Support Staff

Ji Ma

Ji Ma

Educational Support Specialist

Ji Ma is an educator and educational administrator with 18 years experience in different school settings. She was serving at YHALE Governing Board between 2021 and 2023. With a background spanning various roles, including teacher, academic director, operations manager, executive principal, and headmaster. Ji Ma has been instrumental in establishing and managing several successful schools in China.

Her journey continued in the United States as a teacher educator, where she earned both a Master’s Degree and an Educational Specialist Degree from Austin Peay State University. Ji Ma holds credentials in Educational Leadership, TESOL, and is licensed as a Reading Specialist and Chinese teacher.

Currently, she’s pursuing Ph.D. in Language and Literacy at Georgia State University, focusing on cross-cultural and intercultural learning, bilingual education, and dual-language immersion programs. Ms. Ji Ma is proud of her two bilingual children studying at YHALE.

Qunita Capers

Qunita Capers

ELA Coordinator

Mr. Capers is a native of South Carolina. He attended South Carolina State University, where he obtained his Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Literacy. Mr. Capers found his passion in teaching while educating children from underserved communities. He has taught all subject areas and grades 1st through 6th and is well versed in elementary pedagogy. Mr. Capers is elated to start his 7th year in education with all stakeholders and community members of the YHALE institution.

Mr. Capers enjoys a variety of  hobbies during his downtime; such as playing his video game system, eating delicious foods around the beautiful city of Atlanta, playing basketball with friends, and spending time with his aussiedoodle, Seven. Mr. Capers is elated to join the YHALE family and is optimistic this will be the greatest year yet!

Diana Ung

Diana Ung

Gifted Coordinator & Teacher

Ms. Ung has over 12 years of teaching experience serving diverse groups of students in international, public, charter and private schools. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese from Swarthmore College. After her experience studying abroad in China, she moved to Shanghai to teach at an international school. Ms. Ung then took her passion for teaching back to her hometown of Philadelphia, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduating, she was able to serve her community for 4 years as an elementary school teacher for the School District of Philadelphia. 

Ms. Ung moved to Georgia in 2013. Since then, she has taught in an APS charter school, two private schools and has spent some time at home raising her children. Ms. Ung is Gifted Endorsed and is certified in Elementary Education, Middle Grades Math and Middle Grades Science. She has two children at YHALE and is so excited to join the YHALE staff this year. In her spare time, she loves to travel, serve at her church and drink bubble tea!

Cara Gallardo

Cara Gallardo

ESOL Coordinator & Teacher

Mrs.  Gallardo began her teaching career in 2006 when she took at position teaching in South Korea. After teaching for two years, she obtained a Master’s Degree from Biola University in TESOL. Cara has been teaching for 16 years. Over the 16 years, she has taught at a private elementary school, state charter school, and multiple universities including, the University of California, Irvine, Mercer University, SCAD, and the California State University, Fullerton. Cara has also held multiple administrative roles including, Associate Director of the English Language Program at Mercer University’s International Program and Director of After School Program at Irvine International University. Mrs. Gallardo loves teaching and enjoys challenging students to always do their best. Her role at YHALE includes, ELA support, 5th Grade ELA and Title 1 Reporting.

Faith Kim

Faith Kim

ESOL Teacher

Ms. Kim began her teaching career when she was living in Korea. At Faith’s English Academy, Ms. Kim taught English to Korean students aged K-Middle school as well as their parents.

During her sessions, she focused on teaching phonics, word recognition, and speaking by using creative methods like role play and interactive stations to engage the students. In addition to teaching them how to speak fluently, Ms. Kim taught them grammar and reading comprehension skills.

Ms. Kim taught at the Faith’s English Academy for 12 years and when she moved to United States, she officially pursued a career in teaching. Ms. Kim has Georgia Education Certificate to teach 4-8th graders and she taught at Gwinnett County Public School for 5 years.

