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American School of Barcelona???

Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 3:53 pm
by grandsmiles
My husband and I have interviews at ASB, and we have heard many mixed reviews about this school. There seem to be many complaints about both adminstration and about salary vs. cost of living. Can anyone give us some more specific information?

Comment

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:50 am
by PsyGuy
The administration isnt horrible, they just think that they are the best, and act elitist.

You cant really save any money. There is no housing allowance, and taxes are very high (about 40%). Those are the biggest concerns.

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:04 pm
by Glerky
You will barely live pay cheque to pay cheque. Many of the staff share an apartment so they will have some money to spend on the fun things to so in the city.

Re: American School of Barcelona???

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 8:08 am
by tsalicco
Has anything changed here since the last review a few years back?

Reply

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 4:57 am
by PsyGuy
@tsalicco

No, not really. Not in any way that matters.

Re: American School of Barcelona???

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 5:37 am
by zanyplum
Actually, a few things have changed there in the past 4 years, and I think these things could matter to some people. First, they built a new elementary school and Early Childhood center. This was something that was supposed to happen about 10 years ago, so the fact that it finally was built is kind of a miracle. The school also now gives new teachers flights home every year, and a decent resigning bonus. The curriculum has improved too in the lower grades. Many international schools are adopting reading and writing workshop, and so has ASB. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is way better than what they used to have in place for literacy instruction.

With that being said, I am sure it is still extremely hard to save money. The city is amazing though. And as for the Administration acting elitist....yea, that is pretty much correct.

Discussion

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 6:03 am
by PsyGuy
My post was more about the experience of a new IT to ASB walking in the door, for the first time.
If youd been there a decade then a new building is certainly something thats a worthy difference, but if you came into the IS after the new capitol projects than a building doesnt add to the experience since you have have nothing to compare it too.

Reading and writing workshop is a substantial improvement, but thats because ASB didnt have anything before, it was an adhoc curriculum and some of the teachers were using aspects of RWW before it was formally implemented.

The flights is good though, they use to only offer flights during contract resigning years and it was a factor/portion of your resigning bonus (you could get more if you indicated you didnt require airfare).

Re: Discussion

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 6:27 am
by zanyplum
PsyGuy wrote:
> My post was more about the experience of a new IT to ASB walking in the
> door, for the first time.
> If youd been there a decade then a new building is certainly something
> thats a worthy difference, but if you came into the IS after the new
> capitol projects than a building doesnt add to the experience since you
> have have nothing to compare it too.
>
> Reading and writing workshop is a substantial improvement, but thats
> because ASB didnt have anything before, it was an adhoc curriculum and some
> of the teachers were using aspects of RWW before it was formally
> implemented.
>
> The flights is good though, they use to only offer flights during contract
> resigning years and it was a factor/portion of your resigning bonus (you
> could get more if you indicated you didnt require airfare).

You and I must have worked there at different times because they never offered flights for the years I worked at ASB. The resigning bonus when I worked there was only a few hundred euros. Interesting to learn!

Re: Discussion

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:01 am
by wrldtrvlr123
zanyplum wrote:
> PsyGuy wrote:
> > My post was more about the experience of a new IT to ASB walking in the
> > door, for the first time.
> > If youd been there a decade then a new building is certainly something
> > thats a worthy difference, but if you came into the IS after the new
> > capitol projects than a building doesnt add to the experience since you
> > have have nothing to compare it too.
> >
> > Reading and writing workshop is a substantial improvement, but thats
> > because ASB didnt have anything before, it was an adhoc curriculum and some
> > of the teachers were using aspects of RWW before it was formally
> > implemented.
> >
> > The flights is good though, they use to only offer flights during contract
> > resigning years and it was a factor/portion of your resigning bonus (you
> > could get more if you indicated you didnt require airfare).
>
> You and I must have worked there at different times because they never offered
> flights for the years I worked at ASB. The resigning bonus when I worked there was
> only a few hundred euros. Interesting to learn!
--------------------------
What makes you think he's worked there?

Re: American School of Barcelona???

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 6:54 pm
by zanyplum
I don't. I am being facetious. I worked there for many years and I experienced none of what he said.

Re: American School of Barcelona???

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 3:45 am
by wrldtrvlr123
Oh.........my bad. Your sarcasm was way too subtle for me.

Reply

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 3:16 pm
by PsyGuy
Flights were an option, I didnt word my reply very well. You could 'get more' by negotiating a flight over the resigning bonus. It wasnt an option for everyone. Not everyone gets the same resigning options, there was certainly flexibility for some staff members over others.

Re: Reply

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:05 pm
by zanyplum
PsyGuy wrote:
> Flights were an option, I didnt word my reply very well. You could 'get
> more' by negotiating a flight over the resigning bonus. It wasnt an option
> for everyone. Not everyone gets the same resigning options, there was
> certainly flexibility for some staff members over others.


Now that I think about it, there is definitely some truth to that statement. I had heard you could negotiate a bit depending upon your position. Totally different admin now so not sure if that is still the case.