Berkeley Faculty and Staff
Quick links: Administration • Early Childhood • K-5 School • Specialized
Early Childhood

Chien-Hsuan Chen 陈粁嬛, Early Childhood Berkeley Site Director
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.

Manli Li 曼丽, Head Teacher (Pre-K2)
Manli was born and raised in China. She completed her Design and Marketing Management major at College in China. She also completed the Associate in Arts degree in Child Development at Merritt College in the US, and obtained relevant certificates such as teacher and assistant teacher in child development. After graduating from Merritt College, she worked in a Chinese preschool for a year. Working with children makes her feel happy because of the children's smiles. She is very happy and honored to be able to help and witness the growth of children. Providing support for children's learning and development skills is her responsibility as an early childhood educator in her work. In her spare time, she likes to watch movies, paint, travel, and hike with friends.

Lillian Lei (Yan Rui 雷嫣), Assistant Teacher (Pre-K2)
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.

Xiaohong Guan / Michelle, Assistant Teacher (Pre-K2)
Michelle Guan was born and raised in China and qualified in accounting at an early age. After coming to the United States, she developed a keen interest in children's education, she attended Laney College and worked hard to get her foot in the door. Now with 7 years of solid early childhood education experience and unanimous approval by parents and children, she is confident to make children feel at home when they walk into school, providing a warm and safe environment for everyone by providing inspiration and attentive care.

Zoe Weng 翁可欣, Head Teacher (Pre-K2)
Zoe Weng was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan and has received a Bachelor’s in Chinese Literature from Chinese Culture University. Zoe worked as a preschool lead teacher in Pre-K2 in San Francisco. The school included Reggio Emilia and the emergent curriculum. She also studied 12+ units of Early Child Education from both CCSF and TTC. In all aspects, she values children as strong, capable, and resilient. By utilizing an approach that is tailored to fit every child’s needs, she believes all children are able to reach their potential and beyond. In her spare time, she likes reading story books to her daughter, singing songs, and traveling.

Jiecai Xu 许洁彩, Assistant Teacher (Pre-K2)
Jiecai was born and raised in Guangdong Province, China, and graduated from Guangdong AIB Polytechnic College. She studied Child Development at Merritt College and received her Child Development Teacher Permit in 2017. Jiecai started working at Shu Ren International School in 2015. She has been an assistant teacher in the Pre-K classes since 2016. She loves children very much and hopes to learn and grow with them. It is her greatest satisfaction to see the smiles and progress of children at every stage. She enjoys listening to music, traveling, and enjoying food.

Queena Zheng 郑晴岚, Head Teacher (Pre-K3)
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 Chen / Yanru 陈燕如, Assistant Teacher (Pre-K3)
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 杨逸琳, Head Teacher (Pre-K3)
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.

Yannu Li 李雁女, Assistant Teacher (Pre-K3)
Yan joined Shu Ren International School in 2019. She was born in China and moved to the United States in the early 2000s. Yan started her studies at Laney College in 2008 and she later attended City College of San Francisco in 2018, studying child development. Yan has been in the early childhood field for four years. She began her career in early childhood in a Montessori International School, where she adapted and developed the different methods of early childhood education. Yan is passionate about early learning and enriching young minds through education. In her free time, Yan enjoys cooking and traveling with her family.

Chia-Pin Chen 陈嘉萍, Head Teacher (Pre-K4)
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.
K-5 School

Alexandra Ditchey, PYP Coordinator
For the past nine years Alexandra has been teaching and promoting life-long learning for a variety of grade levels; from first to seventh grade. After receiving her Master’s in Elementary Education from Arizona State University, she began her international teaching journey in Shanghai, China. Beyond Shanghai she has also lived and taught in Hanoi, Vietnam and Rome, Italy. Through several years teaching the PYP curriculum, Alexandra is inspired to cultivate student agency, confidence, and open-mindedness in order to foster a safe and powerful learning environment. Beyond the classroom, she loves reading, camping, cooking, and playing with her dog. Alexandra is thankful for the opportunity to join Shu Ren’s warm and strong community.

Lam Tsoi 蔡琳, Chinese Program Coordinator
Lam Tsoi joined Shu Ren International School in December 2010 as a volunteer. Tsoi has been a homeroom teacher for grade 2 to grade 5 since 2013. Besides teaching, Tsoi has also acted as our Chinese curriculum coordinator since 2014. Previous to working at Shu Ren, Tsoi worked in a public high school in Hong Kong for 10 years teaching Chinese, Chinese History, and Mandarin. Tsoi received a B.A. and a Master of Philosophy (Chinese Literature) degree from Hong Kong University. Tsoi holds both Chinese and Mandarin teaching credentials in Hong Kong and has also passed the California Single Subject Test in Chinese. She has completed the certificate program in Teaching Chinese as a Heritage/Foreign Language awarded by UC Berkeley. Tsoi enjoys reading, traveling, and eating.

