Ryan Persaud | Head of School
VERSO International School

Ryan has over twenty years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, and leader in international schools. He began his professional career as an ESL/EAL teacher in South Korea in 2000 before returning to Canada to obtain his teaching credentials. He stayed in Canada and joined the Halton District School Board as a classroom teacher in 2005. After 7 years in the classroom, Ryan was promoted to the role of Instructional Program Leader (K-12), where he coached and facilitated the professional development for K-12 staff on creating inquiry-based lessons and units of study with a DEIJ lens. In 2014, he returned to South Korea to Korea International School in Seoul, as a classroom teacher before quickly being promoted to the role of Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning where he developed school wide systems, such as the Assessment Policy and the Climate and Culture Policy, and created a Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Cycle to guide professional learning and standardize curriculum review. Ryan also worked with a variety of grade level and department teams around developing transdisciplinary units of study within a project based learning framework. In 2018, he joined the International School of Curitiba in Brazil as Director of IT and Innovation. There, he worked with a team to establish the school’s first Design and Innovation Center, a new Student Information System, a new Learning Management System, and a new Admissions System. He also developed his team's expertise in Stanford's Design Thinking Framework, which led to professional learning and implementation across a variety of departments. In 2020-2021, Ryan was hired by the school's board to take on an additional role as interim Head of School. In this role, he led the school community through the pandemic, made key decisions in the areas of health and safety and hybrid and online learning, and facilitated the development of the school's strategic plan for 2022-2027. In August 2023, Ryan joined VERSO International School as the new Head of School. This year the school continues on its unique journey as the only school in the world whose origin story involves IDEO. This has influenced the design thinking and project based learning approach of VERSO. Some of the big work this year includes preparing for an accreditation visit, developing the school’s first school wide action plan, and developing and growing the brand. Ryan completed his education in Ontario, Canada. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Bachelors of Education and a Master's degree in Education from the University of Toronto, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Leadership degree from the University of Western Ontario. Ryan’s vision as a leader in education is to collaboratively create school communities where all belong, are heard, and have opportunities to blossom. It is imperative that schools allow all learners to discover who they are as innovative global citizens who embrace and learn from diversity, so they can contribute to their community and the world.