Western International School of Shanghai
Western International School of Shanghai
I see an opening at WISS and am considering applying....can anyone tell me anything about the school? Thanks.
They were new
They were brand new when I was back in China (and the secondary program, is REALLY new). Tom Kline is one of those admins that supports the school and board first and teachers second (thats not all bad though, an admin who doesnt do what their boss (the board) wants finds they arent an admin anymore). The school is really more focused on primary and only a small secondary program, as that was what their first focus was, and while they are an IB world school, the secondary school hasnt really caught on (mainly because there are already several very good secondary schools in Shanghai). The package is good, though not the best or the elite in Shanghai (the provided housing is actually very nice), it puts them solidly in the tier 1 schools. Shanghai is expensive and only gets more and more expensive, living in Shanghai is more like living in Hong Kong then the rest of China. You can very quickly and easily spend a lot of money in Shanghai. The students are what youd expect from a private school in Shanghai. They arent the top but theyre also not the worst (the parents pretty much bought them into the school).
Now the bad news. My biggest peeve is how they are trying to ride on WAB's (Western Academy of Beijing) name. The two are different, WAB is run very much like a non profit, and WISS is run more as a for profit. Some of their policies are restrictive. For instance most schools in China pay a yearly bonus, WISS doesnt pay the bonus until your third year (given you get all three years), that has to be a concern. I think if you had 2 or fewer years IB experience, and wanted to live in "the city", and werent looking to change the world (because my sense was there was a business culture, that didnt alwasy see the students and education as the bottom line) WISS could be a good post, until you hit the 4-5 year mark and would be competitive for the elite schools.
Now the bad news. My biggest peeve is how they are trying to ride on WAB's (Western Academy of Beijing) name. The two are different, WAB is run very much like a non profit, and WISS is run more as a for profit. Some of their policies are restrictive. For instance most schools in China pay a yearly bonus, WISS doesnt pay the bonus until your third year (given you get all three years), that has to be a concern. I think if you had 2 or fewer years IB experience, and wanted to live in "the city", and werent looking to change the world (because my sense was there was a business culture, that didnt alwasy see the students and education as the bottom line) WISS could be a good post, until you hit the 4-5 year mark and would be competitive for the elite schools.
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Speculative Bubble
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