Sorry, I have no clue about Edugates.

I do know that ABA ranks high academically, is stable and the teachers are excellent. They are well compensated and have outstanding benefits. The teachers are happy to be at the school and it is apparent. There is little-to-no teacher turnover with the exception of when new classes have been added. One can rest assured that the student is their #1 priority.

Although the school buildings are not new, in my humble opinion, I can see nothing terribly objectionable. The students do have to walk outside to change buildings. A new high school is now under construction; "expected" to be finished in February '09. This should open up more classroom space as unfortunately there are waiting lists for most grade levels at the present time. This was the information when school closed in mid-June.

It would be worth your while to check directly with the school about grade levels of your child/children and the status of classroom space for them.

Good Luck Opal !!!

Mr. Stephen Madden is the elementary principal at ABA (actually his name is on the website). I can only go by what I have been told over the years by some of the ABA teachers with whom I am close. I have also visited there many times. In addition, ABA is a not-for-profit school which tells a tale on its own. I have been told many times that the director, Mrs. Mona Nashman-Smith's #1 priority is the students at all levels. She is adamant about this. Since excellence is a must, all teachers and principals are carefully interviewed, screened and hired by only Mrs. Nashman-Smith at several job fairs in several locations in the world. Teachers and principals are paid quite well, seem happy and there is little turnover. Most also have children of their own attending ABA.

They say there are 3 to 4 more teaching positions than applicants. As shown below, I have copied my posting from page 3 of the thread, "New Subscriber: why is this website so negative???" My reasoning being perhaps the subject of the international teacher crisis deserves a thread of its own for discussion. From "The International Educator" article cited below the heads of schools' focus seems to be on recruiting new teachers; no mention of how to retain the existing teacher force. If heads of schools are indeed monitoring the ISR forums and have now appointed their task force it might be a good opportunity to centralize this for all to see and let your ideas and needs flow.
1. What do present int'l teachers need in order to stay and new teachers need in order to be enticed?
2. Why did you leave or why are you going to leave international teaching?
There are already many good answers to these questions at the above-titled thread, and all over these forums. There are also two excellent postings by Scribe and Ichiro on page 3 of the above-named thread regarding the TIE articles which perhaps they might consider copying here as well..
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Headline on April 2008 "The International Educator" at Tieonline.com

"AAIE & AISH To Tackle Recruitment Crisis.
Task Force Being Formed to Address Candidate Shortages."

This article covers a Sunday meeting in New York of the heads of schools to discuss reasons for crisis and solutions. Remarks had to do with job fairs: fighting for candidates, not being able to have 3 or 4 interviews with teachers the heads are interested in, not having time to go over their resumes and info, leaving without having filled their positions, etc.

The reasons given, particularly for the acute shortage of American teachers, but all teachers as well, were given as lack of advertising and lack of knowledge concerning intl teaching. Only one woman brought up salary saying, in my words, not hers, teachers want to have the salary they deserve sooner rather than after completion of 20 years of teaching.

When discussing what needs to be done about this shortage, it was felt primarily that informative advertising needs to be done as most teachers in their home countries know nothing about international teaching. It was even suggested that they go on Oprah to talk about it. They felt if they could just get 1% of the 3.5 million American teachers to recruit it would give them what they need. No mention of improving salaries, benefits, retirement, etc. in the article at all. Hmmmm.

There is also a reply to the prior editorials about ISR and some other articles about recruiting in this edition. You all need to read it yourselves.[/b]

Headline on April 2008 "The International Educator" at Tieonline.com

"AAIE & AISH To Tackle Recruitment Crisis.
Task Force Being Formed to Address Candidate Shortages."

This article covers a Sunday meeting in New York of the heads to discuss reasons for crisis and solutions. Remarks had to do with job fairs: fighting over candidates, not being able to have 3 or 4 interviews with teachers the heads are interested in, not having time to go over the resumes and info, leaving without having filled their positions, etc.

The reasons given, particularly for the acute shortage of American teachers, but all teachers as well were given as lack of advertising and lack of knowledge concerning intl teaching. Only one woman brought up salary saying, in my words, not hers, teachers want to have the salary they deserve sooner rather than after completion of 20 years of teaching.

When discussing what needs to be done about this shortage, it was felt primarily that informative advertising needs to be done as most teachers in their home countries know nothing about international teaching. It was even suggested that they go on Oprah to talk about it. They felt if they could just get 1% of the 3.5 million American teachers to recruit it would give them what they need. No mention of improving salaries, benefits, retirement, etc. in the article at all. Hmmmm.

