Decent class sizes. To me, that's one of the most important factors in making the move overseas. When I worked in NYC schools, I had 34 in each class (the union-set limit), and when I worked in NC, I had up to 36 and that's in a trailer out behind the school.

Now I have one class of 23 and the other 3 are all under 20. Makes a big difference.

Schutz is a small school with a very tight-knit community. That has its good points and bad. If you have some specific questions about Schutz, you can email me at spike82402@yahoo.com.

Sorry for the double post; For some reason this forum seems to get more response.

I"m a high school English teacher with 13 years experience- 2 of these internationally, the rest in the U.S. I'd really like to get into school counseling especially concentrating on college admissions.

What I'd like to know is if larger schools have such positions and what I'd need to qualify. I have a masters in education and English, so I'd like to just do a completion certificate for couseling. Will I have to actually do another MA? Is there anyone working in counseling now or knows someone who is and knows what the market for counselors is like?

I'd appreciate any help.

We're on our first overseas post with our four year old son. He goes to pre-K on the same campus, so we're very happy to have him nearby. Our students (high school) love him and are very patient with children in general. The other teachers play with him and treat him very well. It's a true family atmosphere; he has lots of "aunts" and "uncles."
We're very happy we made the decision to do this as a family.
We had no problem getting offers from schools that would fully cover our son's tuition (a priority for us), but we're a teaching couple so that helps.

The only word of caution I have for you is if your wife is staying home with (soon to be) 2 kids in a foreign country, she won't have the support system she might have at home. It can get very lonely not having another adult to talk to all day. Just a thought.

We wish you good luck. Keep us posted on your progress.

We're off to Alexandria on Thursday. Just wondering if any of you who are there or have been there have any suggestions as to things to pack that I might overlook. Are there certain comforts of home that are hard to get or expensive over there?

And thanks to everybody for all the advice in the past. This is our first overseas assignment. We're nervous, but excited.

Does anybody know an international teacher who wound up retiring overseas? I would think in many places outside the U.S. you could get your retirement money to stretch much further. And seeing as how most international teachers have had a chance to see a lot of the world, they might be suitably prepared to make the choice as to where to spend those "golden years."

We're just getting into this game now. We're in our late 30s with a small child and next to no savings. But we're hoping to save as much as we can over the coming years, and we're keeping the option open to overseas retirement.

We'd love any advice from someone who has experience with this.

Moshimoshi,
Please elaborate. Are you at Schutz now? Can you tell us why, specifically, you are leaving?
We've already signed contracts and have every intention of fulfilling our obligations, but we'd like to go into it with our eyes open. We talked to several people and they painted a decent picture, but we'd love to have another viewpoint. We appreciate any information (even opinion) you can give us.

The Meleks

Well we wound up getting an offer from Schutz and we took it. We really wanted to be in Egypt, but not necessarily in Cairo, so we think this will be a good fit for our family.

So we haven't been there yet, so I can't write a review or speak to any of these concerns, but I can say that we have done extensive research and have talked to people who work there now and others who have left. Most of these say that Schutz is a good school with a good reputation. Facilities are nice, pay/package is appropriate, people are great and the cost of living allows for some nice savings/travel.

What we did learn though is that all of the people leaving this year are singles and all of the couples have chosen to stay beyond their contracts. Alexandria sounds like a great city, but it's hard place to live if you're single. There's no single scene and most activities seem to be couple/family oriented.

When we have a few months under our belts, we'll write a review. Personally, we can't wait to start our international career at Schutz.

Fair was great- very well-organized and the people were nice
We accepted positions at Schutz American School in Alexandria, Egypt. I don't have any official stats, but almost everyone I talked to accepted a position somewhere. There were a lot of candidates, but more jobs.

Just curious, did you get these job offers at a fair or by contacting the schools directly. Just like to know because we are interested in these schools too.
Sorry I don't have any information to help you. Good luck in making your decision.

We;re taking our son with us to the UNI job fair. We, for many reasons, can't leave him behind. Everybody I talked to about this, including the fair organizers said that recruiters will want to see us both together. We were able to hire a UNI student to look after our son in the hotel whild we interview. I'm not sure about Bangkok, but you might want to consider something like that so that you can remain competitive with the other couples.

The Quality Inn is within walking distance. We're staying there.
Don't know about the other questions. We're first timers too.

What do you mean by targeted and harassed? Kid stuff (which can be awful anyway) or something scarier?

My husband was born in Egypt, so my son is half-Egyptian. He doesn't speak Arabic yet, but we expect him to pick it up soon since he's been around it before and he's only 4. Do you think kids would "target" him too or give him a pass?

Anyone have information on this school? Looks like a major school with decent resources, but there is no review here and nothing comes up in a search.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Check UNI's web site. They have a forum (Share at the Fair) for just this reason.