Stella Zhou

Master of Huili Shanghai

Stella Zhou graduated from East China Normal University with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and literature and a master’s degree in education. Since then, she has gained nearly 20 years’ experience of teaching and management in international and bilingual schools.

As the founding principal of Huili School Shanghai, Stella, together with other Chinese and international educators and experts, designed the school’s bilingual curriculum and recruited a team of dedicated teachers. She has led this team tirelessly to develop the best possible bilingual curriculum for Chinese pupils.  

Stella is a passionate educator who fully believes in the Huili philosophy of holistic education. She hopes to bring all her experience to Huili and is keen to make it a world-class bilingual school.

Stella understands the importance of implementing a flexible education that focuses on pupils' long-term benefits without losing sight of more immediate concerns. This means empowering our pupils to live a meaningful life while taking the initiative to represent China on the world stage. 

Lydia Lim

Bursar

Before joining us, Lydia Lim spent four years in the same capacity in Beijing City International School, which accommodates both foreign and Chinese pupils. Lydia also has extensive experience in the accounting industry, where she was attached to several international firms, including Arthur Andersen and KPMG. During this time, she led various financial projects in real estate, resorts and service related industries, assurance and advisory business for multi-national organisations and public listed companies.

Lydia is a chartered accountant, a fellow member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), an experienced member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She also completed an MBA from Oxford Brookes University.

Rosalie Pietsch

Head of Primary

Mrs. Rosalie Pietsch looks forward to joining the Huili School community. Most recently Mrs. Pietsch held the position of Head of Primary at Canberra Grammar School where she was a member of the Whole School Executive and responsible for all aspects of schooling for students aged three through to twelve. Located in the capital city of Australia, Canberra Grammar School is the district’s premier school providing high quality internationally focused education.

A dynamic and innovative leader, Mrs. Pietsch significantly built enrolments at Canberra Grammar School, while also broadening the educational offerings ensuring students were challenged, engaged and inspired by their learning. As an educational leader, Mrs. Pietsch is mindful of the significant responsibility that rests in making a positive difference for the learning of all students within her care. Establishing high expectations, developing a shared language of learning, drawing on data to inform pedagogical practice, and charting a clear course which is understood by all are markers of her approach to education leadership.

Mrs. Pietsch is excited to be continuing to build the strong bilingual community that currently exists at Huili School, Shanghai; to further develop students’ creative thinking and capacity to successfully engage with the complex opportunities of a changing world.

Laura Ge

Head of Junior High

Laura graduated from Dalian University of Foreign Languages, majoring in English language and literature. Early in her teaching career, she taught English at Shandong University, one of the top universities in China. She was elected as the ‘Young Backbone Teacher' for her creative problem solving and tireless work ethic. She has been devoted to international education for over ten years. Laura joined Yew Chung International School of Shanghai in 2008. Since then, she successfully held the posts of Chinese language teacher, Chinese studies subject leader and Chinese year group coordinator.

In 2015 she worked as a founding member of the leadership team at Yew Wah International Education School, a bilingual sister school founded by Yew Chung Education Foundation. Laura was a key contributor in the process of setting up the primary and secondary curriculum and other managerial processes. Laura believes that the goal of education is to motivate pupils to be lifelong learners and help them become the very best young adults they can be. Outside work, Laura has a wide range of interests, including music, travelling and reading.

Lana Kulas

Head of High School

After graduating from Oxford University with a BA (Hons) in English language and literature, Lana Kulas went on to study for a postgraduate general certificate in education (PGCE) at the University of London. She began her teaching career in London, UK, where she worked in several large schools in the city. As an assistant principal, she set up a sixth form at Chelsea Academy. Most recently, Ms. Kulas has been a head of a secondary school in Doha, Qatar, where she was one of the founding members of a leadership team of a brand-new international school.

As a school leader, Ms. Kulas believes in developing well-rounded students who have access to a wealth of opportunities that enable them to discover their passion and find a sense of purpose. This begins with rigorous academic qualifications and teaching that develops a love of learning and the ability to persevere and inquire in times of challenge. Students need to be guided, supported and unafraid of making mistakes in order that they may discover their true potential.

In her spare time, Ms. Kulas enjoys travel and sport. Originally from Bosnia-Herzegovina, she is also involved in charitable work and supporting an orphanage in her hometown by organising fundraising events and service trips for students. Ms. Kulas is very excited to be moving to Shanghai to set up Huili High School and is looking forward to discovering a rich new culture and way of life.

Maggie Zhou

Deputy Head

Maggie Zhou graduated from East China Normal University with a BA and MA. She has over 20 years’ experience in teaching and school management. Prior to joining Huili School Shanghai, Maggie worked in Shanghai as the Head of International Education Department of Shengda Garden Primary School.

Her passion in exploring Eastern and Western cultures inspired her to develop the best bilingual curriculum for Chinese pupils by combining the strength of Chinese compulsory education and the concepts of collaboration and investigation promoted in Western education philosophies. She genuinely looks forward to working with the talented Huili team of local and expatriate educators to establish a world-leading bilingual school in China.

Joy Qiao

Founder and Chairman

Joy Qiao is the Founder and Chairman of Wellington College China. She founded the group in 2009 and, under her leadership, Wellington China has become one of the most reputable international education groups in China and globally. Joy grew up in Shanghai and earned her BA in Computer Science at the University of Oxford. Prior to her devotion to education, she had extensive experience working in the IT industry in the United Kingdom, Germany and China.

