Head of School

Chris Livaccari (李克立)
Head of School

Christopher M. Livaccari is the Head of Presidio Knolls School, and an educator, author, and former US diplomat who served in Tokyo and Shanghai as a Vice Consul, Deputy Press Attaché, and as Deputy Director of the Tokyo American Center. He was previously the Senior Advisor for China Learning Initiatives in Asia Society’s Center for Global Education in New York, the Chinese Program Director at Silicon Valley International School in Palo Alto, and a member of the board of trustees of Chinese American International School in San Francisco.

Chris is the author of New Ways of Seeing: How Multilingualism Opens Our Eyes and Trains Our Minds for a Complex World, and co-author of Structures of Mandarin Chinese for Speakers of English I & II, Chinese Language Learning in the Early Grades, and the Chinese for Tomorrow series, among many essays and articles on language, education, and culture. He has been a featured speaker at the Aspen Ideas Festival, has spoken on Chinese language education at the British Museum in London, and was the recipient of the U.S. State Department’s Meritorious Honor Award, citing outstanding speeches written for two U.S. ambassadors to Japan. In 2022, he received a Kellogg Foundation grant, “in recognition of [his] work building understanding and leadership in US-China relations, and helping educate the next generation of US-China leadership.”

As a Foreign Service Officer, Chris supported visits to Asia by two U.S. presidents, two secretaries of state, and multiple congressional delegations. As Director of Education and Chinese Language Initiatives at Asia Society, he created a partnership and exchange network of more than 200 schools across 23 U.S. states and 28 provinces in China that included almost 100,000 students.

He studied modern Chinese, Japanese, Korean, & Russian literature at Columbia University; Classical Chinese, Japanese, Korean, & Sanskrit literature at the University of Chicago; and applied linguistics at New York University. 

Division Heads

Simona Chongo ( (钟文慧)
Head of Preschool

Simona has led the innovative Presidio Knolls early childhood education program since 2009, shortly after the school’s founding. As a parent, former Board member, and school leader, she has played a central role in creating the warm, loving environment that makes the PKS preschool such a special place. She is passionate about children and works tirelessly with our parent association and staff to create a respectful, diverse, and vibrant community. She is especially committed to fostering our twin goals of progressive Reggio-Emilia inspired education and Mandarin immersion.

Simona and her husband have two daughters who are being raised in English, Mandarin, and Romanian. Her family enjoys traveling around the world in the summer and skiing during PKS breaks.

Simona has a BA in Languages and Literature with an emphasis in American Cultural Studies, as well as teaching credentials from Bucharest University in Bucharest, Romania. She is fluent in English, Romanian, and French and loves practicing her Italian and Spanish every chance she gets.

Lorraine Chao (赵尚晖)
Head of Elementary (K-4)

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.

Mike Levy (李维义)
Head of Middle School (5-8)

Mike has spent his career educating students around the world -- he has taught history, literature, economics, and Chinese in the United States, Israel, and China.

Mike began his career teaching in Quaker schools in the Philadelphia area. He then moved to China as a Peace Corps Volunteer and taught at Guizhou University.  After returning to the U.S., Mike taught at Saint Paul’s School in New Hampshire, and Saint Ann’s school in Brooklyn. Before joining PKS, he helped open Avenues: The World School in New York City, and was the founding member of their start-up team in Beijing.

Along with his teaching, Mike is also an author. His memoir, Kosher Chinese: Living, Teaching, and Eating with China’s Other Billion, won multiple literary awards and was a New York Times bestseller. His shorter work has appeared in numerous anthologies, magazines, and newspapers.

Mike graduated from Cornell University in 1998 with a BA in philosophy and religious studies. He met his wife, Ines, in his freshman dorm. They have two children in the PKS Elementary School. Mike received his MAT from Columbia University’s Teachers College. He has also studied at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel.

Pedagogical Leadership

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 Sunset district with her family, and can often be seen arriving at school on her big orange cargo bike!

Elizabeth Heuser
Wellness Lead

Elizabeth joined PKS in 2022 after a more than decade of working as a wellness counselor and director in Bay Area schools, including Archbishop Riordon, The Marin School, and New Traditions. She has a deep knowledge of the developmental needs of children and how schools and families can connect to help kids develop into healthy, confident, engaged young people. She loves the opportunity to connect through play and learning with children of all ages at PKS!

Elizabeth is a San Francisco native who went East for college to Bowdoin studying French and Art, spent a year in the Hong Kong fashion world, worked in the arts at Christie’s Auction House, and taught kids to ski in Tahoe before getting a Master’s in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University. While in school, she worked in Asia/Oceania regional grant making at the Global Fund for Women. She earned her clinical hours toward becoming a licensed MFT in both private practice and school counseling at SFUSD's Student Intervention Team and Mercy High School, also supporting the school's international student population. She believes that when students of all ages understand their minds and bodies they can contribute to both their own wellbeing and that of their whole community. When she’s not at PKS, you can find Elizabeth snapping photos of Bay Area trails and beaches, catching live music, skiing, or visiting her nephews in Connecticut and Colorado.

Haiyang Yu
Early Childhood Development Specialist

Haiyang leads preschool teachers in building inclusive classrooms, promoting social emotional learning, and supporting integration strategies for success in the early learning years. She also leads small weekly social groups to practice targeted social skills, observes daily classroom activities, identifies opportunities in the classroom to foster a welcoming learning environment, and facilitates ongoing parent-teacher check-in meetings to promote transparent communication.

Prior to joining PKS, Haiyang was an early childhood education specialist in the San Francisco Unified School District for a decade, providing training for teachers, advocating for families, and implementing strategies to provide an inclusive environment supporting diverse learners.

Born and raised in Harbin, China, Haiyang received her BA in Educational English from Harbin Normal University and Chinese Teacher Qualification Certification from the Chinese Ministry of Education. In 2012, she was one of three students from China selected by the US State Department for the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program, which provides outstanding undergraduate students from around the world with a one-year scholarship for non-degree full-time study in the US, combined with community service, professional development, and cultural enrichment. She went on to earn an MA in Special Education from San Francisco State University, and is credentialed as an Education Specialist in Early Childhood from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Haiyang is a named researcher in “Bilingualism as Conceptualized and Bilingualism as Lived: A Critical Examination of the Monolingual Socialization of a Child with Autism in a Bilingual Family,” published by the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2015.

Peipei Chen
Preschool Instructional Coach

Peipei embarked on her educational journey as a kindergarten teacher in Taiwan, dedicating six years to accumulating rich experience in child development, curriculum design, and effective pedagogical strategies. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education with a Minor in Special Education, earned at National Taitung University (formerly National Taitung Teachers' College). She is especially suited to provide personalized guidance to a diverse spectrum of young learners, including those with unique needs. Peipei also earned a Master’s of Science in Education in Psychological Services at the University of Pennsylvania, expandeding her comprehension of the psychological dimensions of education, encompassing child psychology, counseling, and behavior management.

Her teaching philosophy revolves around striking a precise balance between structure and creativity within the classroom. She is passionate about providing a structured yet exploratory learning environment that empowers students to flourish. Currently, in her role as the Preschool Instructional Coach, Peipei maintains a dedicated focus on ongoing professional development, staying informed about educational advancements, research, and best practices. Peipei also loves working with, and mentoring, new faculty members.

Advancement Team

Jenefer Johnson
Director of Admissions

Jenefer grew up in a small town in central Illinois where there were few, if any, opportunities to interact with cultures or languages outside of her own. As a result, she has spent most of her adult life looking for ways to be immersed in language and culture.

Jenefer has an MA in Applied Linguistics and Teaching ESL and spent much of her career focused on supporting English language acquisition for adult non native speakers of English - as a teacher and curriculum developer; through textbook sales, publishing, and teacher training; and as the director of an English school for international students in San Francisco. She was thrilled to join PKS as the Director of Admissions in 2019, to continue to help others be immersed in language and culture, from an earlier age.

Jenefer is thrilled that her elementary school daughter, who has been at PKS since P1, has the language and culture opportunities she didn’t get. Despite many years of her efforts to teach mom Mandarin, Jenefer missed the critical window for retaining or repeating tones. She’d love to chat with you in Italian, though!

Auxiliary Team

Olivia Sorrells
K-8 Auxiliary Program Coordinator

Olivia’s professional background includes a B.A. in Psychology, time spent teaching in Thailand, work as a Behavioral Therapist with children diagnosed with ASD, and previously supervising after school programs in her hometown of Redding, California. She is thrilled to be in this role, always happy to aide in parent communications for all things after school and camp related, as well as enjoying getting to know the wonderful students at PKS. When off campus, she enjoys getting creative by practicing pottery, painting, and dancing.

Samantha Wilcox
Director of Auxiliary Programs

Samantha Wilcox is thrilled to be the Auxiliary Director at PKS! She comes from a long background of summer camp, enrichment classes and out-of-school programming for preschool through high school students, and is excited to bring her expertise to the Auxiliary team at PKS. 

Samantha graduated with BAs in Journalism and Communications from UW-Madison. After graduation, she worked at EDMO, a non-profit STEAM summer camp in the Bay Area as their San Francisco Region Manager. She moved on to be their Online Programs Manager, navigating the world of online summer camp during the COVID pandemic. During her time at EDMO, she oversaw 14 summer camp locations across the Bay Area.

While not at school, Samantha loves hiking, traveling to new places, and finding the best burrito in the Bay Area. She and her husband live in San Leandro and are always looking for new fun spots to explore. 

Yanyi Chen
Preschool Auxiliary Program Coordinator

Yanyi is now working as a Preschool Auxiliary Program Coordinator in PKS . In her previous job she had 6 years of experience as a preschool lead teacher in addition she also had 2 years of experience as a staff coordinator. She loves to be surrounded by children and passionate to support each child's learning experience. Yanyi graduated from Harbin Normal University School with a bachelor's degree in Teaching Chinese as a foreign language. After two years as a teacher of Chinese as a foreign language, she chose to continue her studies and in 2012 came to the US, where she obtained an MBA from Lincoln University. Yanyi lives in Hayward with her husband and son, and they spend weekends together exploring nature and finding the best food in the Bay Area.

Business Office

Aileen DeLeon
Director of Finance

Aileen de Leon works as the Financial Controller at PKS and has been in this position for the past seven years. She is passionate about her job and enjoys working at PKS. Before joining PKS, Aileen worked for over 15 years in accounting for a non-profit organization.

Aileen received her Master's degree in Accounting from Walden University. As a Controller, her primary responsibilities entail overseeing accounting operations, reconciliations, closing, and reporting. In addition, she leads annual audits for financial and 403B plans. Aileen's expertise and meticulous approach enable her to manage complex financial systems, ensuring accuracy and compliance with regulations.

Gillian Wilson
Chief Finance and Operations Officer

Gillian has been a key member of the Business Office since the launch of the first PKS kindergarten class. As a parent and school leader, she is excited to develop and implement processes to support the school’s growth and is always seeking effective and efficient ways to keep the school running smoothly.

Gillian has an LL.B Law degree from Reading University, UK, and holds an MBA from SFSU. A transplant from the UK, Gillian first worked in operations, finance, and HR at development non-profit Thousand Currents (formerly IDEX) and Women’s Earth Alliance both focused on community-led initiatives to develop food sovereignty, and economic and climate justice.

Gillian and her husband have two daughters who both benefited from being students at PKS, and in her down time you’ll often find them hiking with their dog, Cooper, exploring the Bay Area’s many trails and beaches.

Rosie Santiago
Accountant

Rosie works as a Staff Accountant at PKS, and has worked in accounting for more than 10 years. She is a detail-oriented person and uses that approach when processing payroll, account payables, reimbursements, and credit card reconciliation. She enjoys working at PKS.

She was a high school teacher in the Philippines before she migrated to the US. She taught Filipino language, Home Economics and P.E. Rosie has a BS in Education, License in Phlebotomy, a certification in Medical Assisting, and Crash Courses in Accounting. Rosie loves cooking, creating things out of something, decorating, and organizing. She also loves to travel and explore beautiful places.