In our new blog series, we will give a review of the most informed member-submitted comments from a specific month. In this article, we look at the ones submitted in April 2024.
We ask our members to submit comments that are detailed and full of useful information. With these informative comments submitted into our 68 comment topics about each school, ISC is the place to go to get the information you want, fast!
So here is the list for April 2024 that we thought stuck out as the most informative comments:
Describe the language abilities of students at this school and what is the “common language spoken in the hallways”? Is there one dominant cultural group?
“At Windhoek International School, students come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, enriching the learning environment with their multilingual abilities. While English is commonly spoken in the hallways as the primary language of instruction, students may also be fluent in languages such as German, Afrikaans, or others reflective of their heritage. The school community is characterized by a rich tapestry of cultural diversity, with no single dominant cultural group. This diversity fosters a globally-minded and inclusive atmosphere where students learn from each other’s backgrounds and perspectives…”
What does the school do to create a harmonious state of well-being and high morale amongst its staff?
“There is a SWIS Social Committee which plans events for staff from Happy Hours to larger events held at the school for holidays. The Secondary School used to hold Wellness Wednesdays in place of PD once a month but the new Secondary Principal did away with that practice. Typically, during in-service days, the school will provide morning coffee and pastries and snacks…”
How is this school different or the same when compared to schools in your home country?
“It is similar to the USA in that the school follows an American curriculum (CCSS and AP) and has co-curricular classes such as art, band, choir, drama, etc. It also has school sports teams. For those used to working in public schools in the USA, the students at St. Paul, in general, will be more respectful towards teachers and more focused on academics…”
What insider information would you give to a teacher considering working at this school?
“The pay is good, you can save money. Life is inexpensive here and the travel opportunities are plentiful and not that expensive in the country. Due to sanctions, getting out is a bit more problematic in terms of direct flight options. Sending money home is not that easy but it can be done. If you live on campus, as most teachers do, you live in a bubble and there are cameras everywhere…”
How does this school handle emergency situations (e.g.COVID-19, etc.)?
“The school was closed, along with everything else, on March 12th, when there were only 5 cases in the country and none in Vilnius. Teaching was online with Zoom or Google Classrooms, and teachers could choose to work from home or at school. Lunches were still served to teachers who opted to go to school. The school reopened for fall 2020, but went back online again after Christmas break. Once restrictions were generally lifted, teachers who contracted COVID would teach online, and classes with cases would also go online. Hybrid teaching was never offered. Due to pressure from the parents, it is unlikely that the school will ever go fully online without government mandate…”
Detailed info about flight, shipping and settling-in allowances. Any other benefits (e.g. free lunches, etc.)?
“There is a settling-in allowance too, but it’s not significant. The school also provides you with groceries on arrival. They collect you from the airport and bring you to your apartment. The school arranges your apartment for you and pays the deposit with is a lot of money upfront, but you can pay them back over the first year…”
“Bringing a pet to Singapore from all but a select few countries will require a quarantine ranging from 10 to 30 days. This can be an expensive and complex process, as the quarantine facility is booked many months in advance and I have had colleagues struggle to match up arrival flights with open quarantine spots…”
Details about the maternity benefits of the host country and school.
“Every Saudi and expat working woman in KSA is entitled to 10 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. However, after 4-6 weeks, some teachers have been asked to come back earlier by the school…”
Tell about your experience with the local banks and dealing with multiple currencies.
“I had an issue a couple of times with wire transfer to my US bank. I use USAA and it uses an intermediary bank. The bank didn’t fill in the final destination information correctly so my money was converted to USD but didn’t make it to my bank. The first time this happened I had to go back to the bank and redo the paperwork. The second time this happened I had just retired and left the country. We tried to fix it but ran out of time because of how long it takes to get an answer to each question. So I had to send my passport, bank card, and an authorization letter back to the school to have them fix it for me. That should happen this next week…”
What is the most challenging/difficult part of living in the city?
“If you decide to live in Bowin, you will definitely be living a slower-paced life. Pattaya, on the other hand, can be seedy and depressing, but there are plenty of restaurants to go to and easy access to the smaller islands by ferry. You have to really weigh what is important to you before choosing where to live here…”
10 Informative Member-Submitted Comments from April 2024
In our new blog series, we will give a review of the most informed member-submitted comments from a specific month. In this article, we look at the ones submitted in April 2024.
We ask our members to submit comments that are detailed and full of useful information. With these informative comments submitted into our 68 comment topics about each school, ISC is the place to go to get the information you want, fast!
