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.
Mr. 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.
Dr. Robert Holroyd is a graduate of Oxford University and an internationalist with over 25 years' management experience in schools in the UK and abroad. Prior to joining HD schools, Robert was Headmaster of Repton School, UK, and during his thirteen-year tenure of this post, he was privileged to internationalize the Repton brand in multiple locations across the world including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jordan and India.
Christopher Edwards, an Oxford University alumnus, has held the position of principal at UWC Singapore with great acclaim, as well as leading roles at distinguished private schools in the UK and the founding of Green School. The educational institutions under his leadership have been committed to providing comprehensive education, and his students have demonstrated remarkable performance on the international stage. They have not only achieved academic excellence but also showcased exceptional abilities across a variety of fields.
With extensive experience as a seasoned international curriculum examiner and subject competition expert, Mrs. Dumble possesses a profound understanding of academic standards and efficient pedagogical practices within international curricula, supplemented by over thirty years of teaching and managerial experience. Her tenure as a founding principal and team builder at distinguished Chinese bilingual schools, including SUIS (Xiehe), has provided her with substantial insights into cultural awareness and bilingual teaching management.
Ms. Feng graduated from East China Normal University majoring in preschool education, served in Xiehe Education Group and has over 20 years working experience in international kindergarten management.
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.
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.
Ms. Wu is a graduate of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government with a master's degree in Public Policy and has 13 years of teaching and management experience at top-tier schools in China, the United States, Switzerland, Finland, and other countries, with a focus on the development of international education. Ms. Wu is passionate and experienced in school administration, English curriculum development, and teacher professional development.
Mr. Justin Toy is from Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. Previously, he has worked at Shanghai HD School for three years as a teacher in upper primary and as the Upper Primary Phase Leader. He has been teaching for over a decade and is a certified ESL teacher in the state of Massachusetts. Justin graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with dual focuses in International Economics and Marketing. He received his Massachusetts teaching license through the Boston Fellowship Program. Justin is a passionate educator and parent who enjoys integrating technology and analytics into the classroom.
A graduate of The University of Hong Kong, Mr. Xu has over ten years of experience in education management. He has founded and operated multiple high-quality international schools and is an expert in international education and admissions planning. Since joining HD Shanghai in 2024 as General Manager, he has shown exceptional professionalism and practical leadership through his work in strategic planning, team development, and family-school collaboration. He has been deeply involved in building a “distributed leadership” model for the middle school and led the integration of the national and international teams. Mr. Xu has clear insight into student development, parental expectations, and the school’s vision.
Mr. Sunny Gao joined HD Shanghai School in August 2018. He has nearly 15 years of teaching experience in domestic middle schools and education Training institutions. He has a Master of Science Degree in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from Shanghai Normal University. Mr. Sunny Gao hopes to explore more "student-centered" classroom teaching and learning models in science education, find more teaching experience suitable for Chinese children in international education, truly achieve the integration and innovation of domestic and international educational ideas, and contribute his part to the educational cause of cultivating globalized Chinese people.
Ms. Xin holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in International Education and a Bachelor’s in Economics from East China Normal University and Shanghai University. She has solid cross-cultural teaching experience and overseas teaching background. Since joining HD Shanghai in 2020, she has remained committed to Chinese language teaching across all middle school grades, while also serving as Head of Department and Cohort Leader. She has led the systematic development of Grade 7 and Grade 8 management systems and achieved outstanding results in teaching innovation, classroom management, student growth support, and family-school collaboration.
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. Patricia Xiong joined HD Shanghai School in May 2021. She holds a doctor's degree in Physics from East China Normal University, has more than 10 years of teaching experience in IGCSE / A Level Physics, and has served as a backbone Physics teacher in a well-known A Level school in Shanghai. In addition to teaching, she tutored students to participate in various international Physics competitions and provided PAT tutoring for students applying for Oxford University and Cambridge University. Dozens of her students went to Oxford University, Cambridge University and MIT, and other world-class universities.
Ms. Elline Tao joined HD Shanghai School in August 2021. She has a master’s degree in Economics from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics. She is an Economics teacher at A-Level / IBSL & HL and a tutor for the NEC competition. She has served as the IB / A Level Economics teacher of a well-known A-Level school in Shanghai for 13 years and served as the leader of the Economics and Business department.
