Our Team

Bita Ghaffari

Co-founder and Farsi Teacher
Bita Ghaffari, one of the founders of Alborz Farsi School, is a professional IT analyst working in the tech industry since 1990. She has a graduate degree in Management of Information Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
She had also served as the president of the board of directors of Afsaneh Art and Culture Society, a professional non-profit 501©(3) performing art organization, from 2002 – 2008. She has been involved as one of the managing directors of Alborz Farsi School since 2008 as well.
Bita is very passionate about teaching music and orchestrating youth musical productions. Together, she and her husband, Mohammad Nejad, showcase timeless music, poetry, and dance with the goal of sharing the rich and beautiful Persian culture with the Iranian American community. 

Sepideh Reiisieh

Co-founder and Farsi Teacher

Sepideh Reiisieh is the co-founder of Alborz Farsi School. She migrated to the United States in 1985 and has devoted her spare time to promoting the culture and language of her birth country, Iran. As a mother of three, she wanted to create a pleasant and happy educational environment for those who are interested in learning Farsi. Sepideh and the staff at Alborz have worked diligently to receive accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges as a supplementary language program, resulting in high school students being able to receive elective credits for classes taken at Alborz.

Sepideh has shared time as a board member of the Iranian Parents of Northern California for fifteen years, a member of the Voters Right Advisory Committee in Santa Clara County and is currently the president of Iranian Cultural Events, which introduces and promotes Iranian cultural events within the community.

Fereshteh Shojaee

Farsi Teacher

My name is Fereshteh Shojaee, and my background is in the field of education. I am currently studying accounting at San Jose City College, and I have a 12-year-old boy and a 9-year-old daughter. I was only twelve years old when I first realized I wanted to become a teacher. I had helped my cousin with his math class, and after that experience, I became confident in my ability to do a good job teaching others. That was when I had found my calling. After graduating I began teaching math class in a middle school in Iran. I came to the United States of America about 15 years ago. I was lucky to find a high caliber Iranian school by the name of Alborz Language Academy, which is run by two of the kindest and wise people I have ever come across in my time as a teacher. The two directors are Bita Ghaffari and Sepideh Reiisi.

At Alborz, I get the chance to not only teach the regular class subjects but also teach the cultural aspects of being Iranian. In my opinion, it is very important for Iranian children to be able to speak and understand Farsi and understand their culture.

Mahnaz Shahnam

Farsi Teacher

Mahnaz has a bachelor’s degree in Farsi Literature from the University of Tehran.

Her work experience in Iran conducted 20 years of researching at the National Archives and Museums. She is teaching Farsi to Iranian youth, young adults, and adults for the past 9 years at Alborz Farsi School. Throughout these years she has created a syllabus which she uses to instruct all her non-speaking Farsi students, learning the foundation and structure of speaking, writing, and reading Farsi. By creating this program she is able to teach them the right structure and correct forms of the Farsi language. Her hopes for this program is to help students learn Farsi language better and easier and grow their interest to learn about Persian culture.

Mahshid Modares

Farsi Teacher

Mahshid Modares has been working with Alborz since 2012. She has completed her M.A. in the History of Art and Visual Culture from SJSU, M.F.A. in Social Documentation from UCSC, and B.F.A. in Visual Arts from Azad University in Tehran. Mahshid is also a researcher, documentary maker, photographer, and an artist. Her research concentrates on the history of Middle East with a focus on Iran from the late 17th c. until Modern time. Mahshid Modares is interested in the relationship between visual culture and sociopolitical evolution in the Middle East, and the role of the arts in visualizing religious beliefs, political, social, and cultural changes in the region. Some of her published articles are: Religious Art in Iran During the Qajar Period, Honar Augah Art Magazine, Tehran (2016); The Influence of Photography and Lithography on Painting During the Qajar Era: Recording Reality for People, Cheshmak Photography Magazine, University of Tehran (2016); Qajar, ARCHNET Timeline, MIT (2014); Art Patronage of the Nineteenth Century Iran, Tavoos Art Magazine, Tehran (2012); Nineteenth Century Iranian Figure Painting, The International Journal of the Arts in Society, U.S.A. (2009); Religious Art in Iran During the 19th-early 20th centuries: Breaking the Boundaries, Artefact Journal, Universite’ Laval, Canada (2009); European Artists in Iran During the Qajar Period, Golestan Honar Quarterly, Tehran (2007); and The School of Obscure World: Hussein Ali Zabehi’s Paintings, Architecture and Urbanism Magazine, Tehran (2004). Mahshid Modares has also written several exhibition reviews and book reviews. Her publications are available on academia.edu.

Shirin Elahi

Farsi Teacher

Shirin has a degree in Persian language and literature from Iran. She has eight years of experience working at the Iranian television station. As a parent, she was an active member of PTA. Shirin immigrated to the United States in 2014 and has finished a program at West Valley College in reference to children’s health and education. She passionately loves working with kids and has been teaching at Alborz since 2015.

Mahtab Modarres

Farsi Teacher

Mahtab Modares is a teacher, an artist, and a calligrapher. She joined Alborz Farsi School in 2016. She is committed to loving and educating her students who enjoy her class very much. She teaches Farsi at Alborz, and gives private painting and calligraphy lessons. She has been a very active member of the community as a volunteer for the great events that are organized by Alborz, ISF, and Nejad World Music Center. Mahtab was born in a family that admires Persian literature and the arts. Such love is exemplified in her calligraphy, paintings, and teaching method. She has the ability to stimulate her Iranian/American students’ curiosity about the history of Iran and Farsi.

Nastaran Ashtari

Farsi Teacher
Nastaran Ashtari has been teaching at Alborz since 2016. She loves working with kids and enjoys teaching. She has experience in teaching in Iran and Dubai. She is also an excellent Civil Engineer with the ability to set and attain goals and to build client relationships; accomplished proactive engineer with over 18 years of
experience in Civil Engineering.
Nastaran is the head of the engineering department at Padir Consulting Engineers which is a registered firm under the law of the State of California in San Jose since 2016. She also works with Fortress Structural Engineering Inc. as the structural design engineer.

Behnaz Lashgari

Art Instructor

Behnaz was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. Since she was a little girl, she has had a great passion for art. While attending high school she also studied sketching, painting, graphic design and literature for two years in the Institute of Art and Literature. Then she received her bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design at the art University. After moving to the USA, She studied Fine art in the college and got some workshop with famous artists. She is a member of some art societies and participated in some art exhibitions in the Bay area. she has over 15 years of experience teaching and working with children and adults, and organized many exhibitions for her students.