LePort Montessori

Ms. Michelle Xu is from China and is fluent in Mandarin. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Han Language and Literature from the University of Ji Nan. She also holds an Associate of Science Degree in Child Development from Irvine Valley College in addition to the Montessori Fundamentals certificate. Ms. Xu has extensive experience working with children of all ages. She has been teaching Mandarin since 2003 to a variety of different age groups in language schools throughout Irvine, which helps her see the progression of child language learners over the years. Ms. Xu has been teaching at LePort since 2016, and she possesses a strong desire to help children grow and succeed in everything they do. Ms. Xu especially enjoys finding children’s talents when they are between 3-6 years of age, and helping children develop their individual potentials. Outside of the classroom, Ms. Xu is a mother to an adult son. Ms. Xu enjoys cooking, yoga, playing instruments, and spending time with her family.

Ms. Yolanda Yang Laoshi began her LePort career as the English teacher at the Irvine Mandarin campus. After a few years, she transitioned to teaching Mandarin. She grew up in Orange County, California in a bilingual household, speaking Mandarin and English. Yang Laoshi received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Northwestern University and worked for several years in Quality Systems before deciding to become a Montessori teacher. She earned her American Montessori Society credential from the Montessori Teacher Education Program at University of California Irvine. She looks forward to sharing the wonder and joy of learning with future generations.

Ms. Fangfang Yang is from Beijing, China and is fluent in Mandarin. She graduated from the Yamamashi Gakuin University with a degree in Global Economy. Yang Laoshi is training under our American Montessori Society training center and started as a toddler assistant teacher at our Irvine Mandarin campus. After that, she started the role as a junior teacher in our primary classroom. Her love and attention to detail for every child in her classroom is easily seen. Before joining LePort Montessori, she had 7 years of experience in education when she worked in Japan. Ms.Yang is the mother of two girls, and she enjoys spending time with them. They have shown Ms. Yang how to live the present moment to the fullest and also help her realize how much she loves being with children. It is a delight for Ms. Yang to observe the children freely explore and learn. Ms.Yang believes early childhood education strongly correlates with the successful adults children grow up to be, therefore, she is committed to lifelong learning and growing together with the children. Ms. Yang wants her job to be not just a job, but an opportunity to give love and see joyous children every day!

Ms. Zhu originated from China and graduated from East China Normal University. Prior to working in Early Childhood Education, Ms. Zhu worked in international import/exports. However, after she had her own child, she became very interested in Early Childhood Education. Ms. Zhu began her career with LePort in 2017. Over the years, she has supported the Irvine Mandarin campus by leading classrooms during Head of Teacher transitions. Her time spent in the Montessori environment inspired her to take her Association Montessori Internationale training for ages 0-3 at the Montessori Training Center of British Columbia in Canada, and upon completion became a Lead Toddler Montessori teacher. Ms. Zhu is always looking for ways to learn and grow in order to improve her work, and she values the time with the children and her colleagues every day.