There is also a reply to the prior editorials about ISR and some other articles about recruiting in this edition. You all need to read it yourselves.

Unfortunately today, as reported on news sources, there were large protests in Khartoum asking for execution of Gillian and the government moved her from the women's prison to an undisclosed location for her safety.

There were a number of teachers from Gillian's school in Sudan on a TES forum yesterday but they do not seem to be on there today. Am wondering if they have all left the country for their own safety. Yesterday they reported that it was a secretary at their school who pressed charges against Gillian and started this whole thing. The teachers were very angry. This woman allegedly was the witness against Gillian at the trial yesterday. It was for revenge for something quite trivial and her fellow teachers all stated Gillian is a wonderful teacher and person and would never do anything to hurt anyone. Let's hope they get this straightened out post haste. Wish they would just deport her right now........which they may have already done. Who knows?l

I have close family and friends teaching at The American-British Academy in Muscat, Oman. I travel to and spend time there plus keep in close touch and have watched this school grow and develop under the able guidance of the long-time director, Mona Nashman-Smith, and the board. The teachers I know seem happy with their stead and particularly with the students, the academic quality of the school and their duties therein. The facilities are good and the classes small. Of course, there are the occasional grumbles, mostly toward the director. However, all teachers seem to agree that what she has done and continues to do for the school outweighs their complaints. ABA has good teachers many of whom have stayed on for long periods. Among the students there are approximately 60 nationalities.

I have no idea what the present teacher hire-in package might be. I can only assume it is still a quite good one. My family and friends have always had ample to allow for both travel and good savings, yearly airfare for teachers and families, housing allowance, health insurance, shipping, settling in, gratuity per year at end of service.......perhaps more.

Muscat has a brand new private hospital which is quite nice and seems to give good care. Most patients hate to leave, sort of like a resort with great food and TLC. There are western physicians. I'm not so sure about the diagnostic capabilities and diagnostic equipment available but they can certainly take good care of moms and babies and general common illnesses. Medication is generally comparatively inexpensive. Anyone with a chronic medication should check beforehand or just bring a long-term supply with them.

This is probably the most family friendly city and country in the world. The teacher families and singles too, have many at-home potlucks, parties, etc. Most families who live within the Muscat community have quite large, walled villas with ample outdoor gardens for entertaining. The singles mostly live in flats or small villas at their choice. All accommodations in this city are quite large in comparison to other countries. Two-bedroom flats for teachers are presently under construction for opening next fall. At that time, I believe, they will begin construction on a 3-bedroom complex for families. Homes in the community have become quite scarce and pricey in the past year. This is something you might want to address on interview. Almost everyone has a full time maid/nanny, some have gardeners. There is never any smog. I swear there are more stars in Oman than anywhere. It's simply amazing on the beach with the lack of light pollution. The city is beautiful and safe; no crime. Children can feel free to skateboard, bicycle, and generally wander around their neighborhoods. Most all teachers have autos, and, for those who wish to travel to wadis, beaches, desert camps, or mountains, a 4-wheel drive vehicle might be a good choice. Gas is cheap and used vehicles reasonable. There are buses and taxis as well.

Muscat is the cleanest city I have ever been in; you can be issued a ticket if your vehicle is dirty. Unfortunately there is a dearth of cultural events such as concerts, ballet, opera, theater, etc. There are many gorgeous sea-front hotels with bars and excellent dining. There are liquor stores where western residents may buy alcohol on a monthly quota. For the first time ever, this year Sultan Qaboos, who is somewhat western leaning, allowed the bars and liquor stores to sell alcohol during Ramadan. There is hiking and camping in the mountains and wadis, beach camping, boating, diving (coral reef), 500-600 miles of beaches. At any Wahiba Sands desert camp there is camel riding, sandboarding, sandskiing, 4-wheel dune bashing, with Bedoin band and dancing in the evenings. A great weekend relaxer and only a couple hours drive from Muscat.

The climate is wonderful in Oman. Summer hot, hot. Spring and fall can be hot; everything is air conditioned. October to March generally fairly nice; dry and in the 70s F. daytime Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb and evenings can be very cool. Always sunny with blue skies. Paradise perhaps??!!

Talk about smog; Tokyo is one of the worst. Not a place for babies and children. Try Muscat, Oman. Absolutely no smog, beautiful, clean city. No crime. Family and child friendly. Mountains, sea with deserted beaches, coral reef, and sparkling desert give many outdoor adventures. American-British Academy excellent school, good salary and benefits, many long-term teaching families and welcoming expat and Omani community.