FACULTY & STAFF

FACULTY

PRIMARY FACULTY

Personal Bio

Homeroom Teacher (G5W)
Adrienne Hill
1st Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Samuel Popham
1st Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Kelsey Barnes
2nd Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Ennia Banda
2nd Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Crystal Yuille
3rd Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Priyashinee Govender
3rd Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Rachel Elmalawany
4th Grade Homeroom Teacher

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La Tonya Jones
4th Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Ben Ghiglione
5th Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Jeremy Scaramuzzi
5th Grade Homeroom Teacher

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Richard Aird
Primary ELS Teacher

Alise Brooks Bio

Primary Instructional Coach

Alise Brooks is from Virginia in the United States. She has been teaching at the primary level for 22 years in American and China and has been working in China since 2017. She has been the Head of 2nd Grade since for 15 years and the head of Grade 3 for 2 years. She is currently a two-time National Board-Certified Teacher. In 2017, she was added to the Congressional Record for Teacher of Distinction and received a Certificate of Congressional Recognition by the United States Congress.

She is dual-licensed and certified to teach both K-3 primary education and English as a Second Language K-12. She attended George Mason University where she received a bachelor’s degree in both Health Education and Psychology and a Master of Education Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has also co-presented with 1st-3rd grade teachers at Virginia Math Teachers Conference.

Alise Brooks
Primary School Instructional Coach

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Naomi Kerwin
Primary ELS Teacher

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Augustina Droze
Art Teacher

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Grace Ma
Primary Eastern Art Teacher

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Rebecca Werner
Music Teacher

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Linda Hu
1st Grade Teaching Assistant

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Lisa Liu
1st Grade Teaching Assistant

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Sabrina Shi
2th Grade Teaching Assistant

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Chen Li
2nd Grade Teaching Assistant

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Samantha Fang
3rd Grade Teaching Assistant

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Meggie Cheng
3rd Grade Teaching Assistant

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Essie Yan
4th Grade Teaching Assistant

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Daisy Li
4rd Grade Teaching Assistant

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Maureen Shang
5th Grade Teaching Assistant

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Connie Jiao
5th Grade Teaching Assistant

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Jingjing Li
Chinese Teacher

Personal Bio

Chinese Teacher

Smiley Cheung
Chinese Teacher

Personal Bio

Rong Wei
Chinese Teacher

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Ping Huang
Chinese Teacher

Personal Bio

Yifan Dong
Chinese Teacher

SECONDARY FACULTY

Personal Bio

John Weil
ELA Teacher

Rachel St. John Bio

ELA Teacher

Rachel St. John has been teaching for 16 years, largely in South Korea. Rachel has worked as a literature professor in Korean universities, a middle school English as a Second Language teacher and middle school literature teacher. She was most recently the Head of English for Junior School at an international school in China. She has a bachelor's in Media Arts, a Masters in Education and a CELTA certification. Her favorite thing is teaching students to love reading!
Rachel St John
ELA Teacher

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Laura White
ELA Teacher

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Emily Zweber
ELA Teacher

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Taylor Dopuch
ELA Teacher

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Kamau Rucker
ELA Teacher

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Meagan Ray
ELS Teacher

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Danny Arias
ELS Teacher

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Cara Suski
ELS Teacher

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Wyndell Williams
ELS Teacher

Alexandria Cross Bio

ELS teacher

Alex Cross comes from a family of educators. Since graduating from Tennessee Tech University in 2015, she has been teaching English to Chinese learners. Holding certifications in ESL and elementary education, she believes that language is crucial to success in all subjects. She is passionate about helping all students succeed, regardless of their starting point.
Alexandria Cross
ELS Teacher

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Robert McGeachy
ELS Teacher

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Christophe Eloy
French Teacher

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Inama Morales
Spanish Teacher

Michael Brunt Bio

Science Teacher

This is Michael Brunt’s 22nd year of teaching. He has a Master’s degree in Science Education with a focus on the geo-sciences and is a U.S./Texas certified educator in Secondary Life-Earth Science. Michael also holds certifications in AP Environmental Science and STEM Robotics.

Prior to coming to China, Michael spent 5 years teaching in Thailand and previously worked at the Ministry of Education in Dubai where he helped develop an advance science program in Emirati schools across the UAE. Since 2008, Michael has been passionately involved in teaching and promoting earthquake education with the goal to provide opportunities in which students can become part of, assist in, and/or contribute to earthquake research. His pursuits have led to the development of national and international recognized earthquake educational programs, international conference presentations, and collaboration in earthquake research resulting in scientific peer-reviewed publication. Outside of school and the classroom,Michael enjoys a variety of interests such as traveling, sports, various outdoor activities, and fitness.

