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Meet our Leadership Team

Dear All,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Kennedy International School! With two campuses serving our population of preschool – 12th grade students, our school provides a welcoming, multicultural environment for young learners to grow academically, linguistically and socially, all while making new friends and memories along the way. 

At Kennedy International School, we pride ourselves on getting to know each student individually and helping them thrive across all of our bilingual programs. Our teachers are carefully selected to ensure their expertise and values align with our mission to provide a bilingual, well-rounded education that meets the needs of each learner and facilitates them to reach their full potential. 

On behalf of the entire Kennedy International School community, I welcome you to our school. We can't wait to see you on campus soon! 

Kind regards,

Pierre-Ludovic Perrot, Head of School

Mr. Pierre-Ludovic Perrot

Head of School

 

  • Mr. Perrot has 20 years of experience in educational leadership, including 2 years in Australia and 18 years in the US.

  • He previously led the French American School of Silicon Valley as Head of School, and helped scale a large K-12th grade international school in Dallas as a campus director.

  • Mr. Perrot's passion for education stems from a belief that providing a bilingual curriculum in a multicultural learning environment leads to the most enriched learning experiences for our future generation.

Head of School Welcome Video

Ms. Shimrit Gerstein

Director of Enrollment Management, Communications and Marketing

 
  • Ms. Gerstein has more than 8 years of experience in admissions, marketing and events. Prior to joining Kennedy International School, she worked for a Montessori chain of schools located across the U.S., Asia and Europe, where she oversaw admissions for 18 schools in the Northeast. Ms. Gerstein also has experience teaching 4th grade.
     
  • She recently completed her master's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Data Analytics at Lehigh University.

Ms. Christine Grunfelder

Lower School Director

 

  • Ms. Grunfelder has been with Kennedy International School for over 20 years as a teacher and an administrator. She is passionate about bilingual education and providing students with the best education possible.

  • A permanently certified New York State teacher in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education and Special Education, Ms. Grunfelder also holds a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education and School Building Administration.

Mr. Laurent Debenay

Lower School French Program Director

 

  • Mr. Debenay has been a teacher for 19 years and a lower school director in the French National Education system since 2005. He has worked in Grenoble, La Reunion, the USA and Australia. In addition to his positions as a teacher and lower school director, he has also served as a pedagogical advisor and has taught in specialized classes for children with disabilities.

  • He grew up in Senegal and Mali before studying in France, where he completed his master's degree in Elementary Education to become a school teacher and then obtained his diploma in Special Education. After having already worked at Kennedy International School until 2019, he was excited to return to New York in August 2021 to lead the lower school French program and work with our families and staff.

 

Ms. Jeanne Weeber

Upper School Director

 

  • Dr. Weeber holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the Sorbonne University in Paris. She joins us after spending ten years at Lycée Louis-le-Grand. During her tenure at Lycée Louis-le-Grand, she held several key positions, including Librarian Teacher, International Relations Officer, and Communications Officer.

  • In her role as International Relations Officer, Dr. Weeber led numerous high-level projects, including spearheading pedagogical engineering ventures in French-speaking countries such as the Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Djibouti. As a Librarian Teacher, she was instrumental in
    implementing an acclaimed literature contest across Paris's top high schools. Additionally, she introduced a successful Gender Equality program at her school, leading to numerous initiatives involving both students and faculty.

  • A dual French-American citizen, Dr. Weeber is passionate about literature, philosophy, social sciences, and cinema. In 2010, she spent a year abroad in California, where she enjoyed teaching French literature.

Mr. Justin Christensen

Academic Director for Middle School and High School & International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) Coordinator

 
  • Mr. Christensen has more than 11 years of experience teaching and coordinating curriculum and was previously the Upper School Division Director and IBDP Coordinator at Gems World Academy-Chicago
     
  • He is a certified English teacher to grades 6-12 and an IB teacher who has taught several subjects including IBDP Literature, Literature and Language, and Theory of Knowledge in a variety of settings and contexts