Berkeley Faculty and Staff

Chien-Hsuan was born and raised in Taiwan and received her B.A. degree in Early Childhood Education at the Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science before finishing her M.A. degree in Curriculum Design at the Dominican University of California.  After graduating, Chien-Hsuan worked at Shu Ren International School as the preschool director and Pre-K3 and Pre-K4 teacher from 2008-2012. She later went to work at a Reggio Emilio/IB school in Tokyo, Japan as a Chinese homeroom teacher for 3-5 years old in order to enrich her understanding of secondary language acquisition. Students in Chien-Hsuan’s class will gain Chinese communication skills in a secure environment through student initiated inquiries and hands-on projects, while also experiencing new media forms that enhance children’s creativity and imagination. During her spare time, Chien-Hsuan likes to get as close to nature as possible.

Born in China, Lillian has an Associate Teaching Certificate from Merritt College, Oakland. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Banking and Finance from Laney College and completed the Associate Teacher and Teacher Assistant program at Merritt College in 2010. Before joining Shu Ren International School, she worked at Chatham School for three years. Lillian truly enjoys working in early childhood education. Lilian likes arts, outdoor activities, traveling, dancing, and listening to music. She is always happy to show her love to children and watch them grow.

Queena was born and raised in Southern China. She has worked at Shu Ren as a Pre-K teacher since 2013. Previous to working at Shu Ren, Queena was a teacher at a bilingual preschool in San Francisco since 2007. She enjoys working with children and watching them thrive happily. To her, it’s always a pleasure to see her students smile, build friendships, and learn new knowledge at school. Queena earned a B.A. degree in both Liberal Studies and Chinese from San Francisco State University. She also earned 12+ units of Early Childhood Education from both SFSU and CCSF. In her spare time, she likes shopping with friends, listening to music, and spending time with her precious family.

Annie is from Guang Dong, China, and has worked as an Assistant Teacher at Shu Ren International School since December 2013. Annie completed the Associate Teacher and Teacher Assistant program at Merritt College in 2013. She enjoys working with children and being a mother to her own two children. She enjoys volunteering, hiking, fishing, playing tennis, and socializing with friends. She is very proud of our students, especially when they start speaking Mandarin to us, without having any prior Chinese language experience at home. She thinks everyone should learn a foreign language, and that it is always better to start earlier than later.

Yi-Lin Yang was born and raised in Taiwan and obtained M.A degree in Teaching Chinese as International Language at Nanyang Technological University, National Institute of Education in Singapore. She have been teaching Chinese in Taiwan and Singapore since 2010. For the past 6 years, she was teaching at an IB International School in Singapore as a Chinese homeroom teacher for the Chinese-English bilingual program. Yi-Lin is an energetic and goal-driven instructor who is dedicated to helping each student reach their full potential, regardless of academic capabilities or challenges. She believes the children will gain Chinese communication skills in a secure environment through exploring inquiries into the curriculum and yet have a lot of fun learning. 

Chia-Pin was born and raised in Taiwan where she received her B.F.A. and M.A. degrees. She worked in the museum as an exhibition planner for several years. She also had experiences teaching art to children in Taiwan before she pursued being a preschool teacher. A few years ago, she took two classes in child development and found the subject fascinating and was inspired to explore more. Because of her art background, she views each child's unique potential to the fullest and is excited to see each child thriving. She likes art and nature. In her spare time, Chia-Pin enjoys painting, watching movies, hiking, and camping.

Rene is a South African who was born in Zimbabwe. Ever since she was a young girl, she has dreamed of being a teacher. Rene has a Bachelor of Arts in Education (Foundation Phase) and has experience teaching on three different continents. Her husband is from Colombia and they have a young daughter. Rene loves to travel and learn about different cultures. In her free time, Rene enjoys being with her friends and family, shopping, drinking coffee, hiking, and swimming.

Zhiling Xu graduated from South China Normal University with a B.A. and has been in the education field for more than 30 years. She first taught at a college of adult education in Guangzhou for more than 10 years. Zhiling then moved to the Bay Area and continued to teach Chinese at after schools and weekend Chinese schools. After obtaining ECE related credits and qualification certificates at Merritt College and Contra Costa College, she joined Shu Ren International School in 2010 where she worked for eight years. Then she transferred to an after school Chinese Program at a public school. When this program was closed because of the pandemic, Zhiling returned to Shu Ren in March 2021 and now works as an assistant teacher in Kindergarten. She is very passionate about teaching and education. In her spare time, Zhiling loves reading and outdoor activities.

Dawn is from Taiwan. She has a bachelor's degree in Chinese Literature from National Taiwan Normal University, and a master's degree in Education from Castleton University. She found her passion for language and culture education, and spent the last 6 years teaching Chinese immersion in Utah. Dawn has been working with students from different age groups including elementary school, middle school and college students. She enjoy learning and growing with her students, when not working, she loves to read, watch movies, work out and travel around the world.

Originally from China, Annie has a B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature and an M.A. in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. Before coming to Shu Ren, Anny taught Chinese language and culture at Conway High School, Arkansas for two years.  Then worked as a 5th grade homeroom teacher and a Chinese Second Language teacher in Shanghai United International School for six years (an IB school). She has also worked as a grade level coordinator for sixth grade and organized the PYP exhibition for her previous school. She is very experienced with the upper primary IB PYP curriculum and always enjoys learning and inquiring with the students.