If this is the school that used to be managed by ISS and has only been open for about 3 or 4 years I would stay far away. I have a friend who worked at that school (I'm pretty sure this is the one but not 100%) and had to leave after one year of the contract because of racism and harassment. They also had very few students

In terms of Oman, I would only consider working at TAISM or ABA - there's also a British School. I've met a few teachers from the Sultan School and had a student transfer from there and it sounds like they're having some management issues there. They have a lot of behavioral issues and my students' parents both went there but decided to pull their son out because of all the problems. It's also not an International student population if that's something you're looking for. Hope that helps!

Ecuador is an amazing country. I taught there several years ago at Cotopaxi and loved it. We had a great faculty and you worked hard but it was worth it.

Colegio Americano is definitely less work - I had a friend there who had one prep as a HS teacher (vs. 3 or 4 at Cotopaxi) and a 5th grade teacher with 8 students and hours of prep time each day while her kids were in ESL class (this was 5 or 6 years ago). It seemed like Americano had more new, young teachers - they were definitely payed quite a bit less. So depends on what you're looking for.

I have a friend who is teaching now at Colegio Americano and she said the Minstry of Education is cracking down on private schools. They've had to work a lot of extra days this year and even some Saturdays and aren't sure about the end of the year and they're not getting a lot of communication about what's going on or being compensated for it - I would ask about this and about contract days.

Oman has great beaches! There are beaches right in Muscat and there are beautiful beaches you can camp on as close as an hour away.

I second the last reply about Oman. I never thought I would end up in the Middle East but Oman is wonderful. You can camp on beautiful beaches and hike in the mountains and wadis. I live walking distance to the beach. It's an easy and relaxed lifestyle and as heyteach said, we can buy liquor! Also, there are some great schools - my school is very International and a great professional community with tons of PD opportunities.

I agree with the above post - Oman is wonderful. It's really great if you love camping, hiking, and outdoors stuff. I don't think it's the place to come if you're looking to meet a partner but it's safe and a really 'easy' place to live. Of course, you have to respect the local culture but as a woman I don't find that hard to do.

Hi Missy, what school are you considering in Oman? The quality of life here is excellent - great access to beaches, camping, hiking etc. Very little pollution and the people are wonderful.

You also need a car here and I'm not sure how the cost of living compares to Qatar but the same things are more and less expensive - gas is very cheap and bars are expensive.

I did the FAST Train program and it's legit - It's part of George Mason Univ. in Virginia. You take the courses and get your teaching license in VA. It's definitely worth it to have a 'real' teaching credential and then as Ichiro said, you put in your two years somewhere and go from there.

I don't know about the sick/personal days but I have a feeling the savings potential is pretty accurate. I used to work at Cotopaxi and we got paid significantly more than Americano and it was hard to save a substantial amount of money (and I was not extravagant). While I was in Quito the cost of living increased quite a bit (as did the crime rate). Especially imported items like wine - they almost doubled in price because the govt. increased the tax on them to encourage people to buy local.

I lived in Quito for 3 years and most people I knew didn't have too much trouble with the altitude. When you arrive (and after being away for the summer) you have to take it easy and take some time for your body to adjust. You need to drink a lot of water and we would get short of breath walking up the stairs to our apartment. But after several days we would feel fine. Has your spouse had problems living at 7,000 feet or just visiting? If the answer is living then that might be a problem since Quito is almost 10,000. There were one or two teachers who had altitude related health issues.

You might also want to look into VA. George Mason Univ. has a program called FAST Train and it's specifically for teachers who want to teach overseas but you get a VA license so you can teach in the states too. You have to do PD to renew every 5 years.

If you're out of state you get in state tuition for Fast Train and you can do it during the year part time or in the summer for intensive courses.

Good luck!

Sorry for the late response - I'm an Occupational therapist and an elementary teacher - I hadn't thought of applying for special ed positions but mentioned to a school about applying for a learning resource position and they were very interested. Did you have any luck? There are so many spec. ed jobs listed I'm wondering if it's a good time to try to get in as an OT or SLP.

good luck!

InAmerica - how do you like TAISM? I've heard good things and was thinking of applying there for next year.

Any recent information on this school? Oman looks wonderful and wondering if anyone has any recent information about the school.

I worked for 3 years in Quito at Academia Cotopaxi. I knew some teachers from Menor. It's all Ecuadorian students and teachers are both local and foreign. The campus is really nice ~ down in the valley away from downtown. Anything in particular you want to know?