Ted Faunce

Head of School

Dr. Ted Faunce is a highly respected pioneer in the field of international education with more than two decades of experience leading bilingual schools. From 2017, Ted served as an advisor to Avenues in preparation for the launch of Avenues Shenzhen. Before joining Avenues, Ted was principal of the Chinese International School in Hong Kong for 11 years, from 2006 to 2017, where he launched a yearlong academic and residential program—the first of its kind—for 10th grade students in Hangzhou, China. Prior to that, he served as head of the American section of the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, France. Ted is a member of the board of directors of Teach for China and holds a PhD in Old French from Princeton University.

Angela Xu

Head of Kindergarten and Primary Division

An expert in language immersion and a founding faculty member of Avenues New York, Angela joined the Avenues Shenzhen team after six years at the Avenues New York campus. Until 2018, she served as the coordinator of Avenues New York’s Chinese immersion program, with responsibility for curriculum, implementation and student assessment, as well as the professional development of 40 Chinese-speaking faculty members. Angela was born and raised in Xinjiang Province before she moved to the United States for higher education. She is married with two children, both students at Avenues Shenzhen.

Matt Scott

Head of Secondary Division

Matt brings a wealth of education and administrative experience to Avenues Shenzhen, where he serves as the founding head of Secondary Division (planned to open in fall 2021). During the 2019-20 school year, Matt was responsible for the non-academic operation of the campus as director of operations and administration. From 2017, he served in the same role at Avenues New York; prior to that, he worked as director of education design at Avenues’ headquarters. Before joining Avenues, Matt spent 10 years with Harlem Village Academies (HVA), helping to grow the organization from one to five schools. He began his career as a teacher with Teach for America in Chicago and holds a B.A. in religious studies from Indiana University. Matt is married and has two young daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys running in Shenzhen Bay Park and exploring the regional cuisines of China.

Matt Lai

Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management

Matt Lai joined Avenues after 14 years at Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley, California where he served in a number of roles, including director of admissions & financial aid, dean of students, dean of residential life, teacher, and coach. He is currently a trustee at the Enrollment Management Association, a non-profit organization that administers the SSAT and provides professional support and enrollment tools to over 1,300 independent schools around the world.. Before transitioning to a career in education, Matt was a litigation attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP in Manhattan. Matt holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School as well as an M.A. and B.A. from Stanford.

As part of his admissions work prior to joining Avenues, Matt traveled extensively in China, recruiting students for U.S. boarding schools and speaking on panels about international education. He is thrilled to be joining the Avenues Shenzhen team in this dynamic moment of campus expansion, and looks forward to getting to know prospective families in Shenzhen as they explore the possibilities of an Avenues education.

Freya Fang

Director of People and Culture

Freya joined Avenues in March 2019 as director of people and culture for Avenues Shenzhen. Previously, Freya spent more than 10 years working in human resources for multinational companies, non-profit organizations and start-ups in China. Most recently, she served as senior HR business partner at Amazon China, supporting a team of more than 500 employees. Before that, Freya was the HR director of education non-profit Teach For China. Passionate about education and personal development, Freya is certified as a trainer in the The 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity course, among others. She holds an M.A. in human resources management from Peking University.