Our Team

Every member of our team is a native German speaker who strives to provide a culturally diverse language education to our students. Many of our colleagues have been part of our team for many years and have lived and worked in the United States or German speaking countries before coming to the German Language School of Naperville. All of our teachers speak German natively and English too!

Become part of the team

Join us

Anne Becker

Director

Anne grew up in Wuppertal, went to the University of Bochum and studied History, German Linguistics, German literature and Educational Science.

Barbara Rupilius, PhD

Teacher

Barbara was born in Argentina and grew up in Germany, Latin America and Spain. She worked as a Spanish teacher at a Montessori School in Michigan, and lives now in Naperville.

Henriette Arens

Teacher

Henriette grew up close to Hanover. She studied Chinese studies in Goettingen and Berlin. In 2024 she moved with her husband and two kids to Naperville.

Karen Caputo

Teacher

Karen lived in Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany, for seven years. She completed her teaching degree and taught high school German and English stateside for 15 years.

Petra Kohler, PH.D.

Teacher

Petra was born and raised in Giessen, Germany. She is currently teaching Science at DuPage Montessori school working with children from K through 8th Grade.

Thu Hoang

Teacher

Thu grew up in the Bremen area, Germany. She has a Master of Education for German and Mathematics, and moved to the Chicago area with her husband.

Andrea Vrecko

Teacher

Andrea was born in Munich. She studied at University of Eichstätt to become a primary school teacher and currently lives in Naperville with her husband, and their four children.

Caroline Curley

Assistant Teacher

Born and raised in Berlin, Germany, and with background in marketing, moved to Chicago through the German/American Youth Exchange program.

Holger Becker, PhD

Teacher

Born and raised in Schwelm (NRW), Germany, Holger earned a degree in German philology and a PhD in linguistics and moved to the US through a job assignment in 1993.

Kathrin Schmid

Teacher

Kathrin was born in Reutlingen, Germany and gained her Masters degree (MA) in communications and cultural anthropology at the University of Tübingen.

Sabine Galagher

Teacher

Sabine was born in Bavaria, Germany and studied Chemical Engineering at the Technical University in Munich.

Tristan Druelinger

Teacher

Tristan was raised in a suburb of Chicago and got his degree in Education and German Language from Saint Louis University.

Angela Jöstlein

Director Emeritus (retired in 2021)

Angela founded GLSN in 2001 and served as the director until 2021. Born in Berlin, Germany, Angela earned a degree in Social Work in München, and moved to the US in 1970.

Cynthia Vargas

Teacher

Coming Soon

Jacqueline Schüring

Teacher

Jacqueline was born in Dortmund, has a degree as a primary school teacher, and worked several years at an inner-city school in Ludwigshafen.

Melinda Beck

Teacher

Melinda lived in Cologne, Hamburg and Mannheim and majored in Germanic Studies, receiving her teaching certificate from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Sandra Nelson

Teacher

Sandra was born and raised in the suburbs of Cologne. She has been working as a preschool teacher since 2001. Sandra lives in Warrenville with her husband and three children.