Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Ms. Kimberly has dedicated nearly a decade to the field of Early Childhood Education, both as a teacher and as an administrator. She pursued her studies at Irvine Valley College, focusing on Early Childhood Education. She excels at connecting with children, fostering their growth through meaningful interactions. Her ability to address each child's unique needs has been key to her success.
Ms. Kimberly is delighted to return to Marco Polo and reconnect with many familiar faces. As an administrator, she values collaboration with families, staff, and children to foster a warm, welcoming, and inspiring environment. She is enthusiastic about leading a dual-language Reggio Emilia preschool program in the Irvine community and is eager to make a positive impact on the children at Marco Polo Children’s School.
Ms. Kimberly was born and raised in Orange County, California. She has been happily married to her college sweetheart, Ruben. They are a proud retired military family who enjoy outdoor activities and BBQs with family.
Ms. Jing has devoted herself to the education world since she graduated from Boston College in 2000. Her experience includes teaching at two different preschools as a substitute teacher in Boston, and working as the program assistant for a student overseas exchange program with Shanghai Normal University and Suzhou University for Furman University. Later, Ms. Jing transitioned her career path to the business world, and completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Business from the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School in Australia in 2011. She worked in International Hotel Operations and taught Global Hotel Management in China for two years before returning to the United States.
Upon her return, Ms. Jing re-kindled her love of working with young children. This revelation led her back to the Early Childhood Education field which she had left about 20 years prior. She subsequently studied Early Childhood Education courses and earned her AMS Early Childhood Education Diploma at the Capital Education Institute in California. With the qualifications she obtained from the Montessori training and internship, she served as a Head Montessori Teacher for many years at a Montessori Mandarin Immersion School in Irvine.
Ms. Jing loves to see children grow into independent individuals with the natural learning environment and guidance provided by their teachers. Two of her favorite quotes in early childhood education are:
“Adults move because they will direct them. The small child is urged by nature.”
“When children come into contact with nature, they reveal their strength.”
She loves to travel, explore new things, and spend time with her two teenage daughters who live apart from her.
Caitlin loves working with preschool-age children and is having fun exploring and learning together with Marco Polo Children! She grew up all around the country, even Germany, though Colorado is where she calls home. She graduated from Colorado State University with a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies in 2015. She spent a few years teaching in both a typical Pre-K setting as well as Special Education. Her strength is to create a collaborative class environment for children to foster interpersonal skills and creativity.
With her amazing talents and creativity, Caitlin has developed her expertise in curriculum through her success in implementing the Reggio Emilia philosophy in her own classroom over time. In 2020, she took on the curriculum coordinator role and started to lead training sessions during teacher’s professional development days at Marco Polo. She has also been mentoring teachers on site. In her mentorship role, she supports teachers setting up Reggio classrooms, implementing Reggio Emilia curriculum, and creating a positive and responsive classroom environment.
She has two dogs with her husband, Oreo and Sienna that they love to spend their time with exploring beaches, mountains and parks!
Paris is a warm-hearted English teacher with a master’s degree in ESL and more than 16 years of invaluable experience working with students of all age groups, with a special focus on young children. Having lived and taught in various countries such as Iran, China, and the USA, she brings a diverse and enriching perspective to her teaching.
Her deep love for children shines through in her dedication to ensuring that each child receives the attention, care, and respect they deserve. Paris is known for her patience, support, and encouragement, creating a nurturing and inspiring learning environment for her students.
Outside of the classroom, Paris finds joy in sports, crafting, painting, and watching captivating movies. She values the trust that parents place in her by entrusting their precious ones to her care and guidance.
Bio coming up soon
Grace was born and raised in Nanjing, a beautiful and ancient city in China's historical ancient city! She has Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from from Hubei University of Economics. Grace moved to the United States 10 years ago, and now lives with her husband and daughter in Irvine , a beautiful city with multiple cultures.
Grace has been working in a pre-school for two years after obtaining ECE certification at Laguna Technology, and she has been tutoring Chinese as well .
