School Leadership Team

Ronnie Caldwell has been an educator since 2001 and involved in international education since 2006. He began his teaching career at the American Institute of Learning in Austin, Texas and then spent several years working for the Houston Public School District.

His career abroad began at the Almaty International School in Kazakhstan, followed by the American International School of Chennai, India and, in 2012, ISG. Ronnie worked as both a teacher and Assistant Principal at Yanbu International School before becoming the Assistant Principal at DHS and now the Principal. Ronnie holds a master’s degree in educational leadership. 

Nichola Smith is originally from Dunedin, New Zealand. She has a Masters in Educational Leadership from The University of Buckingham, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Education (Teaching) from Otago University, New Zealand.

Nichola moved to Saudi Arabia and started working at DEMS in August 2015. Prior to her role as Assistant Principal, she has been both a physical education teacher and elementary teacher; specializing in lower elementary. Nichola has also worked in schools in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Nichola has completed training in the Applied Use of Mindfulness for 7 – 11 year olds, through the British Mindfulness Institute. This is an area of child development and wellbeing that she feels very passionate about. She is also currently studying for her Masters in Early Years Education through University College London, United Kingdom.

Nichola's goal is to create a positive and safe environment where all students have the opportunity to reach their full potential and develop a lifelong love of learning.

Tracy Bosch is originally from Durban, South Africa. After qualifying at Edgewood College of Education (University of Kwazulu Natal), she began her teaching career in 1996, initially a grade 4 classroom teacher before becoming a K-8 technology specialist. Following her husband to Saudi Arabia in 2002, Tracy joined ISG as a third grade teacher at Dhahran Elementary Middle School.

During her 17 years at DEMS, Tracy has enjoyed a variety of roles, from elementary classroom teacher to K-8 Technology specialist. Most recently Tracy was the DEMS Technology Co-ordinator and Dean of Students.  Tracy started her role as middle school assistant principal in August 2018.

Will McConnell grew up on a small dairy farm in Canon City, Colorado.  Will graduated from Colorado College in 2005 earning a Bachelor's Degree in Biology along with a teaching license.  He has since continued his education earning a Master's Degree in International Teaching from Framingham State University in 2013, and an Educational Specialist (E.d.S.) degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado in 2019. 

Prior to his move into administration Will worked as a science teacher for 16 years, 11 of those internationally. He has taught at schools in Colorado, California, El Salvador, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia. He also has experience working in both British and American international schools. Will is incredibly excited to take on a new challenge as Assistant Principal of the High School at ASD, and looks forward to helping ASD students and staff reach their potential.

David Bolton graduated from the University of Chester in 1986 with a degree in physical education and English. He began his teaching career in Athens, Greece at Campion International School as head of primary PE and Year 6 teacher. He then returned to the U.K. to teach at Holy Trinity School in Liverpool, followed by a position as deputy headteacher at St. Brigid’s Primary School. He worked there for eight years and was responsible for implementing a variety of initiatives including Healthy Schools, Investors in People and Eco Schools. David also established key relationships with a number of universities in the region to develop a thriving teacher training program.

In 2006, David joined the Dhahran British Grammar School. He has worked in various roles including Year 6 teacher, primary literacy coordinator, key stage leader, head of primary and he has now moved into the position of principal. He has seen many significant changes in the time he has worked for ISG, with a huge increase in student numbers and major structural developments around the campus. He is looking forward to the role of Principal and the opportunity to continue to work collaboratively with colleagues from the Senior and Primary Schools and from Sara Village School.

Dufney Botha is originally from Carolina, South Africa. She graduated from the University of Pretoria with a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. Dufney is currently studying for her master's in educational technology through the American College of Education.

Upon completion of her bachelor's degree, Dufney taught in London, United Kingdom. She returned to South Africa where she taught mathematics in a public secondary school. Dufney then moved to the UAE where she taught Year 1 at Victoria English School. This is where her love for the Middle East began. She then joined the British International School of Al Khobar where she took on the role of Key Stage 1 leader and taught Year 1 and Year 2. After five years at BISAK, Dufney and her family joined DBGS where she assumed the role of Foundation Stage Leader while teaching Foundation Stage 2. She moved on to teach Year 3 and also led the Lower Key Stage 2 team. Dufney is the Head of Primary, where her goal is to continue to foster a culture of risk taking, celebrating successes as well as learning from failures.

