Academic Leadership
Yang Cao | 曹杨, Math Lead
Yang joined PKS in 2016 after earning her Master’s in Education from the University of Rochester. She holds both Multiple Subject and Single Subject teaching credentials in California. Because she didn’t grow up in a learning environment where everyone felt empowered in math, Yang is especially committed to creating one now—where all students feel seen, supported, and confident as mathematical thinkers. She works across grade levels to help design joyful, inclusive, and meaningful math learning experiences. A world traveler and lifelong learner, Yang models risk-taking and growth in her own life. Despite not being a confident swimmer, she’s taken on surfing and scuba diving to face her fear of the ocean—bringing that same spirit of curiosity and courage into her work with students and teachers every day.
Linling Chawla | 蔡林伶, Elementary Program Coordinator
Born in Anhui Province and raised in Jiangsu Province, Linling earned her BA in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at Nanjing Normal University and MA in Curriculum and Instruction at Michigan State University. She holds Chinese teaching certificates (K-12) in Michigan and Illinois, and completed the Leading Learning, Leading People, Leading Change certificates from Harvard Business School Online. She began her teaching career in the US in 2010, and joined PKS in 2015.
Linling co-authored Teaching is a Journey: The Frog in the Well with Amanda Fox and Elodie Resurreccion; the article was published in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics journal Mathematics Teacher: Learning & Teaching PK-12 in November, 2023.
Peipei Chen | 陳詩沛, Preschool Instructional Coach
Peipei embarked on her educational journey as a kindergarten teacher in Taiwan, accumulating rich experience in child development, curriculum design, and effective pedagogical strategies. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education with a Minor in Special Education at National Taitung University (formerly National Taitung Teachers' College), and a Master of Science in Education in Psychological Services at the University of Pennsylvania.
Peipei is passionate about providing a structured yet exploratory learning environment that empowers students to flourish. In her role as the Preschool Instructional Coach, she loves working with, and mentoring, new faculty members and helping foster the balance between structure and creativity in their classrooms. She continues to pursue her own professional development, staying informed about research and best practices in education.
Angela Dumalig, Head of High School Guidance
Angela joined PKS in 2024, bringing decades of experience in education and a deep appreciation for each child’s unique strengths, interests, and potential. A San Francisco native, she earned her B.A. in Liberal Studies from San Francisco State University, holds a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from the University of San Francisco, and is a Certified Professional Coach, blending educational expertise with a passion for personal growth.
Angela and her husband are the proud parents of three very different and inspiring young men, two working full time and one beginning his college journey. As a parent, she brings empathy, insight, and compassion to her work with families, guided by her core values of honesty, authenticity, and family. She finds joy and gratification in supporting them through the exciting and sometimes overwhelming process of applying to high school, grounded in the belief that every student can find right fit schools.
She believes students thrive when they are seen, heard, and supported not only for who they are today but for who they are becoming. Angela brings a warm, reflective, and strengths-based approach to her work with both students and families, drawing on her background in coaching, classroom teaching, and school leadership. This is Angela’s absolute dream job, and she feels honored every day to walk alongside young people and their families during such a meaningful chapter in their lives.
Sören Hanson, Math Lead
Sören joined PKS in 2023 after seven years of outward and inward exploration. His journey is highlighted by the investigation of different cultures, languages, classroom environments, subject matters, and self-discovery. He has taught in grades 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9-12, covering a range of topics including English Literature, Mathematics, Mandarin Chinese, Astronomy, Statistics, and ESL. His travels have placed him inside private boarding schools in New England, a Public Charter School, a private elementary school in Nanjing, China, and academic spaces in Austria, Australia, and Costa Rica.
Outside of the classroom Sören surfs, practices yoga, loves hiking, biking, and generally being in nature with others. If it’s raining, you can find Sören reading in a cozy space and looking for meaningful conversation. Sören recently stepped away from playing semi-professional baseball in Europe and Australia, though you might find him playing under some lights in the competitive Bay Area Men’s League.
Charlotte Mooney, Project Based Learning & English Lead
Charlotte Mooney has taught every grade level at PKS, and is excited to be the school's first Project Based Learning and English lead. Prior to working at PKS, she taught in Scotland, Canada, Thailand, Korea and Ghana. She has spent time studying many languages, but her strongest are Mandarin, French and Latin. She loves helping students to develop their own passions and explore the ways that they learn best.
Charlotte holds a BA in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths College, a teaching credential from Edinburgh University, and a Masters in Language and Literacy Education from San Francisco State University. She first joined PKS as a visiting STEM educator in 2014, where she taught coding to our Pioneer class, who were then just tiny first graders! She now works with students and teachers across the school. Charlotte lives in the Richmond district with her family, and can often be seen arriving at school on her big orange cargo bike!
Joshua Robinson, STEM Lead
Joshua has 10 years of teaching experience from across California and joined PKS in 2024. He holds a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Differentiated Instruction from American College of Education, as well as a B.S. in Genetics and Plant Biology from UC Berkeley (Go Bears!). In his role as a STEM Lead, his goal is to design and develop interdisciplinary projects that connect science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in meaningful, real-world applications. In addition to this work, he aims to develop students' scientific literacy skills, teaching them to distinguish between correlation and causation, evaluate the quality of evidence, and understand how scientific knowledge is constructed and validated.
Dorothy Tao | 陶如矜, Project Lead
Dorothy is an ABC (American Born Chinese) who was born and raised in the Bay Area. She was initially resentful, but ultimately grateful that her parents forced her to speak Chinese at home since childhood through nearly tyrannical means. Dorothy graduated from UC Davis with a double major in English and Economics and a minor in Chinese, and earned her MA from University of the Pacific. She joined PKS in 2017. In the classroom, Dorothy has genuinely connected with her students as a second language learner, and as someone who aspires to be truly bicultural. Outside of the classroom, Dorothy can be found either in a climbing gym or out at the crag, while being paradoxically terrified of heights.
Sinan Wang | 王思楠, Chinese Literacy & Curriculum Lead
Sinan began her teaching career in 2010 and joined PKS in 2013. She earned her BA in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at Nanjing University, and her MA in Instruction and Curriculum at Michigan State University.