Maple Village Waldorf School
4017 E. 6th Street
Long Beach, CA 90814
School Director’s E-mail: Doreen.Garchow@gasaschool.org
GASA main office: (562) 693-0223
Our Saturday classes at the Long Beach School:
KINDERGARTEN: The 4 – 6-year-old students are introduced to the German language and culture through crafts, songs, games and other fun activities. Children under 4 but not younger than 3½ years and “potty-trained” are welcome to enroll after a 4-week trial period. In the Kindergarten class children learn through singing, crafts, and other fun activities.
UNTERSTUFE: For the 6 ½ – 11-year-old students the focus is on developing verbal skills and first writing skills by implementing a variety of activities. The children are introduced to the skills needed for the DSD-A1 Testing. Vocabulary building and pronunciation are two key skills being taught.
MITTELSTUFE: For students 11 years of age and older. Students build on their skills learned in Unterstufe through specific exercises in reading, listening and writing. The goal of this class is to prepare the children for the DSD 1 (A2 and B1).
Overall, we strive to adapt our offerings to the age/abilities of our students on a year-by-year basis. It is important to us that all children, with or without a German background, enjoy learning a second language.
(Final placement of a student will be determined by the teachers.)
OUR TEACHERS:
Kindergarten: Zana Usher (Teacher)
Zana is originally from Berlin, Germany and moved to California almost 10 years ago. She has lived in the United States since 2005. Her parents separately migrated from former Yugoslavia and Hungary to Berlin, where she grew up. Zana speaks German, English, Serbian and Hungarian fluently because her parents did not speak any German at first. As a child she went to Serbian school once a week besides her regular school education, and therefore feels strongly about early childhood language education and would love to be a part of your child’s second / native language roots. Zana’s entire career is in the field of Hospitality. She worked in high-end hotels, restaurants, country clubs, and resorts, and had lived in several different countries before she decided to move to beautiful California. Zana has a six-year-old son, whom she speaks to in German only. She has lots of fun incorporating many German traditions in their daily routines. She wanted him to be exposed to other children who have the privilege to grow up with multiple languages and enrolled him at the Saturday school when he was 3 1/2 years old. He has LOVED it ever since. Zana is very excited for this new journey, and I feel blessed to be a part of your child’s educational journey.
Unterstufe (A1): Giuliano De Luca (Teacher)
Giuliano originates from Karlsruhe, Germany, where he grew up bilingual in both German and Italian. He pursued his architecture studies in Mainz and obtained an engineering degree specialized in architecture. While in Germany, he worked as an Architectural Designer for public swimming facilities. In 2022, he made the move to Los Angeles and has since called it home for nearly a year. Teaching has long been his passion, particularly when it involves sharing his expertise in his native language, German. He is now enthusiastic about teaching knowledge to young learners.
Mittelstufe (A2/B1): Doreen Garchow (Director, Teacher)
Doreen is a native of Germany and grew up in Brandenburg. She earned a bachelor’s degree in American/British Studies & Political Science and a master’s degree in World Heritage. She has lived in California for almost 16 years. She was always actively involved in her daughters’ co-op preschool and by doing so became interested in teaching children, especially in a bilingual setting. Doreen started out as a substitute teacher and assistant at our school in 2015. She has since taught the kindergarten class for five years and the Unterstufe class for two years. This will be her second year teaching the Mittelstufe class. Her two daughters also attend the German School in Long Beach.