Sixth Grade

Barrie Pinto, English & Team Leader
Ms. Barrie Pinto, the 6th grade team leader and English teacher, was born in Detroit, Michigan. Ms. Barrie earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Ohio State University and her master’s degree in reading from George Mason University. Ms. Barrie has recently attained her International Certificate in School Leadership from The Principals Training Center/Lehigh University. Before coming to EARJ, Ms. Barrie lived in Michigan and Virginia, where she was a teacher and gymnastics coach.

Ms. Barrie is starting her 12th year at EARJ. She has taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English, and has been a 6th and 7th grade team leader. In addition to her role as a 6th grade English teacher, she has also been an English department head for 6-12 grades. She chose to work with English in the middle school because she likes working with teenage students, and loves to read and write. What students and parents should know about Ms. Barrie’s class is that students will read a lot, and work hard to improve writing skills. She is also the upper school cheerleading coach, 6th grade team leader, and does the artistic beading activity on Thursday.

In her free time she enjoys beading, reading, spending time with her family, and traveling with her husband and two children. Something interesting about Ms. Barrie is that she was on the U.S. National gymnastics team. Ms. Barrie is a GREAT teacher and a very interesting person.

Written by Rafael H.
Grade 8
E-Mail Ms. Barrie

Scott McMullan, Science
Mr. Scott, the new 6th grade science teacher, was born in Winnipeg, Canada. He took Ms. Diane’s place, who by the way is teaching 5th grade Language Arts. He has lived in Canada, Australia, and now lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He went to college at the University of Manitoba, in Canada. He says that his college years were a great opportunity for him to acquire lifelong skills. He received two degrees; one in Physical Education (P.E.), and the other in Education (Science Major). Before coming to EARJ, he taught in a high school in Canada.

This is his 1st year working at EARJ. Last year, he helped as a substitute teacher for English, P.E., and Science. He enjoys being a science teacher because he is a curious person and thinks science is really interesting. He recommends students to be active learners in his class. Parents and students should know that Mr. Scott’s classes are lots of fun, and his experiments try to relate to every day life. He is also involved in coaching sports at EARJ.

Mr. Scott’s hobbies and interests are going to the beach, spending time with his wife, and playing sports. An interesting thing about him is that he owns a travel company.

Written by João Pedro C.
and Maria Daniella R.
Grade 7
E-mail Mr. Scott

Paula Lenz-Cesar, Math
Ms. Paula Lenz Cesar is the 6th grade Math 8 mathematics teacher at EARJ. She was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, but has lived in other paces like Boston, Porto Alegre, and Zurich. Ms. Paula earned her economics bachelor’s degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, her math degree from Santa Úrsula University, and her master’s degree from Boston University. In Boston she worked as a teacher for one year and participated in a government funded project for gifted and talented students.

This is Ms. Paula’s second year teaching 6th grade math at EARJ. Ms. Paula chose math for a subject area because she loves it and because it requires a lot of problem solving and logical reasoning as well. What parents and students should know about her class is that students are going to be encouraged to think, solve problems, and justify their solutions. Paula is involved in the robotics activity which takes place every Thursday after lunch.

Ms. Paula’s hobbies are watching movies, swimming, cooking and spending time with her husband and sons. Ms. Paula enjoys teaching a lot and would like you to know that if at anytime you want to share something with her about your children’s performance or make any comments, she will always be glad to help.


Written by Daniel H.
Grade 8
E-mail Ms. Paula

Priscila Mancuso, World Cultures and Geography
Ms. Priscila is the 6th grade social studies teacher. She was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and she has lived here all her life. After she finished high school, Ms. Priscila went to a university called PUC, Pontifícia Universidade Católica, where she earned her History bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate. Recently, Ms. Priscila has received her master’s degree in Overseas Education from Framingham State College. Before coming to EARJ, she used to work as a research project assistant in different institutions.

Ms. Priscila’s role is to teach social studies here at EARJ. This is her 1st year teaching social studies to the 6th graders. She used to teach 7th grade social studies for 3 years, so this is her 4th year at school. In her class, students will work hard, have a lot of projects, and at the end of the year the students will have learned a lot. Ms. Priscila also participates in the Bulling Prevention Committee.


Ms. Priscila’s interests and hobbies are running at the beach, listening to music, playing the piano and definitely hanging out with her friends. She would like you to know that she loves teaching and that she has learned a lot from all her students.

Written by Sigrid C.
Grade 8
E-mail Ms. Priscila

Ana Helena Vannier, Portuguese
Ana Helena Vannier was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For most of her life she lived in Brazil, but spent one semester in Providence studying at Brown University. The years that she lived in Brazil, she studied at PUC-Rio and UFRJ. She has a post-graduate and master’s degree from Brazil and the United States. Before coming to Escola Americana she was Portuguese professor at PUC-Rio. There she taught Portuguese for foreigners. She spent 2 years at EARJ as a substitute teacher and now is a formal Portuguese teacher.

She has a passion for Literature, and that is why she is a Portuguese teacher. Ms. Ana really wants parents and students to know that she has a balance between fun and responsibility. That means that students can have fun in her classes, but they need to be responsible to their work and when it is time to stop they stop. She really wants students to give their best in her subject, so she has high expectations for them. She is going to participate in the Leadership conference, probably Destination Imagination and her Tuesday activity is table games.

Ms. Ana likes to go to the movies, read books, travel to know new places, get know people, and go hiking. She is very happy about her new job and she wants parents and students to know that she is here for whatever they need.

Written by Ricardo B.
and Carol D.
Grade 7
E-mail Ms. Ana Helena