April 3, 2017

Meet Michael Maniska of the International School of Los Angeles

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Maniska.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Born in Sydney, Australia to immigrant parents from Greece and Cyprus, I consider myself a “Third Culture Kid.” I grew up in a country whose culture was different from that of my parents. Like many children of immigrants, I was predisposed to the love of languages, becoming fully bilingual in English and French and developing intermediate proficiency in Italian and my native Greek. In particular, my parents gave me their love of Francophonie. This translated into my pursuing a bachelor’s degree in French language and literature from the University of New South Wales and a master’s degree in the same from the University of Sydney. I have since dedicated much of my career to leading institutions that feature a French environment.

After training initially as a teacher of French and English as a Second Language, I spent a year in a French lycée as a teaching assistant. I then returned to Australia as a languages teacher in an elementary through 12th grade independent school in Sydney, where I taught French, Italian, and ESL. Eventually I became the head of languages faculty and the director of curriculum. In 2007, I was appointed head of school of Telopea Park School/Le Lycée Franco-Australien de Canberra, which offers the French brevet and baccalauréat programs as well as the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program, and had strategic responsibilities for the growth of the IB Diploma Program. From 2011 to 2014, I served as head of school of the International Grammar School in Sydney, piloting the school to outstanding academic results and cementing its position at the forefront of multilingual education.

On the very same day in 2013, I received emails from three colleagues recommending I look into a new position that had just become available in Los Angeles. After giving it some thought, I decided to pursue the position. The International School of Los Angeles’s core values resonate with me both professionally and personally. The pursuit of Academic Excellence, Cultural Diversity, and Mutual Respect has underpinned and characterized all aspects of my life. Since joining the School in October 2014, I continue to be impressed by the fact that we have all these different nationalities and a commitment to a truly bilingual education.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been an exciting road; one with its fair share of hurdles. Leading any change is a complex process. Above all, sharing a whole-school message to a community with five discrete locations has probably been the greatest task. Remaining affordable to our community while adding value to our academic program has also been a significant challenge. But all obstacles are really opportunities to invite new ways of thinking about the current and emerging landscapes.

From a personal perspective, moving to a new country has also been a steep learning curve. Although I arrived as an experienced head of school, I had to learn the American way when it came to areas such as college entry and fundraising. The French community in LA and in the USA also has its own special considerations. Stepping up to these new experiences has helped me become personally and professionally more resilient.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the International School of Los Angeles story. Tell us more about the business.
Established in 1978 by visionaries of varied cultural backgrounds who felt that the Los Angeles community needed a school which would prepare children for life in an increasingly international environment, the International School of Los Angeles is an international preschool through 12th grade school which offers a unique, English-French bilingual curriculum. All students study a common bilingual program from preschool through 9th grade after which they have a choice between the rigorous and well-balanced French baccalauréat and International Baccalaureate Diploma programs. With five Los Angeles-area campuses (Burbank, Los Feliz, Orange County, Pasadena, and West Valley), and over 1,000 students, the School holds triple accreditation from the French Ministry of Education, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), and the International Baccalaureate (IB). The School is committed to academic excellence in a nurturing and intimate environment that encourages personal initiative, creativity and curiosity, and to preparing students of all backgrounds to excel in and contribute to a global world. Since 1978, the School has been instilling the love of learning in all its students through small classes and low student-to-teacher ratios. With over 60 nationalities and 39 spoken languages represented on the campuses, students study and live in a diverse global community every day.

The only school in Los Angeles to offer both the International Baccalaureate Diploma and the French baccalauréat, the International School of Los Angeles has recently been authorized to offer the full continuum of the French Ministry of Education’s section internationale américaine from elementary through 12th grade. This makes us the only school in the USA to have this triple accreditation!

Bilingualism is an obvious fruit of our French-English curriculum. Yet it is the type of thinkers that a bilingual and intercultural education like ours creates that truly makes our school special. Through their bilingualism our students are innately able to see myriad perspectives and recognize that meaning is constructed by people differently. This very ability is at the heart of what we do. Our students and alumni are open, confident, articulate, inclusive, informed, and radiating with warmth. They are not only a product of a rigorous academic program. They are quite simply “bien dans leur peau,” a French expression I love which translates charmingly as “good in their skin.” This is the intrinsic success of our school.

What’s your favorite memory from childhood?
When I was five years old, my mother took me to see a French movie. I had never heard French spoken before. It was love at first syllable. Apparently I badgered my mother for a translation of what was being said from beginning to end. That first exposure to the French language was the catalyst for a life-long passion for all things French.

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