Meet The Ardent Team

Dr. Li

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.

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.

Ms. Lee

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

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!

Ms. Vanessa

Ms. Vanessa leads Ardent's marketing campaigns and tutoring department, and also helps manage Ardent Academy and Ardent Care. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mrs. Dahl

Bio coming soon!

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 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.

Mrs. Marshall

Bio coming soon!

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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.

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. 

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.

Mr. Ben

Mr. Ben is in a chemical engineering PhD program, researching and teaching differential mathematics and engineering at UCI's chemical engineering lab.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ms. Angelica

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ms. Farah

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

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.