Founder & Educator
Ariana Gonzalez Stokas is a committed teacher with over twenty years of experience in the field of education. She began her career working as an early childhood educator and then went on to receive a PhD in Philosophy and Education from Columbia University Teachers College. While there she studied aesthetic education with Maxine Greene and immersed herself in pedagogies of emergent learning such as Reggio Emilia. She has been a professor and a higher education administrator developing diversity, equity and inclusion programs. She believes deeply in the transformative power of arts based education.
Ariana is a certified teacher in New York State, a certified Artifical Intelligence Ethics Officer and is pending certification with the Ontario College of Teachers.
All staff of Red Fox Learning Studio undergo an annual vulnerable sector background check and have CPR/First Aid training.
Ariana Gonzalez Stokas
Educator
Karlo is not only an educator—he’s sometimes a reindeer, a snowman, a Christmas elf, a rabbit, or whatever the role calls for.
With over 12 years of teaching experience in drama, art, English, and literacy, Karlo Ghokasian brings creativity, humor, and high energy into every classroom. For the past decade, he has written, directed, and performed in original and adapted children’s plays across school settings—leading students aged 3 to 12 through engaging productions complete with custom scripts, song lyrics, and hand-made sets.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Illustration, ESL certification, and is a Registered Early Childhood Educator. Karlo is also the co-writer and illustrator of educational workbooks like English Adventures with Mr. G. and A+ in English, used by over 500 students in more than five schools. Through humor, creativity, and high-energy lessons, his programs create meaningful, memorable experiences that keep children excited to learn and express themselves.
Karlo Ghokasian-Sawarani
Our Philosophy
Aesthetic experience is principally an experience of freedom.” -Vea Vecchi
At Red Fox Learning Studio, we believe that children are innately curious, creative, and natural investigators of their world. When given the time and space to explore, they build powerful capacities for imagination, meaning-making, and self-expression.
Our philosophy is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach and grounded in arts-based inquiry, which we see as a meaningful way for children to engage with academic skills such as literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving. We recognize and support a range of literacies—media, technological, numerical, linguistic, and auditory—through playful and intentional learning experiences.
Our mission is to nurture curiosity in children and support them in becoming joyful learners and constructive, caring participants in their communities. We envision a learning environment where children understand that learning happens everywhere, not just in school, and where they are empowered to build strong relationships, express themselves through multiple mediums, and connect meaningfully with the world around them.
Red Fox programs support children to:
Build confidence expressing their ideas through multiple mediums
Reinforce a range of literacies: media, technological, numerical, linguistic, and auditory
Understand that learning is more than school
Build constructive, caring relationships
See themselves as active, creative participants in their communities
Why “Red Fox?”
Learning from the land and the local environment is a core tenant of emergent education and the values of Red Fox. The red fox is considered the unofficial mammal of Toronto! It thrives in natural and built environments. Red Foxes are focused on the care and protection of their kits. They are highly adaptable, resourceful and teach us the importance of finding creative solutions to thrive in unexpected ways.
Land Acknowledgement
As a settler educational organization operating on the traditional territories of many nations, including the Mississauga of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat and the Petun Nations, we acknowledge that the colonial educational system created Residential Schools in an attempt to erase and eliminate First Nations communities. We commit to providing education that consistently teaches children right relations, accountability to the broken treaties and care for the land that nourishes and teaches us the path to decolonized futures.