About Olinca
Academic and management team
Our team of highly trained and experienced professionals truly care about providing an excellent education for our students.
The protagonists at Olinca are the students, and the teachers and directors are jointly responsible for the teaching/learning process. We are highly qualified group dedicated to making our educational mission a reality: to develop well-rounded, confident, capable and committed human beings.
John Kelly,
General Director
John Kelly , serves as the General Director of Olinca International School, bringing with him a strong international background in educational leadership and a deep passion for positively transforming students' lives.
Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a strong commitment to pedagogical innovation, the holistic development of students, and the building of collaborative, human-centered school communities with a forward-looking vision. His approach combines strategic thinking with empathy and approachability toward students, families, and teaching teams.
Originally from the United Kingdom and with extensive experience in Mexico, John has led schools through times of great transformation - including the implementation of hybrids models, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and the metaverse, and student-centered teaching practices such as Phenomenon-Based Learning.
He holds academic credentials in educational leadership and has actively contributed to projects focused on teacher development, institutional growth, and positive school culture. He firmly believes that schools should not only teach, but also inspire, nurture, and prepare students for a global, complex, and ever-changing world.
A firm believer in the power of education to change lives, John takes on this new challenge with enthusiasm, responsibility, and the conviction that Olinca International School is a place where meaningful, purposeful, and excellent futures are built.
Jay Subramanain,
Subdirector General
Jay Subramanian is from India and has lived and worked in different cultural environments. Before joining Olinca, Jay served as the Head of Secondary at an IB school in Bogota, Colombia. Though he has worked in the media and software industry in the UK and in India, he discovered his passion for teaching and educational development when he decided to move to Colombia to live. He has worked in different curricular settings such as NWEA-MAP, PET, FCE, AP Courses and IB Curriculum.
Jay holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering and a Masters in International Business as well as a Masters in Educational Administration. He is passionate about empowering students by giving them voice and choice, and helping them achieve their maximum potential. He has introduced programs and activities that promote student leadership, global mindedness and integral excellence among the school community.
Zaira Rios,
Business Manager
Zaira Rios is Mexican, a graduate of ITESM with degree in Accounting an Finance. She holds a Master's in Financial Management from EGADE. She has worked for over 15 years in national and international companies, where she has successfully developed effective teams with human-centered and results-oriented approach.
Her main interests include spending time with her daughter and husband, watching movies, knitting, and reading.
Her personal goal is to create an environment of honesty, openness, and dedication that empowers people to be themselves and share the great talent each person possesses to help build a better world.
Welcome letter
Welcome to the Olinca Community!
Our mission is to “develop well-rounded, confident, capable, and committed human beings”, creating a space that inspires and develops our students’ self-confidence and empowering them to succeed in life with a solid foundation of wellbeing.
Together with families, we want to help our students achieve more than they ever thought possible through our passion for academic excellence, building resilient minds, and fostering positive, international perspectives that seek the common good.
We touch the future; we teach!
We touch the future; we teach!
Welcome letter
Welcome to the Olinca Community!
Our mission is to “develop well-rounded, confident, capable, and committed human beings”, creating a space that inspires and develops our students’ self-confidence and empowering them to succeed in life with a solid foundation of wellbeing.
Together with families, we want to help our students achieve more than they ever thought possible through our passion for academic excellence, building resilient minds, and fostering positive, international perspectives that seek the common good.
We touch the future; we teach!
Our commitment to excellence
Founded in 1973, Olinca was born with the mission of forming better human beings. We are committed to academic and human excellence. We offer a comprehensive education by fostering in the educational community a commitment to high academic achievement, shaping autonomous, open-minded students with a solid foundation in values.
We are a coeducational, secular, bilingual school with French as a third language starting in Secondary school/MYP. We have a global focus and provide personalized education. We seek to develop engaged, critical and intelligent people, committed to improving the world around them by enriching their lives and the lives of others in an environment of respect, where the student is the center of the learning-teaching process.
We are an international school that fosters a deep love for Mexico and the world around us. Since the school’s founding, we have had national and international exchange programs covering 25 countries to date.
Olinca strives to be at the forefront of education, constantly innovating its programs. Based on the official SEP and UNAM programs, enhanced by Olinca’s institutional programs, as well as the International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, our commitment to excellence is a reality.
Our teachers and directors at a glance
