Mr. Tim Duong has joined the Arroyo faculty as Assistant Principal of Activities. 

He has been a Math Teacher on Special Assignment, and a Data and Assessment Teacher on Special Assignment from El Monte Union High School District, and an assistant principal at South El Monte High School. 

“The subject I taught when I first started was math. I taught math for about 15 years. I started teaching at South El Monte High School back in 2002,” said Mr. Duong.

After graduating from Rosemead High School, he went on to Cal Poly Pomona, where he majored in math. 

His inspiration for becoming a math teacher was his high school math teacher. 

“I think it’s really her enthusiasm. It’s also the fact that she cared about her students so much. And I think you guys, as students, also understand what I’m talking about. When you have a teacher who really cares, and cares not only about teaching, but also cares about you. And it kind of makes you think, okay, this is something or somebody I want to emulate; somebody I want to become,” said Mr. Duong.

He is also first-generation and immigrated to the United States from China when he was a child.

“Actually, I was born in 1978, and my family came in 1981, so I was about 3 years old. So you can almost say that I’m first-generation along with my family,” said Mr. Duong. 

Being an immigrant, going to school, college, and getting a job made him feel like he had made it. 

“I think that’s something that’s possible for all of our students,”  said Mr. Duong.

“I think that one of the things that really stuck with me, that my dad actually told me, is “You just have to work hard. It doesn’t matter what other people are doing; you just have to make sure you’re doing your best and doing the right thing.”