About

The Dutch School Silicon Valley (DSSV) is a California-approved non-profit or 501(c) (3) organization. The school was founded in Palo Alto, California in 2001 and has since expanded to include classroom facilities in Berkeley and San Jose. Our mission is to deliver high quality Dutch language and culture education by providing a challenging, comprehensive and integrated Dutch language curriculum that meet the requirements of the Dutch school system in the Netherlands.

Dutch School Silicon Valley addresses expatriate student’s Dutch language needs to facilitate repatriation back into the Dutch school system; and provides Dutch language instruction for students who are interested in learning the Dutch language and Dutch culture (as a second or foreign language) through a fully accredited program.

Our curriculum can accommodate ages 5 through 18 / Kindergarten through 12^th grade; and our students may have the opportunity to qualify for foreign language credits at their American High School. Several of our students have been successful in receiving language credits by submitting their transcript from Dutch School Silicon Valley to their High School.

The Dutch School Silicon Valley is fully accredited by the school system in The Netherlands and it is also recognized as a language center by New York based Cordell Hull Foundation for Internation Education. While the school receives a small subsidy from the Dutch Government through their contact with the Foundation for Dutch Education Abroad,  the majority of the schools operating budget comes from tuition.

The school is administered by the school’s Principal.  In addition to teaching responsibility the Principal is responsible for the curriculum, the teaching staff and serves as the communication focal point for DSSV families and the larger community.

The school is managed by the Board-of-Directors in accordance with articles of incorporation and the bylaws. The Board-of-Directors positions are honorary and do not receive remuneration. The purpose of the DSSV Board is to provide advice, counsel and assistance in the following areas: strategic planning, finance, marketing, institutional advancement & development.The Board is comprised of a dedicated group of parents, leaders from business and education.

Dutch School Silicon Valley board and faculty

Faculty

Miriam van Ringelestijn — principal, lead teacher and administration

Els Winters — teacher

Kitty van Keulen — teacher

Corien van Gelder — teacher

Dorine Hoeksema — teaching assistant

Anne-Mieke van der Zalm-Roza — substitute teacher

Marlies Lloyd — substitute teacher

Tineke Koomen — substitute teacher

Anja Spaans — substitute teacher

Board

Erik Volkerink — president

André Kuper — secretary

Peter Meijles — treasurer

Bob Carlier

Biographies

Miriam van Ringelestijn —Principal, Lead Teacher and Administration

Miriam van Ringelestijn founded the Dutch School Silicon Valley in 2001. In addition to teaching and managing the faculty and daily operations of the school, she is an integral part of the curriculum development process for both local and expatriation students. Miriam is a fully accredited teacher certified for K-12.

She is a native Dutch speaker with experience in the Dutch public school system since 1994. She is also experienced at teaching children with learning disabilities that require grouping children according to instructional requirements within the larger group of students in a classroom. The combination of this experience gives her a unique advantage in effectively teaching at DSSV where it is not uncommon to have two instructional levels within the same class. Miriam earned a PABO degree from Hogeschool Windesheim in Zwolle, the Netherlands. She also pursued a one year post graduate study in special education needs (SEN).

Els Winters — Teacher

Els Winters joined the Dutch School Silicon Valley faculty in 2006 as an independent outside contractor. Els is a native Dutch speaker living in California with a wealth of experience in teaching languages and cross cultural training to corporate clients including teaching children of families relocating to Europe. Els also worked with Bay area public schools tutoring students in foreign language studies.

Prior to teaching Els worked as the Station Manager for Martinair—Holland for 22 years and also served 12 years as Treasurer and 10 years as President of the Holland America Society, and was active in the NAUL and the Netherlands Business Group since their start.

Kitty van Keulen — Teacher

Kitty van Keulen joined the Dutch School Silicon Valley faculty in 2009 as an independent outside contractor. She is a native Dutch speaker and certified elementary school teacher who earned her BA in Education from the Inholland PABO. In addition, she has a MA in Early Childhood Special Education from Santa Clara University. Prior to teaching elementary school, she taught 0-5 year olds and their families in special education in California and taught coworkers as an Early Intervention Trainer. In order to fulfill her wish to become a teacher of children 4-12 year old, she enjoyed working as a student teacher in different grades of the DSSV, an American school and a school in the Netherlands. Prior to moving to California in 1997, she worked as a Public Health Nurse and in a center for 0-12 year old children at risk of a developmental delay.

