with a presence in 17 countries spanning the globe.
Rodney also oversaw the establishment of the CEC Network's subsidiary CECN Global Schools Ltd. and conceived the Maple Bear education system. In March, 2007 he resigned as President of the CEC Network and purchased
CECN Global Schools Ltd from the CEC Network. Since that time, he has traveled extensively, expanding Maple Bear’s global presence.
Gerald Macleod
Director & Co-Founder
Gerald Macleod holds both a B.A. and B.Ed from the University of Saskatchewan, a Masters degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, and a Masters of Education (second language and immersion specialization) from the University of
Manitoba. In addition he holds a Diplôme d’études françaises from the Université de Poitiers, and a Diplôme d’études internationales et du développement from the Université de Toulouse, France. He has received numerous academic
awards, including the Government of France scholarship for Graduate Study in France.
His education credentials are extensive, beginning as a teacher in Montreal, Saskatoon and Winnipeg; as Vice-Principal and Principal at all levels of the Winnipeg school system and as a university professor of Education
Administration at the Collège universitaire de Saint Boniface, Manitoba.
Gerald served as School District Director of International Education in Winnipeg; Director of International Education in the Department of Advanced Education for the Province of Manitoba, and as a consultant in international
education globally. He frequently presents on international education topics to teachers, principals and school boards.
Since 2007, he has been Vice-President and part owner of Maple Bear Global Schools Ltd. and has been responsible for the development and implementation of Maple Bear educational programs and teacher training worldwide.
Lenna Glade
Vice-President Academic
Lenna Glade has been an educator for more than 40 years. She has been a teacher, a school administrator, a Department of Education coordinator and is currently a Faculty Member at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada.
For the past ten years, Lenna has initiated and implemented several international education projects in her role as Faculty Member. In addition to practicum programs in Thailand and China, Lenna implemented a Bachelor of Education
program in Asia and a Post Baccalaureate program in Brazil.
Lenna Glade is a former Academic Director of Maple Bear Brazil. For the past 6 years she has trained teachers and administrators and presented to parents of Maple Bear Schools in Brazil, India, China, Korea, Viet Nam
and Singapore. Also, Lenna has coordinated the annual Maple Bear Owner’s Convention in Brazil.
Jocelyn McPike
Director of Education & Training
Jocelyn McPike is an educational leader with strong experience in teaching, program management and school administration. She has a B Ed Special Education Certificate and Post Bacc in Math and Natural Science and has taught Kindergarten
and elementary grades. She has worked as a Resource teacher, district coordinator and school vice-principal and principal for several years. Jocelyn has done additional training on many important topics: leadership development,
advanced leadership development, numeracy and literacy development.
In addition to working on Maple Bear program development, Jocelyn has been very active in developing educational programs and workshops: Writing for Early and Middle Years – implementation and development of K-4 student
writing continuum and facilitating in-servicing and instruction in the writing traits for Grades 5-8. She has conducted workshops for Maple Bear in Brazil and Mexico, United States, and Turkey and she has been a leader in the
development of Maple Bear training materials in literacy.
Giving Back
As part of this commitment, Maple Bear Global Schools also believes in giving back in the countries in which we operate by donating charitable funds to local education initiatives impacting on children and families.
In addition to funding projects, the Maple Bear curriculum incorporates themes of social responsibility and community service so that students at Maple Bear schools are exposed to the concept and undertake age appropriate activities. The goal is to turn a whole generation of students on to the joy of giving back.