Ms. Kim understands the importance of learning English and reading at a young age and is passionate about teaching English to students in an exciting and fun way. Ms. Kim looks forward to making a difference in her students’ lives and having a wonderful year at YHALE.

Haoran Yang

Haoran Yang

Math Coordinator

Mr. Haoran Yang holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Birmingham Southern College and a Master’s degree in Math Education from the University of Georgia. With a certification in Mathematics, Mr. Yang has dedicated five years to teaching at both an International Baccalaureate (IB) school and a Montessori SchoolOriginally from Yunnan, China, Mr. Yang moved to the United States for his undergraduate studies and decided to make it his home.

Outside of his professional life, Mr. Yang is a passionate basketball fan—Let’s go Hawks! He enjoys attending DragonCon annually, traveling internationally during the summer, and cherishes the company of his two cats.

Jenny Bae

Jenny Bae

SPED Teacher

Ms. Bae is a certified special education teacher with diverse teaching experience in Canada and South Korea. Her journey in education started with a Bachelor’s degree in Design from Emily Carr University, followed by a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of British Columbia. She furthered her expertise with certification in Special Education from Queen’s University, and she holds a Master’s in TESOL from Ewha Womans University.  She began her career as an art teacher at a British Columbia Offshore School in South Korea. She continued to support students as a special education and English language teacher in public schools in Vancouver.

Last year, she moved from Vancouver, Canada to Georgia with her husband and two-year-old son.  Ms. Bae is excited to bring her experience and passion for special education to YHALE.

Grace Keeley

Grace Keeley

SPED Teacher

My name is Huan Huan Hao (Grace). I was born in China and studied pre-law at ZhengZhou University of Aeronautics in China. I moved to Atlanta in 2016 with my husband, and I worked as a legal administrator in a personal injury law firm. After my son was born in 2019, I worked for a school in the Atlanta area where I developed a passion for early childhood education. I am looking forward to learning and growing as a person and educator at YHALE!

Yvonne Madison

Yvonne Madison

SPED Teacher

Ms. Madison earned her undergraduate degree in sociology from Buffalo State College and began her career at a crisis center, where she developed a strong foundation in social work. After moving to Georgia, Ms. Madison pursued her master’s degree in human services, focusing on working with women who were victims of domestic sex trafficking. This experience deepened her commitment to supporting vulnerable populations.

Driven by a passion for education and behavioral sciences, Ms. Madison furthered her studies with a master’s in special education, emphasizing applied behavior analysis (ABA). She has since worked in the ABA field, gaining extensive experience and completed her supervision hours and is preparing to take the board exam to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), demonstrating her dedication to advancing her expertise and impact in special education and behavioral analysis.

Soyoung Kwon

Soyoung Kwon

EIP Teacher

Mrs. Kwon received her Bachelor’s degree in Early Child Education and Piano from Suwon University in Korea.  She is a Georgia certified teacher (P-5) with Esol endorsement. She joined YHALE in July 2022.  She has more than 10 years of experience working with young kids.  She has always been a passionate person who loves adventure and challenges.  Mrs. Kwon believes in the potential of every student to learn and grow. Her goal is to create a classroom environment where students feel safe, loved, and supported, knowing that someone believes in them.
Julia Zhu

Julia Zhu

Technology Coordinator & Teacher

Mrs. Julia Zhu is a certified IT/Technology professional with over 20 years of working experience. She has been administering and managing various teaching and learning platforms/tools and equipment/devices used by both teaching staff and students, and she has taught multiple subjects at YHALE for more than two years: Chinese, Science, Technology, Arts, Music and PE.

Esther Suh

Esther Suh

Technology Teacher

I hold a Bachelor’s Degree of Art in Doxology and a minor in English Language and Culture from South Korea. I also studied TESOL at HongKong Baptist University. I worked as a children’s minister in Korea. After arriving in the US, I worked at a British private school. I also taught Korean on Saturdays at a local Korean school before I joined YHALE. This will be my second year at YHALE. I am very passionate about teaching children, and I am looking forward to working at YHALE. 

