Kurt Nordness, Ed. D - Head of School

Dr. Kurt Nordness is the Head of School at DAIS. He is from Minnesota and has worked in schools in suburban Minneapolis. He has also worked in international schools in South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.   Dr. Nordness is licensed as a teacher and as a K-12 administrator. His bachelor’s degree in education is from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and his master’s degree in educational psychology is from the University of Oklahoma. He earned his doctorate degree in educational policy and administration from the University of Minnesota. He has taught courses in curriculum for the State University of New York—Buffalo and served as Co-director of a U.S. Department of Education research study on inclusive educational practices.

Sidney Gill - Head of Elementary School

Ms Gill is a member of the 2006 DAIS start-up team and taught kindergarten- grade one for two years. She is currently the Head of the Elementary School. She is from Seattle, Washington, USA where she graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in Sociology, Psychology and Political Science. She furthered her education at the University of Washington with a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education and Special Education and an Administrative Certificate from Western Washington University. She taught in the Seattle Public Schools for twenty-five years in a variety of richly diverse classroom settings and schools. During her career in Seattle she mentored student teachers from five different teacher preparation programs and served as adjunct teaching staff for two of these programs.

Joseph Rosevear, Ed. D - Head of Secondary School

Dr. Rosevear joined the DAIS community as the Head of Secondary School in August of 2009. Prior to DAIS, Dr. Rosevear served for three years as the K12 Guidance Counselor and Dean of Students for Damascus Community School in Damascus, Syria. Additional experience includes three years at the American College of Sofia (Bulgaria) as the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Coordinator and Social Studies Department Chair, two years at the Colegio Nueva Granada (Bogota, Colombia) as a grade level team leader and English teacher, and 1 year at Stephens Middle School (Oregon, USA) as a middle school teacher. Dr. Rosevear earned his Education Doctorate and Master at Teaching degrees from George Fox University, and his Bachelor of Science from Willamette University.