Ms. Gallardo is the ESOL Coordinator and also one of our ESOL Teachers at YHALE. She began her teaching career in 2006 when she took a position teaching English in South Korea. After teaching for two years, she returned to the US and obtained a Master’s Degree from Biola University in TESOL. Over the past 18 years, she has taught at private elementary schools, charter schools, and multiple universities including, the University of California, Irvine, Mercer University, SCAD, and California State University, Fullerton. Ms. Gallardo 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 Programs at Irvine International University. Ms. Gallardo loves teaching and enjoys challenging students to always do their best. In her free time, she loves to sew, read and hike outdoors with her family!
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!
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 decided to move 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!
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 School.
Originally 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.
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 a 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.
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.
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.
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 Minister of Children 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 first year at YHALE. I am very passionate about teaching children, and I am looking forward to working at YHALE this year.
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.
Mrs. Jung holds Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
She has Georgia Education Certificate of Middle from 4-8 grade. She has experience in teaching 8th grade Math in GCPS for 5 years and English to Korean students from K-12 and the parents at the Faith English Academy for 12 years.
She is looking forward to a fun and successful year in YHALE!
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). She recently joined YHALE in July 2022. She has more than 10 years of experience working with young kids. She loves travelling with her family and exercising. She has always been a passionate person who loves adventure and challenges. Her goal as a teacher is to make a class for students where they feel safe, loved, and know that someone believes in them.
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”.
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.
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.
Looking for a job opportunity?
Please see yhale.org/employment for openings, and then email resume to admin@yhale.org