The Chief Academic Officer, Academic Director, and Principals all have a rich experience in managing bilingual schools and international schools. The international teachers come from various English-speaking countries (including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia) and are professionally qualified. The Chinese teaching team are all well-experienced teachers from international schools or public schools and are led by academically outstanding teachers. Every member of our teaching team embraces education with full passion and commitment to academic excellence. Teachers will get to know each child as an individual and will offer a personalised education for each child. We offer a unique curriculum integrated with character education.
Zhencun Li was the Founder of Chinese Integrated Curriculum in the Primary Sector and member of Steering Committee for Basic Education Curriculum Material with the Ministry of Education. He was the former Founding Principal of Yizhuang (Etown) Branch of Beijing National Day School. He is the Chief Editor of Contemporary Education & Dean of Contemporary Education Institute.
Mr. Warren Johnston formerly served as the Executive President of Shanghai YK Pao School, and as the Elementary Principal of The German Swiss International School Hong Kong (GSIS). His unique personality, extraordinary leadership, and his insight of both international and Chinese culture have underpinned his high reputation among the International Education Industry of China.
Ms.Feng graduated from East China Normal University majoring in preschool education, served in Xiehe Education Group and has over 15 years working experience in international kindergarten. She used to be the curriculum director and the Chinese director. She co-founded the first nursery project in Yangpu District.
As an Integrated Chinese Curriculum Specialist and Senior secondary teacher, Ms. Yu is dedicated to exploring the potential of every student over her last 28 years of teaching. Ms. Yu has bachelor’s degrees from both East China Normal majoring in Chinese Literature and Hangzhou Normal University majoring in Educational Management. Her further master's study was with the University of Canberra majoring in Educational Leadership. She has over 10 years of management experience in public and bilingual schools, as well as enriched experience in teaching and designing the cross disciplinary curriculum. She has previously been given the Exemplary Teacher of The Province and the Rising Star of Teachers awards. Over 20 years of teaching in Chinese subject and researching of PBL, her achievements in teaching and researching were published and awarded multiple times by the local government. She has participated in educational research projects with the Shanghai Academy of Educational Science. Ms. Yu travelled to Finland and Singapore; by learning about primary and secondary education abroad, she has gained a very broad educational philosophy and international perspective.
Mr. Kitchens has over twenty years of international leadership and teaching experience in Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, and Japan. A native of Atlanta, Georgia in the United States, he holds two master's degrees - a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Barry University and a Master’s in Education from Indiana University - as well as a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of Washington. Prior to joining HDSH, Mr. Kitchens was the Deputy Head of School and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) Coordinator for five years at Medan Independent School, a PK-12 IB World School in Indonesia, where he led the IBDP authorization and co-led WASC and IB PYP & MYP reauthorization visits.
Principal Cheng has been deeply engaged in Chinese teaching for more than 30 years. She is a well-known teacher of special-grade and a core expert of the whole courses. She is excellent in both performing skills and moral integrity, who has deep attainments in many fields such as children's picture book reading and teachers' professional guidance. Therefore, she has also won the respect from teachers, students and parents. During the past five-year as National Deputy Principal in HD Ningbo, she developed a large number of excellent teachers’ team, with high satisfaction with Chinese courses. In recent years, Principal Cheng has visited HD Shanghai several times to conduct Chinese teaching, and has been invited to participate in teachers’ promotion and research of cross-campus collaborative teaching, etc.
Mr. Tom Ward has been a teacher and leader in primary education for over fourteen years in the UK and China. He has worked at HD Shanghai since 2020. He has a degree in Creative Writing and Writing for Performance from the University of Bolton and holds Qualified Teacher Status from the prestigious Bishop Grossteste University in Lincoln, England. In addition, Mr. Ward holds a Primary Science Specialist qualification from the STEM Centre attached to the University of York.
Mr. Ward has taught all ages of students within primary at OFSTED rated ‘Good’ schools and has been in leadership for the last seven years. His last role was the Primary Head of English, overseeing the development of a new English curriculum and assessment programme, a task he completed in 2012 in the UK. HD Shanghai is excited to welcome Mr. Ward to the HD Family!
Principal John Ong is from Singapore. Before joining HD Shanghai Secondary School, he was the principal at Hwa Chong International School which is well known in Singapore. From his earlier public service career days in Singapore, he gathered a wealth of experience from his mainstream secondary school leadership and service in the Ministry of Education Headquarters of Singapore holding strategic manpower planning and school appraisal appointments. Academically, he holds a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honors from the National University of Singapore on a government scholarship and a Masters of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy from the Monash University, Australia. Professionally, he attained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education with Distinction and emerged from the Leaders in Education Programme catered only for specially selected mainstream school leaders from the highly recognized National Institute of Education, Singapore. He is knowledgeable of Singapore-Cambridge A-Level, International A-Level, IGCSE and IBDP curriculum, while having rich experience and unique insights in school management and strategic planning.
Daniel(Dan) Stevenson is from London in the United Kingdom. He was the Head of English and Assistant Principal at HD Ningbo School where he had responsibility for the pastoral well-being of students in the senior school, the teaching of English across the middle and senior schools, school enrichment, and the delivery of the school’s online-merged-offline (OMO) provision. Dan is a First-Class Honours Graduate with an MA in English Studies from Queen Mary, University of London. While working at a supplementary school, Dan discovered his love of teaching and completed a PGCE in English, Media and Drama at Goldsmiths College, London. More recently, to enhance his knowledge and skills in school leadership, Dan completed an MSc in Educational Leadership and Management; his dissertation explored the impact or appraisal systems in bilingual school settings. Dan also holds the U.K.’s National Professional Certificate in School Senior Leadership (NPQSL). He has over 12 years of teaching experience and has taught IGCSE and A Level English Language and Literature as well as IGCSE Film and Media Studies.
Mr. Chou has nearly 20 years of teaching, university counseling and school management experience in various international schools. Before Mr. Chou joined HDSH, he was a leading math teacher of a well-known international high school in Shanghai. Mr. Chou has helped hundreds of students in their university applications to many world top universities including Univeristy of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and top 30 universities in USA. Some of his students were graduated with PhD in Aerospace Engineering at MIT, or PhD in Physics at the University of Cambridge. Mr. Chou himself has a master's degree in financial mathematics and dual bachelor's degree with honors in electronic engineer and mathematics from the University of British Columbia (UBC). He had been teaching at math department of UBC for nearly ten years after graduation.
Ms. Yan has graduated from the University of Cambridge. She is a member of Cambridge Association of Overseas Scholars, and the program leader for Cambridge Professional Development Qualification (PDQ). She has over 15-year experience of leading multiple international programs in several large education groups, served as the academic director for KAPLAN China which is one of the world’s largest education groups, supervising the academic operation of 11 international schools of KAPLAN China. She’s convinced that good education should grow in children the curiosity to explore the world, the competency to take action and the determination to pursue the truth, and educators should be the guide for both the intellect and the soul.
