Academic Team
Doa Demirsu-Doran (BSc, MBA)
Principal / Director
Welcome to Keystone International School, a dynamic, boutique school, in the heart of Toronto.
We strive to involve students in their own learning experience. Teachers are not lecturers but are facilitators in the classrooms. Our inquiry-based, holistic approach to education encourage students to take action and become life-long learners. We always remind students that every subject has a relation to the real world. Whenever we can get away from the classroom, we make sure to do that; it’s far more interesting to go check out some super structures to think the physics behind it, see live art pieces and discuss them at the museum, or play logic games to calculate probability for math class. In Economics or Business, we observe a product over time to understand the effects of demand and supply. All these experiments keep students interested and makes learning easier, fun and most importantly permanent.
At Keystone, we nurture our students to be well-rounded and intuitive individuals while challenging them to excel academically. Our culturally diverse environment prepares our students for the future when they will be collaborating with others at a global level.
Janille Giambattista (Hons BA, MA)
Admissions Coordinator
Mrs. Giambattista is a Toronto native, and holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Toronto. Fully bilingual, Mrs. Giambattista has studied and worked in Canada’s two official languages, English and French.
After completing her Master’s degree, Mrs. Giambattista began work in the non-profit sector. She then switched gears to enter the marketing/communications world and acted as Project Manager at a boutique graphic design agency in Toronto.
Mrs. Giambattista has always been passionate about education and academics, and so when the opportunity to work at Keystone became available, she eagerly jumped at the chance. This role combines her previous professional experience in administration with her love for meeting and interacting with students of all ages. She is especially excited when speaking to students about literature and her favourite books, and she is also willing to offer a helping hand/ear to students who may be in need of support or guidance. She also acts as a first point of contact for any prospective students and their parents, and is overjoyed to do all she can to grow the Keystone community.
Stephanie Guerreiro (BA, B.Ed, OCT)
Academic Coordinator
Ms. Guerreiro completed her Bachelors of Arts, History at Trent University and her Bachelors of Education from Queen’s University. She spent the first five years of her teaching career working with students in Nanjing, China where she was able to explore her love of travel and experiencing different cultures.
She loves working with students from international backgrounds as well as those from closer to home as they all have stories and experiences to share that make the world more colourful and fulfilling. Her favourite courses to teach are history and geography as they give everyone in the class a chance to broaden their world-views and learn about the world around them.
Ece Ozturk (BMath, Hons MA, OCT)
Academic Coordinator
Ms. Ozturk has completed a Bachelor’s of Mathematics together with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration. She also holds a teaching certificate as well as a Master of Arts in Educational Administration and Supervision, which she completed with honours.
Ms. Ozturk is passionate to share her love for learning with her students. She wants to instill a natural curiosity in the minds of students so that they can find strategies to navigate today’s fast-paced world. She believes teaching to be the first step in making a difference in this world. Therefore, she wants to share her knowledge and experience with her students wherever she is.
Jesmy Sunny (B.Eng)
Ms. Jesmy Sunny is an accomplished education professional with a rich tapestry of experience spanning eight years, dedicated to nurturing young minds and fostering a passion for learning. With a solid foundation in both engineering and Advanced Mathematics, her academic journey has equipped her with a unique blend of technical prowess and pedagogical acumen. Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and a postgraduate degree in Computer Software, she brings a multidisciplinary perspective to the classroom. This fusion of expertise allows her to bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and real-world applications, empowering students with practical insights that resonate in today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape.
Sheron Prakasia (BSc, B.Ed)
Ms. Sheron is a passionate science teacher. Her subject of expertise is chemistry. She has completed her Bachelor degrees both in chemistry as well as in education. She completed her Master’s degree in chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, India.
Ms. Sheron strongly believes that education must shape an individual not only in academics but to an overall development. A teacher should help each child to live in the outside world; teaching and learning is not something that is enclosed within books and school. Learning should be fun for students so that they will enjoy it instead of feeling burdened by it.
Ms. Sheron has the experience of teaching students with learning disabilities and she is ready to make any changes in her teaching styles in order to achieve success to each child. She strongly believes that each child is important and their learning needs have to be assessed regularly and regular communication with parents will make learning much easier.
Max Bielavin (B.Ed, M.Ed, Ph.D. candidate)
Meet Mr. Max Bielavin, an experienced English teacher who has been teaching since 2010. He obtained his B.Ed. and M.Ed. from KNPU and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at JLU. Mr. B worked in China from 2012 to 2023, where he honed his pedagogical skills and techniques. He is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese, Ukrainian, and Russian, and he is a TESOL-certified educator with extensive cross-cultural experience in ESL / EFL / ENG / EAP / IELTS / TOEFL and Literature teaching. In addition to teaching, Mr. B enjoys traveling and music and plays both the piano and the guitar. He is committed to achieving results and has helped many students achieve high academic success under his guidance. His motto is per aspera ad astra, and he strongly believes that proper teaching tools are essential for unlocking academic opportunities.
Ralph Santiago
In 2023 Ralph Santiago completed their Masters of Teaching from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto, qualifying them as an Ontario Certified Teacher with specialization in Sciences and Advanced Qualifications in Mathematics, both at the Junior/Intermediate level. Coupled with a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering completed in 2020 at Toronto Metropolitan University, Ralph’s education has been built for success in STEAM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths). They have taught grades 4-8 students in the TDSB at Cosburn Middle School, Samuel Herne Public School, and Eastview Public School, and have been tutoring JK-12 students part-time for 4 years. Expressing complex ideas through poetry and fine arts are a hobby of Ralph’s, and learning with them will be the crossroads where STEAM, language, the arts, and social sciences intersect.
Steven Mesaros
Steven Mesaros earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies and a minor in Business from Trent University, then a Master’s in Political Science from York University, where he examined the restructuring of work in Canada since the 1980s. Steven has been working towards his Ph.D. in Political Science at York University, achieving ABD (All But Dissertation) status. His research focuses on the evolution of concepts like Economic Justice, Democracy, and Globalization, employing history and theory within the social sciences.
Steven’s extensive background in teaching began with a decade-long tenure in South Korea teaching to students ranging from kindergarten to Grade 12. Since 2012, Steven transitioned to a role as a high school Social Science Instructor teaching a diverse array of courses in high school, including Advanced Placement courses. He also served as a guidance counsellor assisting students with their university applications to institutions in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
Since 2017, Steven has also been teaching at York University, holding positions as both a tutorial leader and course director. His teaching portfolio includes primarily first-year introductory courses in Social Science (Intro to Social Science), as well as upper-year courses in American Politics.
Esra Perek (B.Ed)
Mme Perek has been teaching French since 2004 for different age groups and learning needs. She graduated from Istanbul University with a double major in French Linguistics and Elementary Teaching. Esra believes that the main thing in learning a language is first to like it. To like it, a student has to get to know a few concepts like the culture and the country/countries that this language is spoken in. She also believes that every student has its own way to perceive the subject. Mme Perek is trying to penetrate this knowledge into her classes and teach accordingly. She’s on a mission to teach with patience and perseverance and make the learning possible for everyone.
