The smell of Italian moka wafts through the Winchester home of Giovanni Abbadessa on a chilly afternoon. With the stovetop moka maker, he concocts the traditional Italian coffee drink during a break from work. Abbadessa’s busy life is intertwined with culture and traditions that he hopes to bring to the Italian-American community in Boston.

By day Abbadessa is an oncologist who works in research on anti-cancer drugs, but on the weekends and some nights, his time is devoted to his other passion -- running the Italian school he had founded to help families preserve Italian language and culture in their home. Today, Scuola Piccoli Italiani di Boston -- which means Little Italians of Boston - is the largest school in North America to teach Italian through full immersion out of regular school hours, he said. With 130 students and 10 teachers, the school offers classes and a playgroup on Saturdays for children from 2 to 12 years old.