Although it is always helpful to have a good knowledge of the local language, the vast majority of the better international schools in Latin America do not require fluent Spanish skills for counselors. However, the more bilingual schools (mostly 3rd tier) do prefer (and often require) their counselors to be bilingual. In the schools that do require bilingual Spanish skills, they often hire local clinical psychologists to fill their counselor positions.

Interesting comments, Calciodirigore. I know people currently at all the schools mentioned in Bogota and we compare the packages all of the time. I'll leave it at that since it's difficult to prove anything on an internet message board. The bottom line for others to know is that you can make pretty decent money, for Latin America, at several international schools in Bogota; certainly more than the "average $20,000 a year" that Psyguy likes to say.

In terms of ECA, yes, it might still, overall, be the best when you look at the hard numbers. However, Venezuela is hardly an attractive country to live and work with all the craziness and running around exchanging money on the black market, massive petty crime, running out of toilet paper and other staples, etc. etc. It's a shame because both ECA and CIPLC were awesome places to live and work 10-15 years ago.

I don't know how long since you've worked in Colombia, Calciodirigore, but your information is not accurate (or at least outdated). CNG has significantly improved their benefits package over the past 3-4 years and they are now far ahead of any school in Bogota (and of course, any other school in Colombia).

I know teachers and administrators in several top tier Bogota schools and provided you are an overseas hire, CNG is #1 in terms of salary and benefits. It wasn't always that way, but Dr. Habegger and the current board has made a commitment to offering a better package to attract and keep better educators. That said, CNG does need to improve their professional development options for teachers, their medical insurance, and reform the Learning Center.

Overall, CNG is #3 in Latin America in total package, when you factor in cost of living, inflation and local taxes. Not surprising, Graded and Nido are #1 and #2 (but not by much since things like taxes and cost of living in Brazil and Chile really bring down savings potential). The Venezuelan schools (in particular, ECA and CIPLC) were for many years among the best (if not the best) in Latin America but all the problems in Venezuela have severely impacted cost of living and quality of life.

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I do agree with FKE about the 5 schools mentioned being, overall, the best in Latin America in terms of benefits.

Cali is a great city for nightlife and as someone said previously, it's the salsa capital of Colombia. Hot weather and hot people. :-) The school is ok and pays about average for Latin America. Unlike the 80s and 90s, the drug violence won't affect you at all unless you seek it out or do something ill-advised. Be very careful when listening to people who have only visited a country (and especially anyone who, unapologetically, SPELL the name of a country incorrectly LOL!) and make a generalization about living there based upon the 1 trip.

If you really want to work in Colombia, the best respected school with the best package is Colegio Nueva Granada in Bogota. The new head has really brought that school along in the last couple of years and has gone on record to say that he wants to make it the best school in Latin America. The benefits, overall, are approaching Graded, ECA, and Nido levels, so you can easily save 15- 20g if you are careful with your money. The thing about Bogota, though, is that the weather is always cool (45-65 degrees F year around) and often rainy. So if you want the hot weather, Bogota is not the place for you.

There are several decent schools in Europe where you can save decent money including ISPrague, IS Warsaw, ISBudapest, ISHague, and ISBucharest. In general if you stay away from Western Europe and Scandinavian countries, you can find about a dozen decent schools spread over Eastern/Central Europe that pay well, give decent housing allowances, and where you can save a lot. Most of these schools are in the CEESA conference and most of the educators I know who have worked at these schools are generally happy. There are a lot of competition for these jobs, though.

I started an earlier thread about perceived "elite" international that don't live up to the hype. Let's turn it around- How about listing some schools that are pleasant surprises that usually don't get the publicity or talk of the elite schools?

Just to clarify- I am encouraging the exchange of opinions so that the readers out there can make their own conclusions about various schools. Yes, these will be subjective opinions.

One school in South America which seems to be improving greatly in the past few years is Colegio Nueva Granda in Bogota, Colombia. A friend of mine was just hired and she is raving about it. You never seem to hear much this school as compared to schools like Graded, Nido, Carol Morgan, etc. Could be because perceived danger in Colombia?

[quote]I have to disagree. Subjective evaluation has a very limited range to extrapolate too, what is really needed in reviews is objectivity. Our experiences and reviews need to be representative of what a teacher is most likely to experience, even in extreme scenarios. Most of us have too much subjective bias in what we know, understand, and report. Of course being objective is very difficult, as we are not observers, but participants, and were participants with a vested interest in our schools. One, we depend on our schools and potential future schools for our livelihood and second, within our noble profession we extract a certain amount of ego and prestige based on the reputations our schools enjoy. None of those factors predicates objectivity from its practitioners.[/quote]

Err... ok, whatever.

I'll start off again even though PsyGuy has tried to hijack another thread.

One school that numerous international school teachers hold in high regard from my experience is ISM-Manila. However, when you look at salary and benefits (specifically compared to other IASIS schools) they are underwhelming. Although cost of living in Manila is low, so is cost of living in higher-paying places like Jakarta and others. I know 2 people who work at ISM-Manila and they are looking to step up to a better paying school like JIS or TAS, etc.

I know it's a subjective question and I'd like to know various opinions. It could be overrated from ANY angle- how about overall experience (living, working, etc.)? Did the school live up to the "hype" in your opinion. Why or why not?

If you find it "troubling" then feel free not to answer. No pressure. ;-)

And Psyguy- no offense but from what I gather from your myriad posts, I don't think you would have a lot to add to this topic. Maybe when I ask about overrated Tier 3 schools, I'll ask for your "guidance", ok buddy? Thanks in advance.

There has been a lot of the recent discussion about "overrated tier 1 schools". As a veteran international school teacher of a few so-called tier 1 schools, I am always amazed by the difference between the "talk" about a particular school and then the "reality" on the ground. So let's get specific- Let's list some schools that don't live up to their mostly positive reputation.