About Marco Polo Children's School

 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.

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! 

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. 

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.  

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.

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.

Evelyn was born in Yunnan, a beautiful city in southern China, known for its lovely spring weather. 

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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.  

  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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.