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San Francisco State University

Professional Background

Katie has nearly twenty years of teaching experience in public and private schools across the San Francisco Bay Area. She taught for seven years at The Nueva School, where she built the middle school Chinese curriculum and led annual study programs in China, integrating language learning with cross-cultural understanding. Within Nueva’s personalized curriculum model, she is particularly skilled at designing individualized student projects that help students discover their interests and turn them into meaningful practice.

Katie has long focused on the educational needs of Asian families and actively promotes identity development and cultural integration. She partnered with Polydott to create the “Asian Kids Pride” program, encouraging students to confidently explore their family backgrounds, understand cultural differences, and embrace the strengths of a bicultural identity.

She actively participates in national education conferences and is frequently invited to speak on differentiated instruction, curriculum design, and personalized project-based learning. Her forward-looking approach and extensive experience have earned her high respect from students, parents, and fellow educators.

Personal Strengths

Freda is highly organized and skilled at breaking complex problems into actionable steps. She balances big-picture planning with attention to detail, creating personalized short- and long-term strategies based on students’ strengths and motivations. She supports students in course selection, activity planning, time management, and application timelines. In essay coaching, she emphasizes critical thinking, narrative structure, and authentic voice, helping students develop writing that is both logically strong and emotionally compelling. In working with parents, she communicates with professionalism and patience, fostering collaborative relationships that support students’ growth.