Student Support
The International School of Denver is an inclusive school offering an education to students with a wide range of learning differences and individual needs, including those with specific learning difficulties and differences, as well as those who are highly achieving, or gifted and talented, and require challenge and enrichment.
At ISDenver we embrace students of all cultures and backgrounds, talents and differences. We support all students to help them achieve their full potential and meet their goals in order to become excellent learners and global citizens. All learners deserve to be appropriately challenged and enriched.
Whilst the vast majority of student needs can be met within the mainstream classroom through differentiation by class and subject teachers, those students whose needs fall at either end of the learning developmental continuum are supported by members of the Student Support Team (SST). Students needing additional language support in their target language are supported by designated teachers in those programs.
The role of the Student Support Team is to appropriately support and enhance the learning of the students identified pre- Admission and after enrolment. The SST is staffed to meet the needs of the current cohort of students and the composition of this team may therefore change over time as needs change.
Support and enrichment offered by the specialists includes:
- Literacy skills – across all curricula (English, French, Mandarin, Spanish & the MYP)
- Mathematics skills
- Organizational skills
- Social and emotional support
- Counseling
Meet Our Student Support Team
Annie Barocas
Annie Barocas worked at several Denver-area schools before joining the ISDenver community in 2018, counseling children 10-18. Annie received an M.A. in Counseling from Adams State University, College of Education, and an M.A. in International Studies from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. She has also organized and lead youth service and outdoor adventure trips in Ecuador, Thailand, Turkey, Greece, Israel, and Poland.
Diego Castano Laosa
Diego Castano Laosa is a Spanish citizen who obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in psychopedagogy from Colegio Calasancio, Alicante. He also has Bachelor's degrees in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education. In Alicante, Spain, Diego taught elementary school students and kindergarten. Prior to that he was a kindergarten homeroom teacher in San Vicente (Alicante) Spain. His focus has been on special needs students. Diego joined the ISDenver community in 2017.
Mary Kapner
Ivana Kovacevic
IVANA KOVACEVIC comes to ISDenver from Los Angeles, where she was a Special Education Specialist/Case Manager for the Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts. She has also been a Special Education Specialist for the Bosko Buha Development Group in Belgrade, Serbia, where she developed and implemented programs on all aspects of social/emotional and cognitive development and served as a member of the board for inclusion. Ivana holds two degrees from Belgrade University: a Bachelor’s in Special Education and Rehabilitation and a Master’s in Special Education and Rehabilitation. Here at ISDenver, Ivana provides student support for grades 4-5.
Nancy Loseke
Nancy Loseke joins ISDenver as our counselor for students in ECE through Grade 3. She comes to us from the International School Ulaanbaatar, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where she served as counselor for students in Pre-K through grade 12. Nancy developed and oversaw a comprehensive school counseling program and counseled students on a variety of social-emotional needs. Before heading to Mongolia, Nancy completed a school counseling internship/Licensure Induction Program, at the Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, Colorado. She has also been a learning specialist at the Prospect Ridge Academy, Broomfield, Colorado, providing services to students with specific learning needs and co-teaching classes with regular education teachers. Nancy holds an M.A, Counseling, from Adams State University in Alamosa; an M.A., Special Education, from University of Northern Colorado; and a B.A., Music Therapy, from Colorado State University, Ft. Collins. Nancy’s many interests include choral singing, stained glass, collecting art, reading, hiking, golf, writing and traveling.