Articles on our Blog that mention this school (newest articles are shown first):
Comparing the Schools and Comments
Comparing the Schools and Comments: Working in Mexico
June 13, 2019
Around the world, there are countries (like Mexico) that have more than one international school. Many times there is an American school, a British School, and an international school that uses an international curriculum.
Some countries, though, have MANY international schools! When that is the case, how do the comments about each school compare to each other?
This blog series looks at comparing some of these comments, all coming from international schools in the same country.
Mexico
Currently, we have 31 schools listed in Mexico on International School Community.
21 of these schools have had comments submitted on them. Here are some that have the most submitted comments:
American Institute of Monterrey (61 Total Comments)
American School Foundation of Guadalajara (111 Total Comments)
American School Foundation of Mexico City (72 Total Comments)
American School Foundation of Monterrey (105 Total Comments)
American School of Durango (39 Total Comments)
American School of Torreon (51 Total Comments)
Madison International School (32 Total Comments)
Westhill Institute (23 Total Comments)
Amount of Money Left to be Saved
“Depends on you, if you are single you can save 10,000 a month. If married with children then maybe 2,000.” – American Institute of Monterrey
“If you have any debt – school or mortgage – you will find it difficult to save any money as peso has weakened.” – American School Foundation of Guadalajara
“Depends on your lifestyle but I saved nothing because I had a child.” –
American School Foundation of Mexico City
School Campus
“The school building is excellent. The area surrounding the campus is desert and a nice suburban that is newly developed. It is on the outskirts of the town, but it is very safe and the building is new and very well-maintained.” – American School of Torreon
“The school caters for Elementary, PYP and MYP. It is quite a big complex and it is still expanding to cater for more classrooms. It is walled like any international schools over here so it is relatively safe.” – Madison International School
“School facilities are quite nice for Mexico (wifi, projectors, top notch gym and exercise equipment, etc.). As others have alluded to, the surrounding area is MUCH more proletarian than the school clientele.” – American School Foundation of Mexico City
Housing Information
“You have to live in the middle of nowhere (close to school) for your first year, unless you demand a housing allowance. It’s very unsafe. Someone was killed in our backyard a few years ago, and one of the teachers got his passport stolen. You have to pay for the utilities, but only if they confront you about it.” – Madison International School
“The teachers now have their own apartments. The houses are random.If you are a married couple you will be placed in a house. Some single teachers have houses due to availability.” – American School of Torreon
“Houses are very basic. Little or no furniture. When something is wrong with the house neither the school or landlord will help.” – American School of Durango
“I would recommend taking photos of your accommodation (walls, any marks, shabby painting) as now that I am transitioning out I am being asked to pay for things that may or may not have been my fault but I didn\’t expect the school to nickle and dime me at the end so I don\’t have any proof.” – American School Foundation of Monterrey
Health Insurance and Medical Benefits
“The private health insurance is only for major accidents, otherwise is pretty much useless and you must pay out of pocket if you get sick.” – American Institute of Monterrey
“There is no preventative care. Insurance is private and supported by the national health care program. For example, maternity leave is mandated by the state and paid for via IMS (national health care ). There is no international coverage – just 50,000 for accident coverage while you are visiting the US or Canada. Coverage is poor compared to other international schools. Doctors and service at private hospitals is very good!” – American School Foundation of Guadalajara
“Health insurance and dental but find a good doctor. Many are not good here.” – American School Foundation of Mexico City
“Unfortunately this school year the deductible went up substantially and the coverage is still not covering anything preventative. This was not told to staff until the week before school started which in essence dropped a lot of people’s salaries as now more is going towards health care costs. As someone who did not previously make any claims I did not appreciate this change when it finally came time to use the insurance.” – American School Foundation of Monterrey
(These are just 4 of the 65 different comments topics that on each school profile page on our website.)
If you work at an international school in Mexico, share what you know. Consider becoming a Mayor for unlimited premium membership!
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Blogs of international school teachers: “(My Life in) México” (An international school teacher at American Institute of Monterrey)
September 25, 2013
Are you inspired to start up a blog about your adventures living abroad?
Our 33rd blog that we would like to highlight is called “(My Life in) México” Check out the blog entries of this veteran international school educator who currently works at American Institute of Monterrey (24 Total Comments on our website) in Mexico. He also has worked at private school in Bucharest.
A few entries that we would like to highlight:
My Hood and Other Random Stuff
“So, my dad wanted me to walk around my neighborhood and take a video because I guess that’s interesting, but I had a feeling that it would come off as creepy to my neighbors, which was totally true. I took photos, instead.
Ok, so normally I get the usual stares from people when I walk around Monterrey, but I got a lot more this time. I think my neighbors got the impression that I was a stalker or something, but I’m seriously not. I mean, who has time for that shit? And I think that I’m interesting enough for it to be the other way around…”
It is a great idea! I mean the people you know back home want to know as much as they can about the life that you are now living. Also, walking around to make a video or take pictures will potentially get you to do a little bit more exploring around your neighborhood.
We can all relate to the local people staring at you! Many times international school teachers will be living in a country where the majority of people don’t look like them, so of course the local will tend to stare at you. We have an article on our blog about staring. Check it out here.
Beauty, Independence Day, and Bed Bugs!
“A few weeks ago, my boss took us to some places. First, we went to some church in Monterrey. At first I was like, this is stupid, but then we got closer, and I was like, wow, this building is actually really pretty. He also took us to Chipinque, a mountain park basically. I went inside this time, too! There was a playground and a hotel at the top. On the side of the mountain was a viewing deck where I took quite a few pictures. When we were leaving, we saw a black bear walking across the parking lot. Of course I wanted to get a good photo of it for this blog (I bend over backwards for you people), so I chased it. In retrospect, it probably wasn’t a good idea. I chased it into the hotel grounds after getting a photo. Now they can deal with it. Haha.
After Chipinque, my boss took us to a Mexican restaurant called Casa Grande. After two glasses of white wine, a black corn soup, some other Mexican dish that I can’t remember, and some strawberry ice cream, I was loving life. Very tasty…”
There is nothing like having a boss that will organize an outing for the teachers (most likely paid for by the school)! It is a necessity really. The director/principal’s job at an international school not only involves helping making sure the school itself is running smoothly, but their job is also about making sure their expat teachers are being taken care of. Part of that is helping out to give them opportunities to feel like they belong in this new part of the world. Organizing outings and taking staff out to eat can really help new/old teachers feel like they belong in their new community at school and their new city.
We have a blog article about this topic on the International School Community blog as well. Read this article here.
Want to work for an international school in Monterrey like this blogger? Currently, we have 6 international schools listed in this city on International School Community. Here are a few that have had comments and information submitted on their profiles:
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If you are an international school teacher and would like your blog highlighted on International School Community contact us here.
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