About Us
Maple Bear schools offer full Canadian programs utilizing Canadian methodology and curriculum developed by our own experts from the ground up for preschool, elementary, and high school.
We take our responsibility to our students and their parents very seriously. Strict quality controls ensure we deliver the very best Canadian practices in education.
There are currently more than 60,000 students in +430 Maple Bear Early Childhood, Elementary, and High Schools operating in
Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Brazil, China (Mainland and Hong Kong (SAR)), Guatemala, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Türkiye, UAE, Ukraine, USA, and Vietnam.
We will be opening in 8 countries : Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Ghana, Greece, Iraq, Paraguay, Uzbekistan
The head office of Maple Bear Global Schools Ltd is located in North Vancouver, Canada.
The Story of Maple Bear
The idea to develop Maple Bear Canadian schools grew out of the work of the Canadian Education Centre Network (CECN), a non-profit organization supported by the Government of Canada and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada which was mandated to market Canadian education abroad to attract foreign students to study in Canada.
Maple Bear was born after CECN managers overseas recognized there was a domestic demand for high quality, bilingual Canadian education from emerging middle class parents, many of whom had studied outside of their own countries in general and in Canada in particular.
The first Maple Bear Canadian School to open was in Indirapuram (New Delhi), India in 2005.
In 2007, Maple Bear became a privately owned company with a dozen schools operating in Korea, Brazil and India. Those numbers quickly changed as news of the excellence of Canadian immersion and bilingual education spread, especially among parents who could see the positive outcomes in language, learning and behavior of their children.
Today, there are more than 430 schools in 39 countries with more than 60,000 students studying at Maple Bear schools worldwide.
We invite you to join the Maple Bear global family as an owner, a student, a parent, a teacher or a member of the Canadian faculty.
Maple Bear Faculty
Maple Bear Morocco
Jérôme Claisse
General Manager, Maple Bear Morocco
Originally from France, Jérôme holds a Master’s degree from the Notarial School of Bordeaux. Jérôme has lived in the United States and is in Morocco for 18 years now. He also speaks English and Spanish.
Jérôme has held various positions as an Administrative Director and Project Manager and he created the first Maple Bear School in Morocco 10 years ago. He has an excellent knowledge of the Moroccan educational market. Jérôme is in charge of representing, developing and operating the Maple Bear presence in the country
Maple Bear Global Team
Arno Krug
CEO
Holding a BSc in Law, a Post Grad in Administration, two Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Logistics and in Franchising, as well as many certificates such as Disruptive Strategies, Global Business and Leading Management in Education from Harvard Business School, Arno has served in many executive roles and companies including ALL Logistics, AB Inbev, Pearson PLC, Wall Street English and most recently as CEO of Maple Bear in Latin America.
Arno is responsible for the operations side of the company. He oversees company structures, budgets, KPI management and financial sustainability. He also supports growth in the numbers of global schools and students by working closely with our existing joint venture partners and new partners to come, as well as building new strategic relationships.
Lenna Glade
Vice-President, Academic
Lenna Glade has been an educator for more than 40 years. She has been a teacher, a school administrator, a Department of Education coordinator and is currently a Faculty Member at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. For the past ten years, Lenna has initiated and implemented several international education projects in her role as Faculty Member. In addition to practicum programs in Thailand and China, Lenna implemented a Bachelor of Education program in Asia and a Post Baccalaureate program in Brazil.
Lenna Glade is a former Academic Director of Maple Bear Brazil. For the past 6 years she has trained teachers and administrators and presented to parents of Maple Bear Schools in Brazil, India, China, Korea, Viet Nam and Singapore. Also, Lenna has coordinated the annual Maple Bear Owner’s Convention in Brazil.
Michelle Tice
Vice-President, Global Communications
Michelle holds a BA in International Relations from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from Canada’s prestigious Ivey Business School at Western University. Michelle has over 25 years of broad ranging communications, marketing and sales experience in corporate, education, non-profit and entrepreneurial environments.
Originally from Vancouver, Michelle has lived, worked and studied in many different countries, including Denmark, Germany, France, Belarus, Ukraine and USA, as well as other parts of Canada. She is also fluent in German and has a working knowledge of French.
