Does anyone have information about living and working in Costa Rico?

How often are contracts not renewed by International Schools? Is there always a reason or not and is it stated? What types of reasons are given? Several people at my school have been asked to leave while several others have been placed on an Effective Teaching Improvement Track and do not know if they will be offered a contract.

Psyguy,

It is amazing to me that everyone is to believe that all that you post is the TRUTH because you posted it and anything contrary is false because it disagrees or even contradicts you. We are to believe you yet you cannot extend that to others. You seem to have opinions on pretty much every issue. How is it that any one person who works full time and does it with any rigor or fidelity has the time to post so much and know so much.

Not all admins and schools are bad or worthless even if they are in the countries you seems to hate, which I might add is a very long list given you are an international teacher. My approach to international teaching includes adaptability, tolerance, multicultural acceptance, and respectfulness. It saddens me that as an Intnl teacher you must always be right, must always have an opinion and that it often results in putting others down and disrespecting them or whole nations or regions of the world.

And on a last note, there are wonderful and honest admins out there. I am it one nor am I related to or married or otherwise involved with one. There are good and bad admins, just as there are good and bad teachers.

I want to add that the thoughtful, respectful posts with lots of information have been very helpful over the years as I search for jobs. This forum has a positive and useful side that I hope continues.

Thanks to all the good posters for sharing information with all of us as we work overseas. It does make a difference.

Albert49 is correct. And no, I am not and was not admin, just a teacher. Knowing others, we talk and we talk about past school experiences. Albert is also correct about the internal postings for new hires and all staff. It is not limited to just one teacher that "had" to leave either. Thanks Albert!

No, the money is not that of ISB or other "T1" schools. I never said it was. I believe there is more to life and schools than just the benefits package. I loved SSIS. It has a great philosophy which includes "Balance in Life" and that is a hard one to accomplish for many of us even as adults. There isn't a school out there that is perfect for everyone. Not everyone likes SSIS but most do. Most IS teachers move on for many different reasons and mine was not because I disliked the school or any other negative.

I spoke up because I don't like the bashing that takes place on this forum and the outright misinformation especially when the school is a very good one. To put down all the schools in entire country and to insult everyone that works at every school there except one is wrong.

On a forum such as this, people are reading what you say and making decisions using this information. Hopefully they are using a lots of grains of salt when it comes to the weight of information from this forum. I know there are posters who I respect for their straightforward words and their insights that are shared with consideration of others and are limited to what they actually have experienced. The negative, bash everything, I know it all posters show their true colors if you read enough posts over time. I know to ignore them but not everyone does. If you look at the stats, there ratio of lurkers to posters is huge.

PGuy
"Vietnam is starting point for teachers without experience or for teachers who are desperate."

Really, you are not very in touch with what is going on. There are many teachers at SSIS THAT LEFT Tier 1 schools and are now happily working at SSIS. Places such as ISB and ISS. they came with IB experience too. Hardly just a starting place for desperate teachers lacking IS experience. I find your posts to be inflammatory at best.

I worked at SSIS in HCMC and loved it. While a corporation owns it, it truly is run as a not-for-profit. The school has a 20% cap on any one nationality. While three nations (Vietnam, Korea, US) make us about 60% of the student body, the other 40% are from 33 other nations.

Grumpy,

If your school uses the VN State bank and pays union US dollars, then transfers of money to the US are very easy. You may be able to get your school to open an account for you at this bank or y may be able to. Then transfer your dong to VN Bank and then transfer it out.

I have not had any problems transferring my money to the US but I use the VN bank.

Smaller schools can have a LOT that is right about them. I personally feel the Tier 1 focus is over-rated. I have worked at some great schools that are solid, truly international, have very good packages, and offer balance beaten work and life. I do not want to be a number at a really large, very "American" school. If I want that, I can work in the US. Be open, there are so many schools that are wonderful out there. I have always ended up at schools and locations I either had not considered or had not even heard of and all but one worked out wonderfully.