Michael Brunt
Science Teacher

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Laz Chatzimanolis
Biology/Environmental Science Teacher

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Xiaobin Xu
Physics Teacher

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Lisa Hellman
Science Teacher

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Florian Brocard
Physics Teacher

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Kai Lin Lau
Chemistry Teacher

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Christian Halos
Primary Science Teacher

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Qin Jing
Math Teacher

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An Nguyen
Math Teacher

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Cyrus Yun
Math Teacher

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Jean Choe
Math Teacher

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Andrew Werner
Math Teacher

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Sujuan Han
Math Teacher

Yuqing Long Bio

Math teacher

Yuqing studied Mathematics at Cambridge and Statistics at UCL and Oxford. He was an algorithmic trader in London before he decided to come back to China to pursue his passion for education. He will be giving lectures in Calculus C (grade 12) and Advance Geometry (grade 9/10) this year. His experience in undergraduate teaching will help our seniors transition smoothly and confidently into university level study.
Yuqing Long
Math Teacher

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Jasmina Blazheska
Math Teacher

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Kyle Schaefer
Social Studies Teacher

Personal Bio

Benita Sumita
Social Studies Teacher

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Jeremiah Salomon
History Teacher

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Deborah Kapraun
History Teacher

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Xiaofeng Kang
Geography Teacher

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David Fleming
Social Studies Teacher

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James Stringer
Social Studies/ Humanities Teacher

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Wenting Bai
Chinese Teacher

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Cecilia Liu
Chinese Teacher

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Chao Qian
Chinese Teacher

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Huijun Wu
Chinese Teacher

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Chaoran Zhang
Chinese Teacher

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Dongqing Gao
Chinese Teacher

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Shuying Li
Chinese Teacher

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Hongxuan Zhang
Chinese History Teacher

Personal Bio

Xiaomeng Jin
Chinese History Teacher

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Yue Zhao
Chinese Teacher

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Augustina Droze
Art Teacher

Personal Bio

Leah Zhang
Western Art Teacher

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Erin Gao
Eastern Art Teacher

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Adam Matejek
Instrumental Music Teacher

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Tzu-Hsuan Ai
Vocal Music Teacher

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Yuanyuan Hu
Theater Teacher

Personal Bio

Nishant Sharma
Technology Teacher

Personal Bio

Jason Lamar
Technology Teacher

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Angelito Balboa
Technology Teacher

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Rodrigo Escobar
Technology Teacher

Gonçalo Porto Bio

PE Teacher

Gonçalo Porto is a Portuguese teacher who grew up in the second biggest city of Portugual, Porto. He played sports throughout his childhood and still loves to participate in a friendly game, no matter what sport, as an adult. Gonçalo studied in Portugal and Italy at ISMAI University and the University of L'Aquila during his college period. He completed his bachelor´s and master´s degree in Physical Education and Sports Science, moving in 2019 to China to start his experience abroad.

In his classes, he hopes to encourage sportsmanship, teamwork, and personal growth. In his opinion, students should find physical activities to be a great stress reliever, an escape from frustrations, and an opportunity to strengthen themselves. Goncalo believes in the value of arming kids with practical, lifelong health skills, which cross over the subject matter and develop character. “I can´t do it” is a not allowed phrase in his classes. “PE is Powerful Education”.

Goncalo Porto
PE Teacher

Personal Bio

Dan Li
PE Teacher

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Kristian Farkas
PE Teacher

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Dorde Joksic
PE Teacher

Thoob Xiong Bio

PE Teacher

Thoob comes from America with a degree in Physical Education K-12 from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Born and raised in the state Colorado and would eventually make his debut international teaching career in 2019 in Japan. From there he came to Shenzhen, China in 2020 and has been in China since. Thoob will be bringing his experience from America, Japan and his time in Shenzhen to THIS' new school year as the PE teacher for primary grades 1-4. Thoob has been involved in many volunteer programs for students and has presented at SHAPE Colorado multiple times. He has been an Athletic Director in America and has coached basketball and volleyball. Thoob enjoys seeing kids improve in skill and in strategy.
Thoob Xiong
PE Teacher

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Paul Moon

STEAM teacher

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Rod Escobar

STEAM teacher

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Grace Ma

STEAM teacher

Librarian

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Nathalia Hardy
Head Librarian

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Stephanee Rausch
Primary Librarian

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Isabel Lei
Librarian Assistant

COUNSELING & SUPPORT

Personal Bio

Felicity Fu
Associate Director of College Counseling

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Amy Zou
College Counseling Coordinator

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Joy Zhou
Activity Coordinator

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Xiaofeng Kang
Academic Activity Coordinator

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Gerald Anthony
Wellbeing Coordinator,Primary Counselor

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Aron Falvo Blesch
College Counselor

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Emily-Davis Hamre
College Counselor

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Gen Li
Assistant College Counselor

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Laura Zhang
Secondary Counselor

SUPPORT STAFF

Personal Bio

Annie Hu
Maintenance Coordinator

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Sunny Sun
Financial Assistant

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Rita Yuan
Associate Director of Human Resources

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Maggie Zhu
Financial Assistant

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Haozhong Zhao
Techinical Support

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Sisi Wu
 Lab Assistant

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Wendi Duan
Techinical Support

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Stella Hu
Academic Principal Assistant

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Sharon Yang
Front Desk Receptionist

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Yolanda Yao
Library Assistant

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Meiying Zhang
Admission Assistant (Intern)

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Qi Shen
Front Desk Receptionist

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Lingyan Peng
Front Desk Receptionist

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Mercy Xu
Media

Personal Bio

Siyao Yang
Media

Personal Bio

Yanfei Dou
Dorm Teacher

Personal Bio

Shuchun Liu
Dorm Teacher