María Eugenia Tapia is originally from Mexico City. She holds a B.M. from the Eastman School of Music, a M.M. from the Meadows School for the Arts and a D.M.A. from The University of Texas at Austin. She has taught Spanish, piano, and other musical subjects privately and at music conservatories. For several years she performed concerts in Mexico and the Southern United States, and in 2000 released a CD of the music of Emil von Sauer for the Genesis label. After living in the south of France, she has concentrated in teaching languages, mainly Spanish. She loves teaching students of all ages and abilities and currently teaches at Front Range Community College in addition to Rocky Mountain School. She enjoys reading, gardening and traveling, and moved to Colorado in 2004 with her husband Fernando.

She describes her teaching philosophy this way: “I believe that speaking a foreign language is an incredibly useful tool in life. It allows us to truly immerse ourselves in a different culture while traveling, and it lets us communicate with other people who may not speak our own language. My desire is to awaken interest in the students in learning a language that they can use even in their daily life. I place particular emphasis on pronunciation, since I believe that paying attention to it early on will lead to acquiring a good accent. I am delighted to be working with students who are enthusiastic, intelligent and have a sense of humor, and look forward to seeing them progress in their ability to communicate in Spanish. I like my classroom to be dynamic, and an open and supportive environment for learning.”