We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maura D’Andrea a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Maura D’Andrea, I was born and raised in Milan, from Italian parents. I obtained a Master degree in Educational Sciences, Expert address in training processes at the renowned Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan and I am currently finishing my post-graduate specialization at the Ca ‘ Foscari University of Venice for the specialization of teaching Italian as an LS language for foreigners residing abroad.

I arrived in California 12 years ago to follow my husband Andrea (Italian astrophysicist) with the idea of ​​staying only a few years but still here we are, with two beautiful daughters and my great dream of the Italian school to carry on.

Despite being in love with San Diego, I remain very attached to my origins, to the Italian language and culture and passing it on to my daughters and all my students is a sweet way to feel less expatriate and far from the affections we have left behind us.

My career as a teacher / instructor began at a young age when, in Italy, I first started teaching Karate to young students in the dojo where I trained (I’m a black belt and I won many important national competition), then, like police officer, I taught “road education” to children in schools and since I arrived in California I volunteer in the elementary schools for curricular and extracurricular activities like art, math, school play etc,.
And because teaching was really my thing I decided to start teaching Italian in a formal way a few years ago in collaboration with our sister school IAASD of which we are the successors.

Teaching my original language, history, geography and the culture of my country has become an ever-growing passion that has kept me busy until I have opened my language school.
We serve close to 80 students in grades TK-11. The instructional program for all students at Italian school of San Diego consists of balanced literacy, grammar, discussion, analysis, written language and a social studies program that is integrated into the curriculum. Students also have art and music as part of their annual curriculum.
What differentiates us from other Italian language schools are our certified programs
Italian school of San Diego is accredited both with the San Diego Unified and the San Dieguito Union High School Districts as an “Independent World Language School”. Therefore classes taken at the Italian school will give credit for the language requirement for High School graduation for all public High Schools within the 2 districts, and will also satisfy the admission requirements for colleges. Grades obtained in the Italian classes will be added to the student’s transcripts.

We are characterized by the passion and care for the needs of children and their families.
We want to create a strong community where everyone can feel at ease and where efforts to learn and maintain a distant language and culture are also recognized at the academic level.
We take our work very seriously and are constantly updated with courses provided for teachers.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Building the structure of the Italian school of San Diego was quite rapid, it took about 3 months thanks also to the support of our sister school IAASD. The initial capital to start the school was taken from the family savings which I hope to be able to give back in a few years. Unfortunately, education is not a business that pays, it is more a mission and my family and I have thrown ourselves into this mission. In our house we never stop studying and investing in a school for our community seemed to us the right thing to do.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The reputation has grown through direct experience in my classes and the events I often organize with my husband and not least by word of mouth. Direct experience remains the most important, a satisfied parent and student are the best vehicle to enhance one’s reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.italianschoolsd.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/italianschoolsd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/italianschoolsd/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/italianschoolsd/