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Wenping Li
Ms. Wenping Li is the Executive Principal of Tsinghua International School. Ms. Li holds a master degree in Educational Psychology and is the senior secondary teacher. She has made great achievements and established her own way of teaching and was accredited the Elite Teacher of Beijing. Having served as an educator in the education field for 19 years, Ms. Li joined Tsinghua International School in 2010 and began her exploration and innovation on international education in China ever since. Ms. Li leads her team to deeply research on western education modes and is always exploring the best way to integrate the essence of both Western and Eastern education. Ms. Li is working on various research projects and has written different papers. Upholding the school mission, which is to cultivate students who are rooted in China, she lays emphasis on the construction of Chinese curriculum, improving Chinese teaching quality and leading Chinese teaching in international schools. Meanwhile, school also provides Chinese History and Eastern Art to construct a three- dimensional integrated Chinese curriculum system. Ms. Li intends to develop the effectiveness of Western and Eastern combined education. She focuses on the integrated education of students and foster students who have both solid foundations of Chinese and English.
Maxine Klimasara
Maxine Klimasara is an American who is in her ninth year serving as Academic Principal at THIS. She has a Bachelor of Education Degree and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Leadership. During her 35-year career in the US, she served as a teacher and mostly a school Principal where she was involved in several innovative educational programs and schools. Her philosophy can be summed up in the following quote from Jean Piaget: “The principle goal of education is to create men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.” This is especially pertinent in this rapidly changing and uncertain world of the 21st century.
Reid Prichett
Dr. Prichett comes from a long line of educators. He has been interested in how people learn and how schools can help people become better learners for a long time. Dr. Prichett studied economics and wrestled competitively at Williams College as an undergraduate. He went on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned an MA in Mathematics Education and a MA and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Dr. Prichett has taught, coached, run dorms, and served as a K-12 leader in excellent US boarding and day schools, such as Episcopal High School and The Lawrenceville School. Most recently he designed and implemented a teacher growth and development program at The Pingry School in New Jersey, where he also taught mathematics and coached wrestling. His wife Helen is a school librarian and together they have three children.
Amanda Yu
Director of College Counseling
Amanda Yu is a New York state-certified counselor and also holds an EAL certificate through ISS’s World Language Initiative program. She earned her M.S.Ed. in School Counseling from Fordham University, and B.A. in Psychology from Stony Brook University. During her undergraduate studies, Amanda was a piano student in the Graduate School of Music and violinist in the University Symphony Orchestra, completing a Music Minor in addition to her Psychology degree. Through her field experience at New York City’s Stuyvesant High School followed by six years at international schools in Guangdong province, this is Amanda’s eighth year working with high school students. She has served as a Standards Coach to support program alignment to international counseling standards, and is passionate about developing accountable counseling programs through data-informed systems.
Britni Padilla
Primary Director
Britni Padilla has served in education for 10 years. She earned her B.A. and M. Ed. at California State University San Marcos, with an emphasis in literacy education. Britni was a 4th grade teacher at Tsinghua International School for 3 years before becoming the Primary Director in 2019.
Caroline Scott
Curriculum Director
Caroline Scott has been a history and English language arts teacher since 2006. She received her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her M. Ed. from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Caroline taught history at THIS for seven years before being named Curriculum Director in 2019.
Dieu-Anh Nguyen
Secondary Director
Dieu-Anh Nguyen brings over 25 years of experience as a professional educator. She has worked in schools across the United States, the Middle East, and most recently in Asia. She has been a classroom teacher, program specialist, educational consultant, and a school administrator at both the primary and secondary levels. She is passionate about building caring and responsive learning environments that promote discovery and engagement in students. A big believer in positive thinking and that smiling is contagious, Dieu-Anh approaches challenges, new situations, and decisions open to the possibilities. As Secondary School Director, Dieu-Anh is committed to carrying on the traditions and practices that best showcase THIS’s core values as well as, in collaboration with the entire school community, will continue to find ways to further optimize resources, cultivate trust and transparency, and empower others to lead.
Ellen Yi
Principal Assistant & Admissions Director
Ms. Yi has been working in Tsinghua University High School since 2005 and was the director of teaching and research and the Student Affairs Office. At THIS, she is the principal assistant, the director of the admissions office, and the human resources director. Ms. Yi holds a master’s degree in linguistics.
Toni Dong
Associate Director of Admin
Toni has worked at THIS since 2009 and has served in multiple positions. Currently she works as the Associate Director of Administration. She attended Beijing Foreign Studies University and has a Master’s degree in Linguistics.