Grace loves children and likes working with children with different personalities. She adheres to three respects for children: 1. Respect children's personality; 2. Respect children's personality differences; 3. Respect the growth rules of children. Grace wants to be sure that all children grow up in a loving environment!
In her spare time, Grace enjoys spending time with husband, daughter and their two chihuahuas . She also loves the ocean.
Jiayin was born in Tianjin, which is the largest northern coastal city in China
Jiayin graduated from Tianjin Normal School in China, majoring in preschool education. She has been engaged in early childhood education for over seven years and has taught elementary school.
In 2016, Jiayin came to study in the United States with her husband and children. She has two lovely daughters and has settled in Irvine for eight years.
Ms. Jiayin likes painting, crafting, playing the piano, and enjoying time with my children. She is studying early childhood education at Theoria Technical College.
In the years that will come in Jiayin teaching, she will treat each child with a positive, caring, and respectful attitude and provide support and guidance based on each child's needs and individuality. She will use words of encouragement and praise to encourage kids to try new things and overcome difficulties and give them timely affirmation and praise.
She will Create a warm and loving atmosphere where teachers and children grow together.
Rachel was born in China and has a happy family. Her two children are now middle and high school students. She used to be an obstetrician and gynecologist in China and has been working in the medical industry for more than 20 years. Loving life, saving lives, and caring for others has always been her passion.
Now that she is here in the United States, she hopes that she can continue to protect and contribute to the lives of our little one’s here at Marco Polo Children's school.
She is very grateful for this opportunity to be able to start a new career here at Marco Polo Children’s School and she is looking forward to creating a happy and joyful future with them.
Judy was born and raised in China. She has lived in Irvine for the past 5 years.
Her passion is to teach, she decided to learn it in a more systematic way in order to have a deeper understanding of it. So she started her learning to earn the associate’s degree in Child Development from Laguna Technical College and holds a current California teacher permit.
She really enjoys spending time with young children while teaching them and growing with them. She loves to help toddlers to develop better performances in social interactions while happy to assist them with academic problems.
During her free time, she loves cooking and doing yoga, which habits have her keep for years. She is passionate about cooking for others and spending quality time with family and friends.
Lili has been a middle school teacher teaching Chinese for more than 20 years in Taiwan. Having been with teenagers for 20 years.
Ms. Lili deeply understands education should start from an early age. Education experts say that a ”three-year-old life is set” and” education is a century-old plan,” so preschool education is the foundation. She had carefully selected a lively, diverse, and self-learning kindergarten.
Since her three children’s education. She supported school activities, communicated with teachers, and shared common topics with children. Lili believes that nature can provide nutrients for children to grow up. Meanwhile, the living environment is the child’s third teacher.
Now She is grateful that her children can contribute to society.She has always been passionate about Preschool education, and it is a beautiful opportunity to join Marco Polo Children’s School.
Ms. Lili has warm and supportive family members and caring friends, which are her biggest pillars. Climbing ,hiking. running and yoga are the adjustments of her life.
Liqing was born in China. She graduated from Dongbei University of Finance & Economics where she earned her bachelor’s degree in HR. She has been interested in early childhood education since her kids were young. Liqing obtained her ECE units from Irvine Valley College and she has been working with elementary school children for 3 years.
She values children’s independence and self-confidence. She always encourages children to explore the world by themselves. She believes that each child is unique, therefore they learn and thrive at their own pace. She is very excited to be a part of the Marco Polo team and be a part of your child’s early learning years.
In her free time, she loves traveling, music, cooking and gardening.
Luan (Julie) Zhu was born and raised in Tianjin, China. She has been working with children ages 0-6 years old in America for 5 years now. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Tianjin Normal University, and she is currently enrolled at Irvine Valley College, where she is studying Early Childhood Education.
She is passionate about art and teaching children, so introducing art materials and seeing children learn puts a smile on her face.
She enjoys working with children because she has always loved children’s motivation for learning, and their infinite curiosity.
