Avenues
Shenzhen

Angela Xu

Head of School

Angela Xu brings a deep commitment to educational innovation and reform to her role as head of school at Avenues Shenzhen. Before serving on the founding team of the Shenzhen campus, she amassed more than a decade of experience working across different education systems in the United States, including at public, private and special schools. She first joined Avenues in 2012 as a member of the founding faculty of the New York campus. Until 2018, she served as the director of the Chinese immersion program, responsible for curriculum design, teacher recruitment and training, and student assessment. In 2018, she moved with her family to China to help establish Avenues Shenzhen, serving first as the founding director of the kindergarten program and then as head of the primary division. Working together with the Avenues R&D department, she led a faculty team to design a curriculum for Avenues Shenzhen that is at once locally rooted and globally connected. 

As an expert in language immersion, Angela is passionate about helping students develop cultural competencies and flexible thinking through language acquisition. As the head of Avenues Shenzhen, she is committed to supporting students to develop cultural confidence, an international perspective, and the ability to understand and solve global-scale problems. Angela’s two children are currently studying at Avenues Shenzhen.

Angela Tung

Head of Kindergarten

Angela Tung is an experienced school head and educator with deep expertise in early childhood education. She joined Avenues Shenzhen in spring 2021 after serving for two years as early learning division head at Whittle School & Studios in Shenzhen. Previously, Angela spent nearly a decade working in Shanghai, including serving as an academic director for EliteK12 Education Group and its network of bilingual schools, HD Schools. In that role, she was responsible for the planning of the organization's Kindergartens in Shanghai, Beijing, Qingdao and Ningbo along with the overall management of Shanghai and Ningbo. Angela is passionately committed to play-based education and has developed a practice that incorporates aspects of both the Montessori and Reggio Emilia approaches. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a degree in biochemistry and also holds an AMS Early Childhood Certificate. Angela joins Avenues along with her three children.

Matt Scott

Head of Primary and Secondary Division

Matt brings a wealth of education and administrative experience to Avenues Shenzhen, where he serves as the founding head of Secondary Division (which opened in fall 2021). During the 2019-20 school year, Matt was responsible for the non-academic operation of the campus as director of operations and administration. From 2017, he served in the same role at Avenues New York; prior to that, he worked as director of education design at Avenues’ headquarters. Before joining Avenues, Matt spent 10 years with Harlem Village Academies (HVA), helping to grow the organization from one to five schools. He began his career as a teacher with Teach for America in Chicago and holds a B.A. in religious studies from Indiana University. Matt is married and has two young daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys running in Shenzhen Bay Park and exploring the regional cuisines of China.

Ally Wu

Senior Advisor

Ally Wu is a deeply experienced educator and school leader, renowned in Shenzhen and beyond for her commitment to bilingual education. From 2011, Ally served as the founding director of Shen Wai International School (SWIS) in Shenzhen, a CIS and WASC accredited school, and an IB World School for the Primary Years Program, Middle Years Program and Diploma Program. Prior to that Ally served as principal of Shenzhen Foreign Languages School Branch School for 10 years. Before that Ally was an English teacher at Shenzhen Foreign Languages School and she has also taught English at Beijing Meteorological College. Ally is also a Visiting Professor at the School of Foreign Languages at Shenzhen University and the Department of Education at The Education University of Hong Kong. She graduated from the department of foreign languages and literatures of East China Normal University in Shanghai.

Ally is the author of several books, including Dancing with Your Heart (2008, Shenzhen Publication and Distribution); Build a Harmonious School (2012, The Commercial Press); and Chat (2016, Guangxi Normal University Press). Ally has won several awards and honors, including Top 10 Best Principals of Shenzhen, 2012; The Top 10 Youth Teachers of Shenzhen, 2000; Leading Scholar of English Teaching in Shenzhen, 2003.

Shanshan Ding

Director of Operations and Administration

Shanshan first joined Avenues in 2013 as a senior consultant with Avenues’ long-term partner, Webster Pacific. In 2016, she took on the full-time role of strategy manager on the campus strategy and development team at Avenues’ headquarters in New York. She subsequently served as China financial and operations manager, China campus development manager and played a critical role in the development and launch of Avenues Shenzhen in 2018. Having been with the organization for more than a decade, Shanshan brings a deep understanding of Avenues to her role as director of operations and administration at Avenues Shenzhen from 2022. 

Shanshan graduated from the Renmin University of China Business School and also earned a master’s degree in engineering and operations research from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kiki Xiang

Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management

Kiki Xiang joined Avenues in 2021, bringing a passion for education and more than 12 years of experience in teaching and research. Previously, Kiki spent several years in Europe, teaching at universities in Poland, Germany and Belgium and participating in the European Union’s volunteer teacher program; and has also worked as a child psychological consultant in Hong Kong. Kiki holds a Ph.D in education management from Beijing Normal University. As the mother of two children, she is thrilled to be joining the admissions team and looks forward to working with families as they embark on their educational journeys with Avenues.

Freya Fang

Director of People and Culture

Freya joined Avenues in March 2019 as director of people and culture for Avenues Shenzhen. Previously, Freya spent more than 10 years working in human resources for multinational companies, non-profit organizations and start-ups in China. Most recently, she served as senior HR business partner at Amazon China, supporting a team of more than 500 employees. Before that, Freya was the HR director of education non-profit Teach For China. Passionate about education and personal development, Freya is certified as a trainer in the The 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity course, among others. She holds an M.A. in human resources management from Peking University.