Besides working as a DSSV teacher, she currently is a substitute teacher at an independent American K-5 school and an Early Intervention Trainer.

Corien van Gelder — Teacher

Corien Van Gelder joined the Dutch School Silicon Valley faculty in 2009 as an independent outside contractor. Corien and her husband are on an expatriate assignment stationed in the San Francisco Bay Area. She earned a Law degree with Summa Cum Laude distinction from the University of Amsterdam (VU) in 2003; but had a change of heart, and decided to pursue her true passion: teaching children. She is in the process of completing her PABO credentials from the Hogeschool INHolland; and just prior to her relocating to the U.S., she also acquired teaching experience at the Openbare Basisschool ‘t Joppe in Nieuw-Vennep.

In her spare time, Corien enjoys rock climbing and was a climbing instructor at the “Studenten Klimvereniging” van Amsterdam. She also appreciates a good tennis game, likes playing the piano and is fond of drawing. In Holland she also volunteered at the “Vereniging voor Natuur & Milieu-educatie”.

Dorine Hoeksema — Teaching Assistant

Dorine Hoeksema joined Dutch School Silicon Valley as a volunteer in 2006.  Teaching is a common profession in her family and Dorine has always had an interest in elementary education.  She earned a Masters of Science degree from the University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands in 2003.  Prior to moving to the U.S. she worked as Office Manager for Buitink Technology in The Netherlands. She is fluent in English, Dutch and German; and has a working knowledge of French and Spanish.

Anne-Mieke van der Zalm-Roza — Substitute Teacher

Anne-Mieke van der Zalm-Roza joined the Dutch School Silicon Valley faculty in 2006 as an independent outside contractor. She is a native Dutch speaker and certified elementary school teacher who earned her PABO degree from the Marnix Academy in Utrecht.  Prior to relocating from Eindhoven, The Netherland to the U.S., she spent four years teaching in the Dutch public school system; and also privately tutored children with learning disabilities.

Anne-Mieke was the editor of the DSSV newspaper in 2008 and 2009.

Marlies Lloyd — Substitute Teacher

Marlies Lloyd joined the Dutch School Silicon Valley faculty in 2007 as an independent contractor. She is a native Dutch speaker and certified elementary school teacher who earned her PABO degree from Sittard in 1989.

Upon returning to Holland from Canada in 1998, Marlies started her teaching experience in the Dutch elementary school system of Zoeterwoude in Gouda where she taught grades 1 through 8 until 2002.  In addition to (substitute) teaching responsibilities at Dutch School Silicon Valley, Marlies also succesfully graduated with a Master degree in career consuling at the JFK University in Pleasant Hill, California.

Tineke Koomen — Substitute Teacher

Tineke Koomen joined the  Dutch School Silicon Valley faculty in 2007 as an independent outside contractor. Tineke has extensive teaching experience and is a native Dutch speaker. She earned her teaching degree from the Pedagogische Academie in 1963 and she taught at the Anninksschool in Hengelo and at the Christiaan Huygens school in Delft. While raising her children, she was a part-time teacher at various schools in Waalre including the Nutsschooll and the De Wilderen school.

She also has experience teaching adults through her tenure at Philips where she facilitated management development programs including simulation games.

Anja Spaans — Substitute Teacher

Coming soon

Prof. Dr. Ir. Erik H. J. Volkerink, MBA — Board member, President and Liaison Dutch Government

Erik Volkerink is a Consulting Assistant Professor at Stanford University and Chief Scientist at Verigy Memory Test Solutions. He is an expert in Semiconductor Design & Test. He received a Best Paper Award at the CPA conference in the United Kingdom for his work on Software Development Methodologies for Real—time Distributed Hardware Systems. He is active in many industry wide activities including Registration Chair, Finance Chair and IEEE Liaison of the Pacific Northwest Test Workshop, Keynote Speaker of the Future of ATE Workshop (FATE) at the International Test Conference, Program Committee Member of the International Test Conference (ITC), SOC Test Topic Chair of the European Test Workshop (ETW), and Cost-of-Test Section Lead of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).