Vivian Huang, Head Teacher (Kindergarten Mandarin)
Vivian worked as an Academic Director in Taiwan in 2000. She has more than 15 years of Chinese language teaching experience in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a Mandarin teacher and academic coordinator, Vivian primarily worked with younger children at an immersion program and an IB school before joining Shu Ren International School. She loves to see students that are passionate and curious. Her specialty is utilizing a variety of strategies for classroom management and creating a visual environment to keep students interested and motivated to learn. In Vivian's spare time, she enjoys cooking from what she grows in her garden. She also enjoys crafting, such as transforming old furniture into fresh new pieces. Vivian hopes to share her interest with her students.

Hsin-Hui Peng-Hendricks, Head Teacher (Kindergarten Mandarin)
Hsin-Hui is originally from Taiwan. After receiving a Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education, she has been teaching in different Montessori Chinese immersion schools for fifteen years, in three different states and 8 years of that time in Berkeley. Hsin-Hui decided to start a new chapter of her teaching journey at Shu Ren International School. She believes that learning new knowledge is very important and powerful. Even though Hsin-Hui is a new teacher at Shu Ren, she will use her professional teaching experience and passion to guide Shu Ren's children. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, hiking, and exploring nature with her family and six-years-old daughter.

Andrew Greschler, Head Teacher (Kindergarten and Grade 1 English)
Andrew is originally from Colorado, but he has been living and teaching in Asia for the past ten years. Recently, Andrew returned to America after teaching in private schools in Taipei for five years. While he was there, he designed programs to help the schools to become more student-centered, engaging, and empathetic to students’ needs. Andrew also completed an American elementary teaching licensure program. His classroom is a place where students can express themselves, explore a variety of academic themes, and work together to complete projects. It’s Andrew's goal to keep his students active and curious. In his free time Andrew enjoys hiking, biking, creative writing, and creating intricate fish tanks.

Yumi Guo 郭诗韵, Assistant Teacher (Kindergarten Mandarin)
Yumi was born and raised in GuangDong, China. She came to the United States with her family when she was in high school. She had a wonderful childhood and the influence of a mother who was a preschool teacher, Yumi dreamed of being a teacher when she was very young. Yumi chose to major in Early Childhood Development and earned a B.A. degree at Cal State East Bay in 2019. The past few years, Yumi enjoyed working with preschool age children. She discovered that children of different ages develop and learn differently, and the diversity of children makes her feel it's amazing to be part of their growth. Yumi is grateful for the opportunity to join Shu Ren, she can't wait to learn and explore with our elementary school children.

XinYun (Dori) Dai, Assistant Teacher (Kindergarten Mandarin)
Dori believes every child is different and unique. As an assistant teacher, Dori brings assistance with equity instead of equality. She is dedicated and worked hard to bring a positive impact to her Shu Ren students! In her spare time, Dori spends most of it with her 4-year-old daughter. Dori loves playing musical instruments like piano, guitar, ukulele and cello. These instruments are very therapeutic.

Vivian Lin, Head Teacher (Grade 1 Mandarin)
Vivian was originally born and raised in a small village surrounded by rice fields in Taiwan. This is her first year teaching at Shu Ren. Prior to coming to Berkeley, Vivian lived in Singapore and other parts of the US. Through living in Singapore, around the US, and doing a lot of international traveling, she gained a good understanding of Western culture. In addition, Vivian also has extensive experience teaching international students of different age groups, from preschool to the 8th grade, in both IB and American School curriculums. As an educator, Vivian believes that creating a learning environment and culture of safety, care, respect, risk-taking and open-mindedness develops student agency and promotes action taking. Besides teaching, she particularly love traveling, cycling, reading, music, nature and food.

Yu Zhang 张裕, Head Teacher (Grade 2 Mandarin, Physical Education Teacher)
Yu Zhang was born and raised in Guangzhou, China. He graduated with a Bachelor of Education from the Education University of Hong Kong (Major Elementary School Education, Minor P.E.) and Master of Education from Hong Kong Baptist University. Then he became an elementary teacher in Hong Kong. After moving to the Bay Area, he became an elementary teacher of Chinese Bilingual Class in SFUSD (San Francisco Unified School District) for 5 years. Besides teaching, he loves tutoring and playing badminton. Yu earned 3rd place for the men's team in 2010 China Universiade Badminton Championship, competed in the semi-final of the 2015/2016 UC Berkeley Badminton Tournament and won 1st place in the 2016 Stanford University Badminton Tournament. He enjoys playing badminton not only around the Bay Area, but also around the world. During his spare time, he likes to do different activities such as snowboarding, mountain biking, and motorcycling. He believes that students can achieve high levels in both academics and sports.

Rene du Toit, Head Teacher (Grade 2 English, School Librarian)
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 许志玲, Assistant Teacher (Grade 1 & 2)
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.

Pei-Yin Lee (Dawn 李佩萦), Head Teacher (Grade 3 Mandarin)
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.

Jamie Strong, Head Teacher (Grade 3 English)
Jamie started her teaching career as a fifth-grade classroom teacher at an international school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. During her 6 years teaching overseas she was trained as a PYP teacher and is passionate about inquiry-based learning. After 14 years as an elementary teacher, Jamie can proudly say that she has taught on 4 continents, in international private school and U.S. public school; she taught students of different nationalities, religions, languages and needs. Jamie's experience and exposure are some of her biggest strengths as an educator.

