Instructors

Meet our instructors.

Four characteristics sum up Capstone’s instructors:

  • Capable: Within their academic and life experiences, each instructor demonstrates deep, relevant knowledge of the subjects he or she teaches
  • Exceptional: They each posses life experiences that make them ideal mentors and role models to the students
  • Passionate: They demonstrate a genuine passion for education and are determined to help their students learn
  • Engaging: They have a certain energy, charisma, or sincerity that connects with students and motivates students to stay focused, improve and learn
Ronald
Debate & Analysis, SAT, ACT, University Admissions Consulting

The founder of Capstone, Ronald has a BBA (Hons), Masters in Engineering (MIT), and an MBA (University of Chicago). He has extensive experience coaching students of all ages, and is involved primarily with SAT tutoring, university admissions consulting, and debate training. Over the last few years, many of his SAT students have achieved high scores of 2200 and above and gained university admissions into top universities including Harvard, Princeton and MIT. His debate students have won numerous public speaking competitions and represent many of Hong Kong's top school debate teams. In Hong Kong, he is well regarded among student and parents from top schools for his reputation in training students to achieve their best.

Before starting Capstone, he was awarded teaching awards from MIT when he achieved near perfect ratings (as voted by students) in teaching quality while teaching Entrepreneurship and SAT courses to hundreds of Massachusetts-area high school students in MIT’s famed ESP program. In his own SAT and GMAT scores, he scores 99th and 98th percentile respectively.

Ariel
Scholars, Academic Writing

Ariel graduated Cum Laude from Cornell University with a Bachelor in both Art History and Asian Studies. After gaining teaching experience in public schools in the United States, Ariel moved to South Korea to teach with the public school program EPIK (English Program in Korea) which introduces native English speakers to Korean public schools. During her time in Korea, she launched a student centered Debate Club for interested students, and created an English Conversation Club where students of all levels could practice their English through one-on-one dialogue and conversation. At Capstone, Ariel teaches the Scholars and Academic Writing courses.

Hofan
IB English Literature

Hofan has accumulated a decade of teaching and learning experience in the US, the UK, Poland and France. When not teaching at Capstone, she directs her own theatre company.

As a graduate of the IB Program at Li Po Chun United World College, Hofan went on to study Peace and Conflict Education / Dance at Swarthmore College in the US. She then went on to pursue theatre at the Paris Lecoq School and the London International School of Performing Arts.

Hofan has been at Capstone for over three years and have taught Academic Writing, Debate, English Literature and IB English courses during that time. Currently her role is focused on preparing students for their IB English Literature course objectives.

Jared
Scholars, Debate & Analysis, Capstone

Jared graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Diplomatic History and Political Science. While at Penn, Jared competed on the American Parliamentary Debate Association circuit, receiving numerous awards across the US and internationally while ranked the top debater at Penn and within the top 20 in the United States. He graduated from the IB program at Chandler High School, where he earned 41 speech & debate awards under the National Forensics League. At Capstone, he teaches Debate & Analysis, Capstone, and Scholars courses.

Meghan
Academic Writing, Literature & Society, IB English Literature

Meghan graduated with honors and received her B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard University. Meghan has over four years of experience in tutoring and mentoring children and young adults, including three summers of camp counseling and experience tutoring on an individual basis in writing, literacy and mathematics.

At Capstone Meghan teaches Academic Writing, Literature & Society, and IB English Literature.

Molly
Academic Writing, Literature & Society, IB English Literature

Molly graduated Williams College (Ranked #1 US liberal arts college) where she double majored in English and Sociology. During college, Molly held and enjoyed several tutoring positions, both at Williams, where she critiqued academic papers at the Writing Workshop and tutored middle-school students, and while studying abroad in Spain. In addition to studying literature at Williams, Molly has also interned at two book publishing houses and was an editor of the college Literary Review.

At Capstone Molly teaches Academic Writing, Literature & Society, and IB English Literature.

Nielson
SAT I/II Math, AP Calc, IB Math SL/HL, Advanced Quant

Nielson graduated from New York University with a B.S. in Actuarial Science and Finance. As a high school student, he began teaching math and reading at Kumon Learning Centers, where he developed a great passion for sharing knowledge. He received perfect scores on the SAT Math, SAT II Math, AP Calculus BC, and AP Statistics exams. Throughout college, he moved on to teach everything from SAT prep to Physics at various tutoring centers and international schools. As a former math team captain and American Math Invitational qualifier, he challenges his students to creatively think through problems rather than mindlessly memorizing formulas.

At Capstone Nielson teaches a variety of math programs to accommodate the needs of different students and their respective curricula. Nielson is also the lead developer of the Advanced Quant program specifically designed for students training to become math team members at their school and for Hong Kong.

Tabitha
Academic Writing, Scholars

Tabitha holds an Honors B.A. in Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto, and a M.A. in International Education from New York University. She has taught English on the Japan-English Exchange (JET) Program in Yokohama, and later worked at the United Nations developing a program to connect US youth with schools in Rome, Johannesburg and Madrid. From 2006-2010, Tabitha worked for Global Kids Inc., a non-profit educational organization based in New York, teaching human rights and social media to students preparing for college.

At Capstone Tabitha oversees the development for all of Capstone's curricula and teaches both Scholars and Academic Writing programs.

Tyler
Scholars, Debate & Analysis, Capstone

Tyler graduated from Carleton College (a top US liberal arts college) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He has also completed his Juris Doctor Degree of Law at the Chinese University of HK while also completing a summer internship with Baker & McKenzie - a prominent global law firm.

Before coming to Capstone he had taught intensive English courses to local Hong Kong students through the English Learning Institute.
At Capstone, Tyler teaches the Scholars, Capstone and Debate & Analysis courses.

Back to top