Lydia was born in Beijing, China. She graduated from Shenzhen University with a degree in international business.
She moved from China to Irvine for seven years. She became interested in early child education when her daughter was young, and she started to take early childhood educational courses at Irvine Valley College, and has an associate teacher certificate, now she is continuing studying early child education at Saddleback College in California.
She loves kids and wants to support them to grow up with good physical and mental health. She believes every kid has her/his own special character and needs special educational methods. She plays more with kids more like this job. She enjoys every moment with kids and wants to keep doing this job in the future. She also likes Marco Polo's good relationship and good environment.
Lydia has a variety of hobbies. She likes cooking, gardening, talking, and spending time with family and friends.
Evelyn was born in Yunnan, a beautiful city in southern China, known for its lovely spring weather.
'
She studied psychology at Indiana University Bloomington and also minored in counseling and Japanese along the way.
Throughout her academic journey, she gained the understanding of child psychology, which helps her comprehend how little kids interact and learn. This knowledge allows her to adjust her teaching methods to suit each child's unique style. In her current role, she considers herself fortunate to utilize her language skills to create a fun environment for kids to learn.
By merging her psychology background with her language abilities, she hopes to provide a special and inclusive education for the kids she works with.
Yingying was born in China and has many years of experience tutoring children in Mandarin. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Education from Binzhou University in China. She also has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from Beijing Normal University and is currently enrolled at Saddleback College, where she is studying Early Childhood Education.
Yingying is also attending Chapman University where she is working towards obtaining a PhD in Curricular and Cultural Studies. She truly enjoys the art of teaching and fostering children’s learning and development. You will often find Yingying wearing a smile and singing aloud as she walks with her young students, hand in hand. Her classroom can always be found with new, engaging and different sensory hands-on and sensory learning activities.
In her time away from school, Yingying enjoys reading, practicing Chinese calligraphy and participating in yoga. She also loves spending time with her two years old and her family.
Gabrielle graduated from Taiwan National Normal University with a bachelor’s degree in Education and has more than 20 years of experience teaching at an elementary school in Taiwan.
Gabrielle moved to the States with her family in 2018. With a great passion for teaching Mandarin to young children,
She joined Marco Polo Children’s School. She loves to sing and play with children and her favorite education quote is: “Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.”
Peggy was born and raised in Taiwan, where she has more than 10 years of experience working in preschools as a teacher of children aged 2-6. Peggy believes that preschool children are like sponges, who constantly absorb and learn new things.
Playing is the best way for children to learn and develop their sense of structure and maturity. She likes to spend time with children by building their bonding and relationships and being their role model.
After moving to California with her family in 2005, Ms. Peggy had taught Chinese and traditional Chinese culture to students in grades 3-6 in a Chinese School. That was a wonderful memory that led her to pursue the opportunity to be a preschool teacher in our Chinese immersion program.
In family life, Ms. Peggy likes to travel with her family and two dogs. She also likes baking, whether baking cakes, cookies or bread. Now, she is a member of Marco Polo, and she looks forward to working with our families to create a beautiful learning experience for our children.
Faye hails from the vibrant city of Beijing, the exciting capital of China. She proudly holds a master's degree in education from the University of Southern California, where she also earned her ECE certificate.
For over two joyful years, she has been dedicated to nurturing young minds in the field of early childhood education in the United States.
Before her adventures in the U.S., Faye completed her bachelor's degree at Beijing Sports University. During her time there, she spent three delightful years teaching cheerleading to elementary school children and guiding them through exhilarating competitions.
Following her undergraduate studies, she shared her passion for education as a teacher at Tsinghua Primary School for a year. Additionally, she holds a high school teaching license in China and proudly carries the title of national master of sports.
Faye's heart brims with love for the education sector and an unwavering adoration for children. Witnessing children reach their milestones fills her with joy, and she always makes it a point to offer timely encouragement to fuel their motivation for learning.
She firmly believes in the power of fun-filled learning experiences that cater to each child's unique interests, nurturing their personal growth and development along the way.