Luvetta Jarmon

Luvetta Jarmon

Event & Marketing Coordinator

Mrs. Luvetta Jarmon is the Event & Marketing Coordinator at YHALE.  An accomplished businesswoman, Mrs. Jarmon has dedicated most of her professional life to that of being an Executive Assistant with a track record of optimizing executive workflows and enhancing organizational efficiency. She possesses over a decade of experience supporting presidents, founders and top-level executives in Fortune 500 companies and most recently, a local non-profit organization.  She became the Culture & Events Manager at Gray Matters Capital, an impact investment company in Atlanta, GA.   She is highly proficient in event management, travel coordination, and project execution. Committed to driving productivity and fostering seamless collaboration between executives, their teams and the community.

She resides in Gwinnett County, GA with her husband, 4 children and adorable Shih Tzu named Tudi.

Yujin Pae

Yujin Pae

Nurse Aide

My name is Yujin Pae. I am proud to be a medical aid at YHALE. I studied English literature in Korea and earned my bachelor degree in Business Administration at Mercer University. I have spent my whole career in schools. I have worked as a preschool teacher for several years and have my preschool director’s certification. I have also taught Korean Kindergarten at YHALE. I love working with children and care very much about children’s health and well being. I love to start my day with a cup of coffee and end my day with some type of bakery “goodie”.

Naomi Ahn

Naomi Ahn

Aftercare Director & Inventory Specialist

Ms. Naomi Ahn received the Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics Education from University in South Korea and earned her teaching license in Mathematics. A native of South Korea, Ms. Ahn taught at YanBian Maritime College of China and High School of Korea as a mathematics educator until she was married, then moved to China with her family to pursue her teaching at YanTai Vision international schools in China. After Ms. Ahn and her family members settled in the United States in 2013, she taught Hangul (the Korean language) at Korean Saturday schools and joined YHALE’s staff in 2021.

While Ms. Ahn was in South Korea, she served as a regional representative at an adoption organization called MPAK (Mission to Promote adoption of Kids), and now she is involved in the Georgia chapter of MPAK to promote adoption with passion. Ms. Ahn resides in Duluth, GA with her husband SunKi Jeong and her fourth child Harry while their other three children live independently as college students.

Dohee (Deborah) Kim

Dohee (Deborah) Kim

Aftercare

Mrs. Deborah Kim is an Aftercare instructor who possesses 15 years of experience as an instructor of one to two-year-old toddlers at Sunday school. Formerly, she worked as a Fashion Visual Merchandiser for nearly 20 years at various fashion mall brains in South Korea, including the Samsung C&T Fashion Group. Upon moving to the United States, she initially continued her career in fashion, and later pursued a career as an Assistant Prosthodontist prior to her role at Yi Hwang Academy. 

Her enthusiasm in instructing and interacting with children has inspired her to take on her current role at YHALE, and she looks forward to creating an enjoyable and comforting afterschool environment.
Kitty Yuen

Kitty Yuen

Aftercare

Mrs. Yuen…

Hadassah Beloved

Hadassah Beloved

Receptionist

Hadassah Beloved is a former business administrator and joined YHALE 2023. After 4 years of volunteering at non-profit organization as staff, Hadassah is continuing her studies focusing on nursing. Hadassah has lived and visited 18 different countries, now settled in Georgia raising two kids. 

Michelle Pak

Michelle Pak

Receptionist

Ms. Pak earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
She has been in the telecommunications industry for the last 23 years, where she has excelled as a General Manager of Operations. She can speak in fluent English and Korean, and has great interpersonal communication skills. She enjoys interacting with people, loves children, and is excited to be a part of YHALE.

William Quintero

William Quintero

Facilities and Safety Manager

Mr. Quintero….

 

Looking for a job opportunity?

Please see yhale.org/employment for openings, and then email resume to [email protected]