Thomopoulos, Xenia, Faculty, English
Ms. Xenia Thomopoulos has worked as an English Literature Educator in New York City public schools for the past 11 years. This has allowed her to develop, write, and teach curricula in an array of secondary courses including AP Literature, 10-12th grade English, as well as electives-style courses such as Filmmaking, Photography, & Philosophy. She has been a High School Advisor and Department Lead; she initiated inter-school debates, and has acted as a film liaison with Tribeca Teaches Film Institute and the Museum of the Moving Image, among others, to help produce & screen student films.
Ms. Xenia Thomopoulos earned her B.A. in Communications & Media / Film Studies and English Literature. She worked in Fashion PR right after university, but then pursued an M.A. in English Literature and Adolescent Education. She was very lucky to have incredible mentors who exposed her to Competency-Based Education and Project Based Learning — pedagogical approaches that she believes reach a plethora of learners through real-world skills & relevant projects. This type of learning promotes transparency, cohesive school-wide alignment, builds community and transformative classrooms. In her previous schools, she worked in teams to vertically and horizontally align these school-wide outcomes across subject areas and mentored new teachers on these approaches. She has also attended PD at The National Coalition for English Teachers, BluePrint for the Moving Image, and PBL World, and presented at conferences such as The NYC Writing Project, the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools, & Competency Collaborative’s Summer Institutes. Topics she has presented on include: Student Centered Active Learning: Teacher as Coach; Flexible Pacing for Remote Learning; Assessing Student Work Using Standards Based Grading Through Discussion; Mastery & PBL through Hybrid Learning: a Carousel of Projects and Products.
Ms. Thomopoulos is incredibly passionate about blending the traditional with the innovative and in creating nurturing spaces for self-advocacy. It is here where educators can act as facilitators to guide students to become independent, yet conscious thinkers, ethically minded global citizens, and compassionate risk-takers. She is, thus, thrilled and honored to join the ACS team where this environment already exists and excited to see what is to come. This year, Ms. Thomopoulos will be teaching Combo 9: Europe & the World and Perspectives in Language & Literature in the classroom and Virtual.