Anny Chen 陈曦, Head Teacher (Math Program Coordinator, Grade 4 and 5 Mandarin)
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.

Melanie Slater, Head Teacher (Math/STEM Program Coordinator, Grade 4 and 5 English)
Mel was born in New Orleans, and grew up in England, Texas, and Newfoundland. She received her BA and MA in Education from West Virginia University, and has been teaching for thirteen years. Mel loves teaching math and science, and is excited to serve as STEM coordinator along with her role as 4th and 5th grade English teacher. Prior to joining Shu Ren, Mel worked at EBI, a Spanish-English dual-immersion IB school in Oakland. Growing up in a wide variety of places sparked a curiosity and passion for learning about different cultures. In her free time, Mel enjoys riding her bike, playing ice hockey, hiking with her partner, cooking, and helping her many house plants grow.

Rong Ji 姬蓉, Assistant Teacher (Grade 3, 4 & 5 Mandarin)
Rong Ji joined Shu Ren in August of 2013. Previous to working at Shu Ren, Rong worked in McKinsey &Company in Shanghai as a Knowledge Specialist, an assistant analyst at Merrill Lynch Global Equity Research in New York, and a senior engineer at Ericssion China Ltd,. Rong received a M.B.A. from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona, and a B.S. from the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. Rong has passed the California Subject Examinations for Teachers (CSET) in Mandarin Subjects and also received a “Teaching Chinese as a Heritage/Foreign Language” certificate from University of California, Berkeley. Rong enjoys hiking and listening Kun opera, and loves Spanish language and culture.
Specialized

Zoe Farmer, Art Instructor
Zoe received a B.A. in Sculpture in 1999 and in 2001 she completed a postgraduate certificate in education at the Institute of Education in London, England. Before moving to the Bay Area, Zoe spent 12 years teaching art and photography to middle and high schoolers in London. A practicing artist since 2007, Zoe has shown work in both London and San Francisco and earned an MFA in Sculpture at the California College of the Arts. Since arriving in the Bay Area in 2012, Zoe has worked with The San Francisco Arts Education Project. She has taught art, ceramics, and photography in several public schools in San Francisco from grades K through 8. She has also taught sculpture and 3D design classes to undergraduates at California College of the Arts. Through The San Francisco Arts Education Project, Zoe has worked on many large collaborative public art projects with school children and the wider community. These collaborations have been shown in the SFartsED gallery at the Minnesota Street Project gallery in San Francisco. Zoe continues to be involved in artistic and scientific collaborations delivering community-building workshops to the public. Zoe has a five-year-old child who attends a Spanish immersion international school. Zoe and her family identify strongly with the international model for building global bilingual citizens. Zoe is an avid scuba diver and passionate about the ocean.

Rene du Toit, School Librarian
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.

Cindy Ng, Performing Arts Instructor

Yu Zhang, Physical Education Instructor
Yu Zhang was born and raised in Guangzhou, China. He graduated with a Bachelor of Education from the Education University of Hong Kong (Major Elementary School Education, Minor P.E.) and Master of Education from Hong Kong Baptist University. Then he became an elementary teacher in Hong Kong. After moving to the Bay Area, he became an elementary teacher of Chinese Bilingual Class in SFUSD (San Francisco Unified School District) for 5 years. Besides teaching, he loves tutoring and playing badminton. Yu earned 3rd place for the men's team in 2010 China Universiade Badminton Championship, competed in the semi-final of the 2015/2016 UC Berkeley Badminton Tournament and won 1st place in the 2016 Stanford University Badminton Tournament. He enjoys playing badminton not only around the Bay Area, but also around the world. During his spare time, he likes to do different activities such as snowboarding, mountain biking, and motorcycling. He believes that students can achieve high levels in both academics and sports.

Amaia Lasa, Spanish Teacher
Amaia was born in Bilbao, Spain. She holds a degree in information sciences with a specialization in marketing from the Universidad del País Vasco. Most of Amaia’s professional experience in Spain is in the area of technical education, as a corporate trainer. At Viva el Español, Amaia has experience teaching all grade levels, from Kindergarten through middle school. She is a teacher who comes to the classroom prepared and ready to teach and share her traditions with a fun and engaging style that kids are drawn to. Amaia’s love for teaching has led her to pursue coursework in Early Childhood Education at Mills College. In her free time Amaia enjoys spending time with friends and family, cooking, gardening and reading.

Selene Durán, Spanish Teacher
Selene holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the Culiacan Institute of Technology in Culiacan, Mexico. In addition to several years experience working in that field, Selene worked as a Spanish Teacher Assistant at Tennyson High School in Hayward. Selene has taught with Viva el Español at a variety of pre-schools and elementary schools throughout the East Bay for several years. She also held the position of Manager of Elementary School programs at Viva el Español until returning to Mexico with her family. Selene comes from a family of educators, both of her parents working as teachers for more than 3 decades in Mexico. She says "I love my roots, and I love to share with kids the wealth of the Spanish language".