Daria Turanga – Russian Language, Russian as a Second Language (RSL)
Daria Turanga is an empathetic educator dedicated to creating a safe, engaging, and supportive learning environment for children. With a genuine interest in child development, she studied Montessori principles and took psychology courses. These insights shape her compassionate approach to communicating effectively with young learners.
With bilingual communication skills and a love for creativity, Daria fosters a classroom atmosphere where every child feels valued and encouraged.
Ludmila Tarane – Russian Language, Arithmetic
Ludmila brings more than 40 years of experience working with elementary school children. After graduating with Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Pedagogy and methods of primary education from Herzen State Pedagogical University (St. Petersburg), she worked at several elementary schools in Latvia.
In addition to teaching, Ludmila organized school Olympiads in mathematics and Russian language. Her students, who participated in the city Olympiads, often won 1st and 2nd places.
Ludmila’s teaching methods are always creative. She uses a variety of imaginative activities and games to help students better master the material.
Evgeny Moldavskiy – Mathematics, Chess
Evgeny loves two things: music and mathematics. Not being able to chose which one is his favorite, he decided to follow the footsteps of his favorite philosopher Pythagoras whose interests were also mathematics and music, and do both. Evgeny graduated from Moscow State University of Culture and Arts with a degree in concert performance and cello teacher. Later, he also received a degree in business management from the Institute of Continuing Professional Education at The Moscow State Technological University.
His eclectic professional career includes playing in several orchestras, teaching music to children in schools, as well as privately.
Rustam Baibikov – Musical Fairy Tales, Favorite Childhood Songs
Rustam is a flutist and a teacher. After graduating from college in Saratov, he continued his studies at the Moscow Maimonides Academy. After graduation, he played in an orchestra as well as an ensemble and organized his own concert workshops. Additionally, he organized around 700 educational concerts of classical and folk music for preschool children in Moscow. More recently, he has taught music in public and private kindergartens.
In his spare time, Rustam, enjoys a variety of strategic games and plays chess.
Raisa Dzanaeva – Come Play With Us! (Arithmetic & Alphabet)
Raisa holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics and Interpretation from Astrakhan State University. Her passion for foreign languages led her to Bangkok, Thailand, where she has dedicated the past nine years to teaching Russian as a foreign language to both Thai and international students. As a multilingual educator, Raisa deeply understands the challenges associated with learning new languages and is eager to impart her skills to help our children achieve language proficiency in a more efficient and engaging manner. Additionally, as a mother of a six-year-old son, she has developed a keen appreciation for young learners and enjoys teaching languages through playful and interactive methods.
Stacy Yermolenko – Assistant Teacher
Stacy is an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, currently pursuing her studies in Molecular and Cell Biology with a strong interest in child development and medicine. A San Francisco native, Stacy brings a deep love for working with children. She has experience teaching math, English, Russian, and music to students of various ages, and finds great joy in helping young learners grow academically and personally.
Alexander Ermoshkin – Art (substitute)
Alexander graduated from Amur State University of Humanities and Pedagogy with a degree in Geography and Biology. After graduating, he began his professional career teaching middle and high school students, and later, at two universities where he was a leading educational specialist in geography and ecology.
Much of Alexander’s 19-year professional career was dedicated to teaching students of different ages. He is particularly passionate about teaching natural sciences to children. He strongly believes that a small group setting and individual interaction at the Berkeley Russian School is the ideal medium for nurturing creativity in children and understanding the natural world around us.
Masha Shuster – Russian for Adults (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced), Russian Literature
Masha graduated from Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia in Moscow with two degrees in Mathematics and Spanish. Following graduation, she worked as a business consultant. Later, she earned a degree in Economics from the Higher School of Economics, National Research University in Moscow.
After the birth of her son, she became fascinated with education and language development and acquisition in children. Her goal is to find new, engaging and creative ways to teach while exposing each child’s full potential.
Larisa Shapiro – Director
Larisa graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Human Development. Her undergraduate work concentrated on the study of the stages of child development; including behavioral, cognitive, social and personality development. She also holds an MS in Design Studies from University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her graduate work focused on the art of the Italian Renaissance and the history of Russian art before and during the reign of Catherine the Great.
Most of her professional experience involved working with families and children. Her recent positions included Director of Education at a school in Wisconsin, and Director of Resettlement at the Jewish Family Service in Michigan.