Social Studies Department
Kyle Schaefer
Social Studies Teacher
Caroline Scott
Social Studies Teacher
Benita Sumita
Social Studies Teacher
Andrew Dickerson
Social Studies Teacher
Deborah Kapraun
Social Studies Teacher
Jeremiah Salomon
Social Studies Teacher
English Language Arts Department
Amy Brill
ELA Teacher
James Cusack
ELA Teacher
Jenny Rowe
ELA Teacher
Victoria Wong
ELA Teacher
Daniel Spatzierath
ELA Teacher
Science Department
Fatime Hachem
Science Teacher
Lazaros Chatzimanolis
Science Teacher
Xiaobin Xu
Science Teacher
Paul Moon
STEAM Teacher
Robert Williams
Science Teacher
Stacy Williams
Science Teacher
Alexis Glenn
Science Teacher
Florian Brocard
Science Teacher
Math Department
Jeanne Croker
Math Teacher
Qin Jing
Math Teacher
Maggie Cleaver
Math Teacher
Timothy Tucker
Math Teacher
Art Department
Tzu-Hsuan Ai
Music Teacher
Jana Padilla
Western Art Teacher
David Robinson
Music Teacher
Erin Gao
Eastern Art Teacher
Augustina Droze
Art Teacher
Debby Lyttle
Music Teacher
Chinese Department
Wenting Bai
Chinese Teacher
Cecilia Liu
Chinese Teacher
Annie An
Chinese Teacher
Chao Qian
Chinese Teacher
Ting Qiu
Chinese Teacher
Smiley Cheung
Chinese Teacher
Clara Sun
Chinese Teacher
Huijun Wu
Chinese Teacher
Jingjing Li
Chinese Teacher
PE Department
Derek Ford
PE Teacher
Valentina Delgado
PE Teacher
David MacFarlane
PE Teacher
Felipe Olivares
PE Teacher
Dan Li
PE Teacher
Modern World Languages Department
Andrew Wardle
ESL Teacher
Lisbeth Stammerjohann
French Teacher
Yolanda Talero
Spanish Teacher
Pablo Perez
ESL Teacher
Meagan Ray
ESL Teacher
John Weil
ESL Teacher
Danny Arias
ESL Teacher
Veronica Tzu-Ying Duong
ESL Teacher
Maybelle Del Moral
ESL Teacher
Technology Department
Alla Allali
Technology Teacher
Angelito Balboa
Technology Teacher
Heidi Dong
Librarian
Gloria Ge
School Counselor
Amy Zou
College Counselor
Catherine Zhao
College Counselor
Kaihang Chen
Primary Counselor
Joy Zhou
Activities Coordinator
Primary Teachers
Kayla Driedger
1st Grade Teacher
Kate McLaughlin
1st Grade Teacher
Catherine Morgan
2nd Grade Teacher
Melissa Towne
2nd Grade Teacher
Melissa Manning
3rd Grade Teacher
Amelia Yan
3rd Grade Teacher
Jacob Von Seth
4th Grade Teacher
Kelsey Forgacs
4th Grade Teacher
Jeremy Scarramuzzi
5th Grade Teacher
Ben Ghiglione
5th Grade Teacher
Primary Teaching Assistants
Maggie Cheng
Teaching Assistant
Isobel Huang
Teaching Assistant
Cindy Wang
Teaching Assistant
Zichuan Zhao
Teaching Assistant
Cassie Xiong
Teaching Assistant
Connie Jiao
Teaching Assistant
Helen Luo
Teaching Assistant
Chen Li
Teaching Assistant
Lisa Liu
Teaching Assistant
Admissions
Maureen Shang
Admissions Officer
Stella Hu
Admissions Officer
Miracle Qi
Admissions Officer
Administrative Staff
Elena Dong
Admin Staff
Yanfei Dou
Admin Staff
Lynn Gou
Admin Staff
Annie Hu
Admin Staff
Yueyue Jin
Admin Staff
Erxin Kang
Admin Staff
Lingyan Peng
Admin Staff
Rita Yuan
Admin Staff
Nicole Shen
Admin Staff
Sunny Sun
Admin Staff
Erica Tan
Admin Staff
Ryan Wang
Admin Staff
Sisi Wu
Admin Staff
Lucy Wu
Admin Staff
Mercy Xu
Admin Staff
Esther Zhang
Admin Staff
Haozhong Zhao
Admin Staff
Maggie Zhu
Admin Staff
