Born and raised in South Africa, Thesa attended Johannesburg Teachers’​ Training College before graduating from Emerson College in Sussex England in 1969. Ithaca, Greece is the ancestral home and birthplace of Thesa Callinicos’ parents. Born and raised in South Africa, Thesa attended Johannesburg Teachers’​ Training College before graduating from Emerson College in Sussex England in 1969.

Thesa has worked in Private Waldorf Schools in Western United States for 33 years. ​ Since ‘retiring’ in 2011, Thesa has been mentoring and evaluating teachers in various Waldorf inspired charter schools and is currently helping to form the North Fork School of Integrated Studies, a school within the public elementary School in Paonia, Colorado.