Sao Paulo life and schools
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WonderingWhat
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:37 am
Sao Paulo life and schools
Does anyone have any info on life in Sao Paulo and which schools would be nice to work at?
Re: Sao Paulo life and schools
I have info. What would you like to know?
Re: Sao Paulo life and schools
Not that I have anything pending there, but what is the work/life balance?
What are the work hours?
Are EE's happy? (employees)
How is life outside of work?
How are the kids?
How is the education?
How is the pay?
How is the turnover?
What are the work hours?
Are EE's happy? (employees)
How is life outside of work?
How are the kids?
How is the education?
How is the pay?
How is the turnover?
Last edited by PsychBean on Mon Jan 27, 2014 4:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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WonderingWhat
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:37 am
Re: Sao Paulo life and schools
Hi Indogal.
Are there schools you recommend accepting a contract and those you would advise not to? Which ones? Pollution? Crime? Nightlife? Activities? Cost of living?
Are there schools you recommend accepting a contract and those you would advise not to? Which ones? Pollution? Crime? Nightlife? Activities? Cost of living?
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globetrotter87
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2014 8:39 am
Re: Sao Paulo life and schools
I'd love to get the same information from you. I'm seriously looking into Brazil as my next teaching destination.
Re: Sao Paulo life and schools
Psych;
At the good schools, a lot is expected of you and you will spend a great deal of time at work. That being said, Sao Paulo can be a lot of fun and the travel opportunities are expensive, but wonderful
Work hours vary by school - roughly 8-4 officially, but you will often end up doing a lot of work after school, or at home to stay caught up depending on what you teach
Not sure what EEs are
Life outside of work is what you make of it. Depends on where you live as well. Can be a lot of fun if you are into music. the better you know the language, the better it seems to be. There are great clubs for music, dancing. Restaurants. Lots of culture if you go look for it. Iberipuera park is great for running, hanging out. There are expat clubs. Pretty much something here for whatever you're into.
Kids are good- but once again depends on the school. A lot of the expat kids tend to be form other S. Amer. countries. Not a bad thing, but they are chatty. Really care about interpersonal relationships, etc. Not the same studiousness you will find in Asia, which many people find a relief. Most still want to do well.
Pay depends on school. i believe it is Brazilian law that you be paid in reals, which is unfortunate, because it is losing value against every other major currency right now. There are other benefits- lunch at school, sometimes a doctor at school- things like that.
Turnover varies. There are people that hate it and leave after 2- 3 years, others marry a local and stay forever. I'd say avg. stay is 5 years. Many schools have contracts that have you lose overseas hire benefits after a certain amount of time. Graded used to be 11yrs, now it's 7. I think Chapel is 4.
WW;
I think the only schools you should consider would be Graded, Chapel and maybe St. Francis.
Pollution- some days it's gross, but nothing like China
Crime- mostly robberies, many have happened to school staff, stolen purse, i phones. Certain neighborhoods are safer than others.
Nightlife- Great, but can get really expensive really fast
Activities - Anything you want to do you can pretty much find here, but it may be far away and sub par to what you are used to. Drinking, music and futbol are huge. If you like those you will be in heaven
Cost of living- the most outrageous I have ever seen anywhere. Hideous taxes as well. You get nothing in return. Truly shocking and appalling. After living here I took a taxi ride in a black cab in London and thought 'that wasn't too bad'
Sao Paulo is a huge, unruly city. But the people can be lovely and gracious. Despite the rare acts of crime, I have also seen acts of unbelievable kindness as well. It does get under your skin and make you fall in love with it somehow, kind of like an ugly dog that after a while you think is kind of endearing.
At the good schools, a lot is expected of you and you will spend a great deal of time at work. That being said, Sao Paulo can be a lot of fun and the travel opportunities are expensive, but wonderful
Work hours vary by school - roughly 8-4 officially, but you will often end up doing a lot of work after school, or at home to stay caught up depending on what you teach
Not sure what EEs are
Life outside of work is what you make of it. Depends on where you live as well. Can be a lot of fun if you are into music. the better you know the language, the better it seems to be. There are great clubs for music, dancing. Restaurants. Lots of culture if you go look for it. Iberipuera park is great for running, hanging out. There are expat clubs. Pretty much something here for whatever you're into.
Kids are good- but once again depends on the school. A lot of the expat kids tend to be form other S. Amer. countries. Not a bad thing, but they are chatty. Really care about interpersonal relationships, etc. Not the same studiousness you will find in Asia, which many people find a relief. Most still want to do well.
Pay depends on school. i believe it is Brazilian law that you be paid in reals, which is unfortunate, because it is losing value against every other major currency right now. There are other benefits- lunch at school, sometimes a doctor at school- things like that.
Turnover varies. There are people that hate it and leave after 2- 3 years, others marry a local and stay forever. I'd say avg. stay is 5 years. Many schools have contracts that have you lose overseas hire benefits after a certain amount of time. Graded used to be 11yrs, now it's 7. I think Chapel is 4.
WW;
I think the only schools you should consider would be Graded, Chapel and maybe St. Francis.
Pollution- some days it's gross, but nothing like China
Crime- mostly robberies, many have happened to school staff, stolen purse, i phones. Certain neighborhoods are safer than others.
Nightlife- Great, but can get really expensive really fast
Activities - Anything you want to do you can pretty much find here, but it may be far away and sub par to what you are used to. Drinking, music and futbol are huge. If you like those you will be in heaven
Cost of living- the most outrageous I have ever seen anywhere. Hideous taxes as well. You get nothing in return. Truly shocking and appalling. After living here I took a taxi ride in a black cab in London and thought 'that wasn't too bad'
Sao Paulo is a huge, unruly city. But the people can be lovely and gracious. Despite the rare acts of crime, I have also seen acts of unbelievable kindness as well. It does get under your skin and make you fall in love with it somehow, kind of like an ugly dog that after a while you think is kind of endearing.