About SummerESL.com

About Pear Tree Education’s Summer ESL.com

The Summer ESL website was created in 2011 by Pear Tree Education, an educational firm and private school based in Vancouver, Canada. Pear Tree Education was established by Paul Romani (England) and Alexis Birner (Canada).

Pear Tree’s Summer ESL.com website has been designed to provide among the best UK, Canadian, and American summer and winter language schools for children, teenagers, and adults.

Our ESL language schools are carefully selected so that SummerESL.com customers only have top-quality locations to choose from – Paul Romani

Furthermore, Pear Tree’s Summer ESL.com provides a wide range of options for individuals and groups; and we are unique for having family accommodation options in Vancouver.

Summer ESL.com welcomes contact from any parents/relatives, teachers, or travel agencies that would like to send children/students to any of its summer school locations.

Additionally, SummerESL.com offers great discounts on Global Village Vancouver courses for adult learners.

Pear Tree Elementary

In addition to Pear Tree’s SummerESL.com service, the company has its own private school in Vancouver B.C. The school, Pear Tree Elementary, is a K-7 elementary school for local students, as well as some international students.

Our Directors

Pear Tree’s two directors, Paul Romani and Alexis Birner, have tremendous experience and success in summer ESL schools, ESL, and education.

PAUL ROMANI – MANAGING DIRECTOR

Paul Romani is the co-founder and director of Pear Tree Elementary. In this role, Paul delivers an innovative, technology-enriched, and research-backed approach to education, helping both students and teachers achieve meaningful success.

A proponent of 21st century learning, Paul believes strongly in equipping students with real-world skills and abilities that will help them develop the confidence to excel both in and out of the classroom.

In his role as director, Paul also spearheads Pear Tree’s YouTube channel, a highly sought after resource on the topic of 21st century education. His videos have some of the top views on this topic and are used by American, British, and other international universities in their teaching training programs.

Paul began his career in education in 2001 after achieving great success as a computer engineer, receiving multiple accolades from such respected publications as PC Magazine. His background in education is exceptionally diverse, spanning a range of institutions, students, and countries, which provides him with a unique perspective on education and the learning process.

Over the past 15 years, Paul has gained extensive experience in English as a Second Language (ESL), career and vocational training, and education management. Most notably, he directed six summer residential language schools at Royal Holloway Summer School in the United Kingdom. In this role, Paul oversaw more than 1,000 students and 70 staff, making it one of the UK’s largest and most successful summer schools.

Paul has a Masters of Education degree in Educational Technology and Learning Design from Simon Fraser University. He is a Level 1 Google Educator and Microsoft Certified Educator. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia.

ALEXIS BIRNER – ACADEMIC DIRECTOR

Alexis Birner is the Co-Founder, Principal and Teacher at Pear Tree Elementary.

A seasoned educator with a decade of experience in both public and private elementary schools, Alexis combines exceptional credentials with a deep understanding of the learning process to deliver a meaningful education experience to her students. She is dedicated to helping each child cultivate their individuality, and achieve not only academic, but lifelong success.

Alexis is a passionate advocate for progressive methods of education and meaningful integration of technology in the classroom. She uses theme and project-based learning – two of the most advanced methods of education – which puts knowledge into context so that children are both challenged and excited to learn.

In her previous role, Alexis taught for 6 years at Crofton House School, as well as in public schools Richmond and Vancouver.

A highly respected expert in her field, Alexis is a published researcher on the topic of ‘critical literacy theory’. Her article on Deconstructing gender representations in an elementary school classroom was published in the Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education in 2016. Her work has also appeared in the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics.

In addition to her published research, Alexis is also a recognized speaker, most recently speaking at the Vancouver EdTech Team Summit featuring Google for Education.

Alexis holds a Masters of Education, Bachelor of Education, and Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia.