Meet The Ardent Team
Founder & CEO
Dr. Li i has over twenty years of professional experience in designing and delivering innovative learning solutions and is a former professor and a published author.

Ardent Admissions Director
Mrs. Li
Mrs. Li oversees the academic counseling of all Ardent Admissions students, guiding them and helping them get into the college of their dreams.

Ardent Care Supervisor & Math Instructor
Ms. Lee
As a former Ardent parent herself, Ms. Lee now manages our Ardent Care staff as well as teach elementary level Math Olympiad.

HR Lead & Admissions Coordinator
Ms. Jolin
Ms. Jolin leads Ardent's HR department and is the primary coordinator for Ardent Admissions. She also runs Ardent's Chinese WeChat group!

Marketing Lead & Tutoring Coordinator
Ms. Vanessa
Ms. Vanessa leads Ardent's marketing campaigns and tutoring department, and also helps manage Ardent Academy and Ardent Care.

Operations Manager
Ms. April
Ms. April manages our Northwood campus and is part of Ardent Care staff. She is always ready to help parents and students in both English and Chinese.

Assistant College Counselor
Ms. Ying
Ms. Ying graduated from UCSD in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and attends med school at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine.

Assistant College Counselor
Mr. Taimur
A graduate from Harvard University and Duke University, Mr. Taimur guides and assists Ardent Admissions scholars while he attends Stanford School of Medicine as a MD student.
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Senior College Essay Editor
Mrs. Hamilton
As a professional writing coach for over 10 years, Mrs. Hamilton uses her Master's in Education from USC to help students master their writing, time management, and organization skills.

Senior College Essay Editor
Mrs. Dahl
Bio coming soon!

College Essay Editor
Ms. Delia
Ms. Delia is a UCI graduate and current MFA candidate at Columbia University School of the Arts. She helps students polish their essays and shine in their college applications.

College Essay Editor
Mrs. Marshall
Bio coming soon!

College Essay Editor & Assistant
Ms. Shannon
With dual degrees from Florida State University and a Master's in Science from NYU, Ms. Shannon works directly with Mrs. Li to give students academic counseling.

Lead Math Instructor & Media Specialist
Mr. Ian
Mr. Ian is a UCI graduate in Math and has been teaching at Ardent since 2019. Students love his engaging and encouraging teaching style.

Math Instructor/Tutor
Mr. Leo
A double major in Applied Math and Statistics at UCLA with a Specialization in Computing, Mr. Leo has experience teaching and participating and math and science competitions.

Math & Science Instructor/Tutor
Mr. Ben
Mr. Ben is in a chemical engineering PhD program, researching and teaching differential mathematics and engineering at UCI's chemical engineering lab.

Chemistry Instructor
Mr. Lee
Mr. Lee has over 25 years of teaching experience and is currently a chemistry teacher and Chemistry Olympiad coach at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School.

Biology Instructor
Mr. Kim
Mr. Kim has taught integrated science courses at Northwood High and has been teaching biology, chemistry and environmental science at Arnold Beckman High School since 2012.

Biology Instructor
Mrs. Le
Mrs. Le is an Irvine native that currently teaches biology and physics at Legacy Magnet Academy. She previously taught AP Biology with great success at Beckman High School.
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Science Olympiad Instructor
Ms. Lauren
Ms. Lauren is a proud former student of Ardent who is now going to UPenn. She has extensive research experience and is an accomplished Science Olympiad team member and mentor.

Biology Instructor/Tutor
Mr. Jedrick
Mr. Jedrick was a Regents Scholar at UCLA in Human Biology and Society. He is now pursuing a Master's in Molecular Sciences and Software Engineering at UC Berkeley.

English Instructor
Mrs. Banagas-Engelerdt
Mrs. B-E teaches high school English at Ardent. She has been an English teacher for 25 years and previously awarded Northwood High Teacher of the Year and IUSD Teacher of the Year.
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English Instructor
Mrs. Kohn
Ms. Kohn has her MFA in Creative Writing and Literature and has over 5 years of experience teaching in reading and writing. She was previously the editor for two fantasy/sci-fi YA novels.

English Instructor
Ms. Amanda
Ms. Amanda has been an Ardent K-8 Instructor in Math and English since 2016 and has helped pioneer Ardent's English program. Her favorite fantasy, books are Harry Potter and The Hobbit.

English Instructor/Tutor
Ms. Jasmine
Ms. Jasmine is a UCLA graduate with two degrees in Applied Linguistics and English. Her research focuses on second language acquisition and has presented on accent discrimination.

Speech & Debate Instructor
Mr. Benjamin
Mr. Benjamin, former captain of his speech & debate team, is a two time national semifinalist, with a peak live ranking of #17 in the country for congressional debate.

Coding Instructor
Mr. Wie
Mr. Wie taught coding since 2008 and has been with Ardent since 2013. He previously taught at St. Margaret's Episcopal School for 15 years and is currently at Choate Rosemary Hall.

Coding Instructor
Mr. Andrew
Mr. Senkowski is a longtime teacher at Ardent and a UCLA graduate in Mathematics of Computation. When he's not teaching, he also works in full stack development and data analysis.

Content Developer & Coding Tutor
Ms. Angelica
Ms. Angelica studies Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at UC Berkeley. She has won awards for math contests, programing, & video editing.

Math & Science Tutor
Ms. Kombi
Ms. Kombi is a UCLA graduate who studied Psychobiology and Biochemistry. She has also completed 3 AA degrees and 1 AS degree while in high school.

Math & English Tutor
Mr. Bret
Mr. Bret studies biological sciences at UC Irvine and has been a math tutor since high school. He appreciates growing as a learner along with his students.

Math & Coding Tutor
Mr. Liam
Mr. Liam was an undergraduate lab tutor for coding languages while studying Computer Science at UC Irvine. He enjoys helping students have their "light bulb" moment.

Math & Coding Tutor
Ms. Palvi
Ms. Palvi is pursuing Computer Science at UC Santa Barbara. She loves helping students not only improve but also get excited about learning.

Math & Coding Tutor
Ms. Farah
Ms. Farah is an enthusiastic and experienced tutor who is currently studying Computer Science at UC Irvine.

Coding Tutor
Mr. Devin
Mr. Devin is studying Computer Science at UC Irvine. In his spare time, he has developed a portfolio of projects including games and educational tools.