Erik earned a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, a Master degree in Engineering from the University of Twente in The Netherlands and a Master degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Erik is also an example of how people with learning disabilities are able to overcome their deficiencies; and this is the foundation for his passion with respect to education.  Prior to his University accomplishments, Erik worked as an Electrician in The Netherlands after he completed vocational training and special education schooling for children with learning disabilities.

Bob A. Carlier, MBA  — Board member, Marketing and Emergency Procedures

Bob Carlier is an independent management consultant focused on global marketing and business development. Prior to consulting, Bob spent more than 20 years in strategic, high profile brand development and business management in executive positions with Gillette, Tyson, and RJR-Nabisco, as well as, Oracle Corporation and venture capital backed high-tech start-ups.  He started his career at Johnson & Johnson Personal Products Company in Brand Management.

Bob Carlier earned a MBA from The George Washington University in Washington, DC and Bachelor degrees in Business Administration and Spanish from The American University in Washington, DC.  Bob also studied at The Hague Academy of International Law in The Netherlands and at the University of Madrid.  He has co-authored: “Should Madison Meet the Bar” published in the Maryland Law Forum; and, Bartoons Sales Cartoons, a book of sales training cartoons dealing with the everyday trials and tribulations of sales-reps and sales managers, published by R&E Publishers.

From an early age Bob lived abroad in different countries and had to operate within a variety of different education systems.  He is fluent in several languages and knows first hand how important it is for expatriate children to maintain and enhance their native language skills while living in a host country. Bob enjoys sports and fitness and is a regular at the Cubberley tennis courts.

Peter Meijles — Board member , Treasurer

Peter Meijles, is a Project Manager at Biotech company Affymetrix, a manufacturer of DNA arrays in Santa Clara, California. Prior to joining Affymetrix in 2001, Peter served as Application Engineer for Omron Electronics in San Jose; and as, Manager of Electrical Engineering, at BPS, a semi-conductor equipment manufacturer in Santa Clara. Before emigrating to the US in 1995, Peter held engineering positions with GTI Zaanstad and Engineering Bureau Doorman in Rotterdam.

Peter earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Hogeschool INHOLLAND, Alkmaar, The Netherlands. He also completed specialist training courses in various areas of control automation.

Peter’s interest in financial planning and a keen sense for the numbers inspired him to take on the role of DSSV’s Treasurer. In his spare time Peter is pursuing a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) certification at Kaplan University; and has also been sighted running the Metro Silicon Valley Marathon. With his children attending Dutch School Silicon Valley beginning in 2003, Peter has had a vested interest in the school’s performance.

Ir. Andre Kuper — Board member, Website Design and Secretary

André Kuper is an expert in supply chain management processes and has published and presented in this field.  In his specialist role at HP Global Operations he is tasked with harnessing the best practices and to promote and encourage their use by conducting training programs internally, as well as, within the IT community outside of Hewlett-Packard.  Prior to HP, he worked at the Applied Low Temperature Lab at the University of Twente; and also as an intern at Anderson Consulting in The Netherlands, where he worked on projects pertaining to change-management and the application of technology to learning.

André Kuper, earned a Master degree in Applied Physics and a Master degree in Instructional Systems Design, both from the University of Twente in The Netherlands. Every year Andre runs the MIT Beer Game for Stanford University and he maintains a keen interest in education appearing as a guest lecturer on topics such as, “uncertainty management” to students studying Operations Research at Stanford. André is also an academic advisor to New York based Mercy College on their on-line Master of International Business Systems program.

vacant — Board member

Coming soon

Special thanks

DSSV would like to acknowledge the efforts from : former board members : Ynet van der Veen, Pascual Starink, Jose Jans, Pieter Noordam, Peter Dekker, Thea Swenson, Anky van Deursen, Margriet Kolkman, Rianne Rutten, Katinka Dierick, Marcel Dignum, Ingrid Brand; former teacher : Jacoline Wiskerke; former teaching assistents : Patricia van Dreumel, Wendy van der Palen and Margriet Kolkman ; the contributions from the former honorary consuls of the Netherlands for Northern California Doug Engmann and Ralph Pais as well as Liesbeth van den Berg, who designed our logo.