Nancy Criconet
Franchise Expansion Manager
Nancy Criconet is an experienced franchise professional who has held senior positions in franchise development, sales, marketing and operations for close to 20 years. She has worked in many diverse industries in Canada, the U.S. and internationally. Nancy enjoys public speaking and has been invited to speak at various professional events to discuss the business of franchising.
Nancy has a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University in Ontario, Canada with a major in Psychology and completed her graduate studies in the International M.B.A. program at the Schulich School of Business. Nancy is fluent in Spanish and has a working knowledge of French. She has lived and worked in Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina.
Rebecca Manning
Operations Manager
Rebecca's career in education has spanned 14 years and included experience as an English Language Trainer, Academic Coordinator, Academic Manager, and National Service Manager. She has lived and worked in South Korea, Hungary, Japan, Russia, and Brazil. In 2017, she opened the Canadian office of Maple Bear Latin America in the city of Toronto, where she now works as Operations Manager for Maple Bear Global Schools.
Rebecca holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Guelph, with a minor in Mathematical Science. She completed her Human Resources Management Certificate with the Sprott School of Business and holds the designations of Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) in the province of Ontario and Certified Talent Management Practitioner (CTMP) with the Canadian HR Academy. Additionally, Rebecca has a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA). She is currently working towards certificates in Business Innovation and Data Science with the University of Toronto.
Rebecca speaks English and has a working knowledge of Brazilian Portuguese.
Michelle Fulco
Financial Process Manager
Michelle is the Financial Process Manager for Maple Bear Global Schools. She holds a BA in Economics and two Post Grads, one in Finance & Controlling and another one in Business Economics. With over 15 years of experience in corporate, her work focuses on improving business process management, implementing and monitoring financial policies and procedures. Born and raised in Brazil, Michelle moved to Canada in 2016, and has joined Maple Bear Global Schools in 2020, collaborating on the financial reports, development of strategies and goals, as well as giving support and working closely with the joint venture partners.
FOUNDERS
Rodney Briggs
Co-Founder & Board Chairman
A graduate of the University of Manitoba with an MA in Political Science, Rodney served as a Canadian diplomat from 1981 to 1996 with postings to Canada's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the Kingdom of Thailand, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea. He also served as President of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers.
In 1996, he joined the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada as the Vice-President responsible for the Canadian Education Centre Network project and in 1997 became the first President of the newly-formed non-profit company, the Canadian Education Centre Network. In this capacity he was responsible for building the network from three centres in the Asia-Pacific region into an entity with a presence in 17 countries spanning the globe. While with the CEC Network, Rodney conceived and developed the Maple Bear education system. In March 2007, he purchased Maple Bear from the CEC Network.
As President of Maple Bear Global Schools he traveled extensively, expanding Maple Bear’s global footprint to over twenty countries.
In March 2021, Rodney retired from his operating role as President & CEO of Maple Bear Global Schools. He remains active as Board Chair and a shareholder in the company.
Gerald Macleod
Co-Founder
Gerald Macleod held both a B.A. and B.Ed from the University of Saskatchewan, a Masters degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, and a Masters of Education (second language and immersion specialization) from the University of Manitoba. In addition he held a Diplôme d’études françaises from the Université de Poitiers, and a Diplôme d’études internationales et du développement from the Université de Toulouse, France. He also received numerous academic awards, including the Government of France scholarship for Graduate Study in France.
His education credentials were extensive, beginning as a teacher in Montreal, Saskatoon and Winnipeg; as Vice-Principal and Principal at all levels of the Winnipeg school system and as a university professor of Education Administration at the Collège universitaire de Saint Boniface, Manitoba.
Gerald served as School District Director of International Education in Winnipeg; Director of International Education in the Department of Advanced Education for the Province of Manitoba, and as a consultant in international education globally. He frequently presented on international education topics to teachers, principals and school boards.
Gerald passed away in early 2021.
Giving Back
As part of this commitment, Maple Bear Global Schools also believes in giving back in the countries in which we operate by donating charitable funds to local education initiatives impacting on children and families.
In addition to funding projects, the Maple Bear curriculum incorporates themes of social responsibility and community service so that students at Maple Bear schools are exposed to the concept and undertake age appropriate activities. The goal is to turn a whole generation of students on to the joy of giving back.
