Dear XLIS community,
I hope you have enjoyed a restful holiday.
Time flies! It is hard to believe that we are gradually heading to the end of the current academic year and moving into 2022-2023 new academic year.
XLIS could not have achieved its vision and mission to provide a non-profit education focused on enabling confident, open-minded global citizens through life-long learning and a sense of community without the support of each member of our school community.
I would like to personally congratulate our current secondary school principal Ms. Daun Yorke on her new role as Head of School in Hanoi International School, Vietnam, next academic year. Ms. Yorke has been with XLIS for six years, and we are honoured to have her in our team, and we greatly appreciate Ms. Yorke’s contributions and commitment to our students, staff, and the entire school.
As we prepare for the new academic year, I’d like to announce our new organizational leadership team.
Senior Leadership Team
Head of School – Dr. Lily Liu
Deputy Head of School – Mr. Brian Lalor
Secondary Principal – Mrs. Jaimala Quinlan
Primary Principal – Mrs. Marly Song
The Deputy Head of School will work jointly with the Head of School to oversee the whole planning and implementation of Xi’an Liangjiatan International School in all academic and operational aspects, and will continue to improve the vertical alignment of the 15-year consistent curriculum system from PYP, MYP to DP as a continuum and constantly promote the school’s high-quality development.
Mrs. Quinlan has 32 years teaching experience in Kenya, Mauritius, Norway, Tanzania, UAE, and China, and is an expert in IB MYP and DP programmes, as well as a trained workshop leader and examiner for the IB Diploma programme in Geography, TOK Teaching, and EE Coordinator. Jaimala joined XLIS in 2016 as DP Coordinator and has developed three cohorts of DP graduates.
Mrs. Song has been working at Dalian Maple Leaf International School since 2005 as Head Teacher meanwhile, assuming administrative duties as Vice Principal. She joined our Primary School in 2019 as Homeroom Teacher and later assumed the position as Head of EAL in Primary.
Senior Management Team
Head of Brand Development & Admin Office – Ms. Echo Zhao
Head of Logistics – Mr. Kriss Parker
Head of Whole School Cultural Activities & Dormitory – Mr. Alex Rambaud
Head of All Staff Well-being – Ms. Maria Theresa Zialcita
Ms. Maria has 22 years teaching experience at International Schools in Korea and China. Maria joined our Primary school in 2014 as part of the core Primary Management Team. Maria will take the position as Head of All Staff Well-being next academic year whilst continuing as the PYP Coordinator in Primary.
Curriculum Coordinators
PYP Coordinator – Ms. Maria Theresa Zialcita
MYP Coordinator – Ms. Emma Yang
DP Coordinator – Mr. Shameek Ghosh
Ms. Emma Yang joined our school in 2014 serving as various roles, including PYP/MYP/DP Language Acquisition teacher, Head of Chinese Department, MYP Assistant Coordinator. With the master’s degree in Chinese Linguistics and Language Acquisition from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, she has been working in different IB schools for more than eight years. Furthermore, she is an IB School Visiting Team member.
Mr. Ghosh will join XLIS starting from this August. He has 18 years teaching experience in various schools globally and he has been teaching in China since 2016. He is a teaching expert in Environmental Systems and Societies, Biology and Theory of Knowledge, ATLs and CAS. He has a Master in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Nottingham, UK. Shameek is also an IB School Visiting Team member.
As part of our schools development, last week was a positive yet intensive week, as the school went through our WASC Accreditation visit, which we have endeavoured the past several years to prepare for, this also marks a significant milestone for XLIS as we await the final accreditation results this July.
I want to say a big Thank You to every member in our XLIS community, it is because of you XLIS is achieving its vision and mission, making every dream into a reality, and continues strive for higher educational transformation. We look forward to what the next academic year will bring our students as they strive to achieve academically and reach their goals.
Best regards,
Lily Liu
Head of School