So here is the list for April 2024 that we thought stuck out as the most informative comments:
Describe the language abilities of students at this school and what is the “common language spoken in the hallways”? Is there one dominant cultural group?
“At Windhoek International School, students come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, enriching the learning environment with their multilingual abilities. While English is commonly spoken in the hallways as the primary language of instruction, students may also be fluent in languages such as German, Afrikaans, or others reflective of their heritage. The school community is characterized by a rich tapestry of cultural diversity, with no single dominant cultural group. This diversity fosters a globally-minded and inclusive atmosphere where students learn from each other’s backgrounds and perspectives…”
Windhoek International School (45 total comments) in Windhoek, Namibia.
What does the school do to create a harmonious state of well-being and high morale amongst its staff?
“There is a SWIS Social Committee which plans events for staff from Happy Hours to larger events held at the school for holidays. The Secondary School used to hold Wellness Wednesdays in place of PD once a month but the new Secondary Principal did away with that practice. Typically, during in-service days, the school will provide morning coffee and pastries and snacks…”
Shen Wai International School (60 total comments) in Shenzhen, China
How is this school different or the same when compared to schools in your home country?
“It is similar to the USA in that the school follows an American curriculum (CCSS and AP) and has co-curricular classes such as art, band, choir, drama, etc. It also has school sports teams. For those used to working in public schools in the USA, the students at St. Paul, in general, will be more respectful towards teachers and more focused on academics…”
St. Paul American School of Hanoi (118 total comments) in Hanoi, Vietnam
What insider information would you give to a teacher considering working at this school?
“The pay is good, you can save money. Life is inexpensive here and the travel opportunities are plentiful and not that expensive in the country. Due to sanctions, getting out is a bit more problematic in terms of direct flight options. Sending money home is not that easy but it can be done. If you live on campus, as most teachers do, you live in a bubble and there are cameras everywhere…”
International School of Kazan (131 total comments) in Kazan, Russia
How does this school handle emergency situations (e.g.COVID-19, etc.)?
“The school was closed, along with everything else, on March 12th, when there were only 5 cases in the country and none in Vilnius. Teaching was online with Zoom or Google Classrooms, and teachers could choose to work from home or at school. Lunches were still served to teachers who opted to go to school. The school reopened for fall 2020, but went back online again after Christmas break. Once restrictions were generally lifted, teachers who contracted COVID would teach online, and classes with cases would also go online. Hybrid teaching was never offered. Due to pressure from the parents, it is unlikely that the school will ever go fully online without government mandate…”
Vilnius International School (98 total comments) in Vilnius, Lithuania
Detailed info about flight, shipping and settling-in allowances. Any other benefits (e.g. free lunches, etc.)?
“There is a settling-in allowance too, but it’s not significant. The school also provides you with groceries on arrival. They collect you from the airport and bring you to your apartment. The school arranges your apartment for you and pays the deposit with is a lot of money upfront, but you can pay them back over the first year…”
International School of Zug and Luzern (60 total comments) in Baar, Switzerland
Describe your experience bringing pets.
“Bringing a pet to Singapore from all but a select few countries will require a quarantine ranging from 10 to 30 days. This can be an expensive and complex process, as the quarantine facility is booked many months in advance and I have had colleagues struggle to match up arrival flights with open quarantine spots…”
EtonHouse International School (Singapore) (89 total comments) in Singapore
Details about the maternity benefits of the host country and school.
“Every Saudi and expat working woman in KSA is entitled to 10 weeks of fully paid maternity leave. However, after 4-6 weeks, some teachers have been asked to come back earlier by the school…”
Jeddah Knowledge International School (49 total comments) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Tell about your experience with the local banks and dealing with multiple currencies.
“I had an issue a couple of times with wire transfer to my US bank. I use USAA and it uses an intermediary bank. The bank didn’t fill in the final destination information correctly so my money was converted to USD but didn’t make it to my bank. The first time this happened I had to go back to the bank and redo the paperwork. The second time this happened I had just retired and left the country. We tried to fix it but ran out of time because of how long it takes to get an answer to each question. So I had to send my passport, bank card, and an authorization letter back to the school to have them fix it for me. That should happen this next week…”
Tsinghua International School (Beijing) (217 total comments) in Beijing, China
What is the most challenging/difficult part of living in the city?
“If you decide to live in Bowin, you will definitely be living a slower-paced life. Pattaya, on the other hand, can be seedy and depressing, but there are plenty of restaurants to go to and easy access to the smaller islands by ferry. You have to really weigh what is important to you before choosing where to live here…”
International School Eastern Seaboard (ISE) (20 total comments) in Chonburi, Thailand
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