Hongyan has been working in the education field for about 16 years. She graduated from Hefei University with a degree in education in China and taught public school for 5 years.
She became interested in early childhood education when her children were young, and she started to take early childhood educational courses at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin, and later at Saddle Back College in California.
She has had the pleasure of teaching at a Mandarin immersion preschool, Chinese weekend school for native speaking students, and previously at a Reggio-inspired preschool. Hongyan loves doing arts and crafts, exploring science experiments, and playing games with children.
She believes children learn best in a child-centered, and self-guided environment where teachers carefully plan and prepare the environment for children to explore and discover.
In her free time, she loves gardening, going to the beach, and spending time.
Shirley was born in Chongqing City in China and made Irvine her new hometown for over two years. She is passionate about Working with children and is currently studying Early Childhood Education at Laguna Technical College.
She is kind, gentle, resilient, and loves to be with children. Christian faith is the compass guiding her actions and decisions.
Shirley believes that every child is like a curious sponge, and opportunities need to be created at every stage of tender growth to inspire children to learn and explore, turning them into healthy personalities through early development.
Shirley enjoys her time singing in her church choir. She also likes food and cooking.
Cindy was born and raised in California. She has 37 years’ experience in the field of education. She has taught ages ranging from 6 weeks to 8th grade.
Cindy graduated from Fresno Pacific University with a California multi-subject teaching credential for K-8th grades with a supplemental certificate for ESL through 12th grade. She also holds a teaching license for the state of Tennessee for K-4th grades with a certificate in ESL through 12th grade. Ms. Cindy has worked as a teacher and as a director.
She loves anything Disney, reading and spending time at the beach and with her family.
Cindy is married and has 1 grown daughter who she adores, Kelly Anne, who lives in Arkansas.
Cindy loves seeing the children in her class learn through play, and strives to get them as many different experiences as possible. She believes that every experience is a learning experience for a child.
Danielle was born and raised in Orange County. She is an identical twin and adores her brother and three sisters.
Danielle graduated from Cal State University Fullerton in May 2024 with her Bachelors in Human Services. Got an Associates in psychology and liberal arts at Saddleback College, along with 12 ECE credits.
After interning with Marco Polo for a year, Danielle realized how much she enjoyed working with children, helping them learn and, making lasting connections.
She is honored to be a part of the Marco Polo Family and hopes to be a lead teacher one day. She values the trust that parents place in her and understands the importance of family and communication.
Outside of the classroom, Danielle finds joy in spending time with family, painting, yoga, and baking. She is currently in the process of applying for a Masters degree in Child Development.
Angie feels honored to work as a teacher at Marco Polo School.
Angie was raised and born in Orange County. She has over 14 years of early childhood education experience, and she served as a Director at her previous employer before accepting this role. After directing for a year, she realized her passion is being in the classroom with the children.
She believes preschool is an important time in a child’s life because it creates a love for learning that will carry on for the rest of their school years. She just became engaged and she is very excited to begin planning the wedding.
Melissa was born and raised in Orange County and has been in the ECE field since 2016.
Melissa graduated from Santa Ana College in June 2023 with her Associates of Arts with over 30 ECE units, currently she is attending Cal State Fullerton to get her Bachelor of Science Child Adolescents Studies. Her career goal is to become an elementary school teacher.
Working with children has always been her passion and she is honored to be a part of the Marco Polo.
When she is not working, she loves spending time with her family and being spontaneous!
Destinee's passion for teaching sparked when she was first introduced to the Reggio Emilia approach at Fullerton College. She knew instantly that the education for young children was her calling.
Destinee loves sharing her passion for art and animals with her students and finding out about their passions. Her favorite thing about working with children is their imagination and creativity. She enjoys listening to the stories they create and watching them learn together through play and exploration.
On Destinee's free time she enjoys caring for her pet bunny, thumper, and her aquarium. She also dabbles in some crafts such as crochet, painting, drawing, macrame, felting, embroidery, and occasionally sewing.
