Lorraine Chao 赵尚晖

Growing up in the Boston area, Lorraine was a reluctant speaker of Chinese. She learned Russian, Hebrew and French, and studied Linguistics in college. After college she decided to pursue work and life changes in Shanghai. She stayed for 12 years during which time she re-awakened her interest and connection to Chinese language and culture, part of her family heritage and personal identity.

Lorraine graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Linguistics. She has a M.Ed in Early Childhood Education from Lesley College (now University) and has taught preschool through 8th grade in the United States and China. In her seven years teaching middle school and kindergarten at the Shanghai American School, Lorraine established an ongoing relationship between SAS and its neighboring migrant school, helped develop the Middle School community service program, and was the K-2 literacy coach.

While in Shanghai, she also worked as the Bilingual Curriculum Coordinator and Academic Director for a group of local bilingual preschools, developing curriculum and teacher training programs to support joyful, creative learning.

Lorraine and her husband moved to San Francisco in 2014 when she joined the PKS community as a kindergarten teacher. She loves being a language learner and problem-solver along with her students and colleagues.