Rachel Cannon is originally from Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. She graduated from London University with a Bachelor of Science (honors) in biology before receiving her teaching certificate and taking up a post at a large comprehensive school in Milton Keynes, U.K. Rachel then travelled to Botswana to teach science in a government school and subsequently discovered international school teaching.

Rachel has taught middle and high school science in: Sandford Community School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; the Anglo American School of Sofia in Bulgaria; the International School of Tanganyika in Tanzania; and the Bavarian International School in Germany. She joined ISG as the Head of Science at DBGS in 2012 and is currently studying for her master's degree in educational leadership from Buckingham University, U.K. As Assistant Principal of DBGS (Senior School), her goal is to continue to promote effective teaching and learning among the DBGS community.

Amy Bates is originally from Neath in South Wales. She graduated from the University of Aston, Birmingham in 1993 with a B.Sc. honours in applied and human biology. She then completed her PGCE in primary education at Charlotte Mason College, Ambleside, in 1994. Her first teaching post was in Kuwait. She returned to the UK in 1996 to raise her family. Over the past twenty years she has taught in Cumbria, the last ten as a Headteacher.

She moved to Saudi Arabia in 2017 to teach at the Dhahran British Grammar School prior to moving to the position of Vice Principal at Sara Village School in 2018.

Jonathan Acker graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 1993 with a degree in music education. He continued his studies with a master's program in music education from the University of Washington. In 2003, he completed a master's degree in educational administration from the University of Puget Sound.

Jonathan began his educational career in the Tacoma public schools – first as a teacher, then as the district arts facilitator. In 2005, he moved overseas and has held various roles (teacher, coach, technology facilitator, director of curriculum and professional development and principal) in American international schools throughout the Middle East – Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Shina George joined ISG in 2000 as an Information Technology teacher after completing her Master's degree in Chemistry and a Bachelor's in education. She believes that “Technology will not replace teachers, but technology in the hands of a great teacher can be transformational.”

Shina then pursued a Master's degree in Computer Application. Later she took over as the digital learning coach, where she coached teachers to integrate technology into the classroom to make teaching and learning a meaningful experience. Shina was appointed as the Elementary School Assistant Principal in February 2017 and has since then earned her Masters in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education.

Trevor Naidoo completed his Bachelor of Science (math and physics) and went on to complete his Bachelor of Education (honors) as well as other teaching certificates in Durban, South Africa. This was followed by a master's degree in leadership and administration through Buffalo SUNY in 2012.

Trevor joined ISG in 2002, with his wife, Veron, and twin sons, Luschen and Leevan, after teaching math, physics and computer science for several years in Durban. At ISG Dammam, Trevor has taught high school math, physics and IT as well as being the school IT administrator since 2004.

Trevor was appointed High School Vice Principal in the fall of 2015 and then to Middle School Vice Principal in February 2018.

Maggie Cashdollar, originally from Millersport, Ohio, graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2000 with a degree in Psychology and a masters degree in educational administration from Lamar University in 2014.

After earning her teaching certification in Phoenix, Arizona, she began teaching English language arts and reading and served as a coach for multiple sports. In 2007, Maggie moved to Austin, Texas where she taught English and reading to students in grades 6-12. Throughout her career, she has served as an instructional coach, assistant principal, district specialist, and as a professional learning specialist for an educational technology company.

In 2019, Maggie and her husband, who works in school leadership, moved with their toddler triplets to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Brent Wingers graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007 with majors in history and secondary education. He began his international teaching career in Honduras while also completing his master’s degree in educational leadership through Framingham State University in Massachusetts.

In addition to Central America, Brent has taught and lived in Myanmar and Indonesia. With experience teaching middle and high school social studies, and after serving in a variety of coaching and leadership roles, he joined ISG in 2016 as a social studies educator. With over a decade of experience in the international school community, Brent is eager to serve ISG Jubail in an administrative capacity. He is accompanied by his wife Caitlin, who teaches elementary school, and their two young sons.

Born in England, grew up in Canada, Trinidad and Tobago roots and married to a Brazilian, Derrick indeed reflects what it means to be a global citizen. Derrick has worked in Canada, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and the UAE as a teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal and principal before arriving in Saudi Arabia for the 2021/22 school year.

With over three decades in education, Derrick holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and Justice with additional bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees in education.