She spends her weekends relaxing and crafting at home with her fiancé, or they will occasionally bike to the beach together.
Fatemeh has an Associate teacher permit. Her interest in working with children led her to change her major from Accounting to Child Development. Fatemeh has worked in the Early Childhood Education field since 2017.
Fatemeh says it has been one of the best experiences of her life. She finished her degree in Early Childhood Education in 2021. Her other interests and skills include mathematics, English literature, and technology.
She believes a teacher should always update her knowledge by taking continuing education classes. She also believes that one’s teaching philosophy should be based on the diversity, temperament, and behavior of each child, which requires flexibility for the teacher to have effective educational environment.
Fatemeh has a variety of hobbies. She likes to work out, travel, and spend time with family and friends.
Amy is a warm, kind, and loving person passionate about serving, empowering, teaching, caring, and supporting children, youth, and families.
Her mission in life is to make a positive impact on society by nurturing young people to grow up to be their best, feel their best, do their best, and give their best. She believes this is the way towards a brighter future for our world. She has a holistic approach when considering how to optimize the development and education of children.
She is invested in learning about, understanding, and connecting with each of her students and their families to provide more tailored care. Her experience, work ethic, dedication, and heart allow her to best serve the children, families, and communities she encounters with an open heart and patience.
After earning an associate’s degree in English at Fullerton College, she decided to pursue Child and Adolescent Studies at California State University of Fullerton, where she will soon earn her bachelor's degree.
While being a full-time student, Amy has worked as a tutor and nanny since 2020. Geared with her education and experience, she is excited to work with the children and families at Marco Polo Children’s School and aims to explore, expand, and embrace alongside them.
In her free time, Amy enjoys spending time with her husband, taking care of her cat, reading, hiking, biking, and being outdoors. She also loves exploring new restaurants, cafes, and boba shops.
Venus is our English Preschool co-teacher and has been in the education field for over twenty five years. She has taught Farsi to school aged children for sixteen years while living in Iran. Along with her family, Venus moved to the United States and continued mentoring children through play and exercise.
Venus studied Child Development earning her associates degree from Irvine Valley College.
She has been happily married for twenty eight years. She has two children and a dog “Chico.” Venus enjoys planting and taking long nature walks with her family. She continues her active lifestyle by playing volleyball. Venus looks forward to long-term projects and exploring nature alongside the children.
She is very excited to bring her passions into the classroom and create a diverse atmosphere of learning and exploration.
Lisa has worked with preschoolers for many (30 plus) happy years.
At 16, her first job was a volunteer lunch assistant at the preschool she attended as a
child in Downey, CA. This setting is where her love for early education began as she saw the excitement the students shared in the preschool extended classroom.
Lisa attended Cerritos College, earned 26 Early Childhood Education units and received an Associate of Arts Degree in 1994 .
Lisa began teaching three, four and five
year-old students in Downey and Long Beach As she continued her education and training, she became a Special Education Instructional Assistant to preschool and elementary students through the Downey Unified School District.
After moving to Orange County in 2009. Lisa began serving in a Children's Ministry at a local church. It has brought her much joy to serve in the infant, toddler and preschool Sunday school classrooms over the years.
Before joining Marco Polo, Lisa had a rewarding time at Nellie Gail Ranch Preschool and Lutheran Church of the Cross Preschool in Orange County.
In her free time, Lisa enjoys trying new recipes, music and spending time with her three grown children. She has fun walking her two dogs, Hope and Tiny.
It is an honor for Lisa to be a part of your child's daily discoveries at Marco Polo
Children's School.
Angelica is friendly, loving and caring. She has worked as a preschool teacher for the past 20 years.
She studied at Santa Ana College where she received her AA. She would love to go back to school to earn her BA. Angelica is always looking for new things to experience. She wishes and loves to learn new languages.
Angelica is fluent in English, Spanish, French and American Sign Language.
Angelica finds it easy to approach people. She loves to spend time with her 2 daughters, going to the beach & roller skating.