Joy is married to a British husband and they have two teenage sons. Influenced by this, Joy's vision is to create the world's leading English-Chinese bilingual schools, which combine the very best attributes of both British and Chinese education. She views such blended education as being a key contributor towards deepening understanding and appreciation between China and the rest of the world. Bilingualism, cross-cultural awareness and global citizenship will all be highly valued skills in this century when East is meeting West.  

Jacky Ni Rui Ming

Member

Jacky Ni is the Headmaster of Shanghai Pudong High School, with over 20 years of school leadership experience across six schools. He graduated from Shanghai Normal University and began his teaching career at Shanghai Jianping High School and progress his career there.  In July 1996, Jacky took up his first headship position. He studied part-time at East China Normal University and the National Training Centre for Secondary School Principals by Ministry of Education. In order to extend his professional learning beyond the education sector, Jacky also studied EMBA courses at Fudan University, the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and Freeman Business School, Tulane University. In 2004, he took part in a Leadership program sponsored by the British Council and Shanghai Education Commission and in 2006 led Hualin Middle School successfully through an inspection by 2 HMIs.

Between 2006 and 2007, Jack completed a Leadership and Self Inspection programme at the Institute of Education, London University and he also attained a Master’s Degree in Education from Towson University, USA. Jacky has undertaken more than ten research projects at national, municipal and district levels for which he has been awarded two National First Prizes and numerous other prizes. Throughout his career, Jacky’s leadership has been recognised with a wide range of honours, including the award of Excellent Teacher and Excellent Master by Shanghai Education Commission. He has also been bestowed the ‘Prominent Master Development Project’ in Shanghai and requested to deliver Advanced Master Workshop Training for High Schools nationwide organised by the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, Jacky has been invited to deliver lectures by The British Council and a wide range of universities. Jacky is motivated by finding ways to effectively integrate western and eastern education, to link the traditional and current educational approaches and is fully committed to continuous school improvement. Born in Shanghai, Jacky is married and has one child. He enjoys travelling.

Echo Jin

Member

Echo Jin is the Chief Financial Officer of Greater China Region at Microsoft. As a member of the Greater China leadership team, Echo assists Microsoft's CEO in driving the company’s long-term planning and strategic development in the region, and empower Microsoft’s customers to maximize business value more rapidly and efficiently. Before joining Microsoft, Echo was President of HPE China, overseeing the overall management and providing management support for HPE's joint ventures in China.
 

Echo has held numerous financial positions in many global enterprises. With her rich experience in financial and business management, she provides strategic guidance through market data analysis and business insights, helping enterprises to maximize their benefits in major transactions.
 

Echo holds a bachelor’s degree in international economic law from China University of Political Science and Law, and an MBA from the University of Maryland.

Justin Koh 

Member

Mr Koh works as Senior Vice President of AlixPartners, a global consulting firm. His focus is in the consumer, retailand private equity space, where he leads engagements in market entry strategy, retail operations andcommercial/operational due diligences. He has over 12 years of consulting experience mainly in China and Southeast Asia.

Previously he was part of L.E.K. Consulting and the lead for its Global Education Practice in China. He worked onprojects that supported strategy and investment decisions for clients across all sub-sectors of education globally, witha particular focus in China and Southeast Asia.

Justin graduated from Singapore Management University with an honours degree in Finance. He is a Singaporean nationaland has resided with his family in Shanghai since 2011.

Christopher Woolf

Member

Christopher Woolf is the newly appointed WCI International Director. He has spent more than 20 years working in a range of UK and international schools. Chris joins us from Pinner High School in Harrow where he is the founding headteacher. Opened in 2016, the school was rated 'Outstanding' by students, parents and colleagues in 2017 and judged 'Outstanding' in all categories by Ofsted in 2019. Pinner High has been the most oversubscribed schools in Harrow for the last three years.

Chris’ international experience includes five years at Dulwich College Beijing, initially as head of English, then deputy head, and then head of senior school. The school was named 'British International School of the Year' in the Independent School Awards whilst he was head of Senior School.

He trained as an English and drama teacher at Homerton College, University of Cambridge, after graduating from the University of St. Andrews with an MA (Hons.) in English literature and language. He was awarded a scholarship to the University of California, Davis, where he twice featured on the Dean's Honour List.

Chris was awarded the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) in 2012 and is now a course tutor on the UCL/IoE NPQH course for aspiring headteachers. He is a governor of a Harrow Primary School and a member of the Department for Education Star Chamber Scrutiny Board.

Helen Zhang

Member

Helen is a qualified Chinese CPA and started her career as an auditor with PwC Shanghai. Her six years of audit experience provided her with sound accounting, tax and auditing technical knowledge and practical skills and extensive experience in internal controls under the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Helen subsequently joined Johnson Controls in Shanghai where she took on diverse roles with enhanced business and management responsibilities including the Regional Lead Auditor of Asia Pacific, the Finance Controller of Power Solution Asia Headquarter and the Controller of Supply Chain Management. Helen got her Bachelor’s degree from Fudan University with the major in International Finance.  She loves traditional Chinese culture including Chinese characters (Han Zi) and Book of Songs (Shi Jing). She also enjoys travelling, reading, cooking and baking.  Helen is married and has two children.