Her favorite coffee shop is Starbucks. She is a problem solver and loves to attempt to fix things around the house herself.
Josie Kuo
Josie has been in the education industry for over fifteen years. After she finished Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, she became a Chinese project coordinator/instructor at the Lauder Institute of the Wharton School, and a Chinese Lecturer at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilization at UPenn. She also taught at Princeton University and its Princeton in Beijing summer program as a Chinese lecturer during her early teaching years. Throughout her career in higher education, she offered various Chinese courses to college students, ranging from beginning, intermediate to advanced Chinese, as well as specialty courses such as business Chinese and Chinese writing courses.
After she became a mother, her passion in teaching Chinese as a foreign language extended from teaching college students to young children. In 2012, she joined Chinese American International School in San Francisco as an elementary school teacher and worked with children from first grade to third grade. In becoming a mother of three, children inspired her to expand and advance her qualifications in early childhood education as a program director. This pursuit eventually led her to co-found Marco Polo Children’s School and take on the role to build and oversee its Chinese immersion program once the school is in operation.
She fell in love with Reggio Emilia philosophy during her studies in Early Childhood Education and extensive tours for her own children’s preschools. She finds Reggio Emilia philosophy the most holistic approach to a child’s overall development. Her belief is that, by honoring children’s innate curiosity and ability to construct knowledge with teachers, children are fostered to be life-long, active learners. With this belief, she is dedicated to integrating the beautiful concept of Reggio Emilia approach with Chinese immersion curriculum. Besides chasing her children around the house to play with them, Josie enjoys keeping an active and healthy lifestyle by making healthy meals and exercising.
Jack Hwang
Born in Taiwan but grew up in LA, Jack has truly embraced the spirit of exploration in today’s global environment. After spending his formative years in Arcadia, Jack ventured to the East Coast and attended the Johns Hopkins University, majoring in International Relations with a Minor in Economics, followed by an MBA from the Wharton School, and an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. In between, he spent a year as an exchange student at the Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan; he has worked and lived in Los Angeles, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung and Taipei. As such, if you are speaking a language other than English - such as Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish, or dialects such as Taiwanese or Cantonese - he might just be able to join your conversation!
In his early career, Jack worked primarily in the financial services industry for companies such as Andersen and AIG. However, the education industry has always been in his DNA, as his parents own and run reputable preschools and elementary schools in China. At the end of 2007, Jack joined his family and has played an integral part in growing the various schools, as well as expanding the school’s outreach into international programs in the US, Canada, and Australia. Being part of a language and cultural immersion initiative is nothing new to Jack, as he has personally participated and organized such programs over and over again. In 2016, seeing that more and more parents are embracing the importance of cultural diversity and language learning, Jack set in motion the plan to bring Marco Polo Children’s School to the Irvine community.
For Jack, things have come full circle coming back to California, as the major drivers for Marco Polo were to build a school that his 3 toddler boys can enjoy, and a chance to make a positive contribution back to the Southern California community where he grew up. During his spare time, Jack loves to play a game of tennis or shoot some hoops, as he used to play competitively in both sports. You might also find him with his kids and friends at baseball stadiums (Go Dodgers!) and beaches.
James Lu
Having been an architect in the design industry for over 20 year, James has a passion for creating spaces that support discovery and learning, which is what drove the design of the Marco Polo Children School to create its environment the “Third teacher” for the children. He is also a beneficiary of cross-cultural immersion, fluent in both English and Chinese.
Born in Taiwan, educated in Canada, James graduated from University of Toronto and later finished his master degree from the Harvard University School of Design. He has worked in leadership capacities for a number of reputable international firms and was well recognized by the design profession as he was voted as one of the 40/40 (top 40 leaders under 40 years old) in 2014 by the Urban Land Institute. As a father of two girls, he understands the importance of early child education in how it shapes a child’s future. He believes that the Reggio program, the language immersion and the exceptional learning environment in the Marco Polo Children School will be a powerful offering for the Irvine community.
Copyright © 2024 Marco Polo Children's School - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy