Maple Leaf International School Wuhan. Good starting point?

[klooste]

sitka wrote:
> I am an ex-MLIS teacher, although not at the Wuhan campus.
>
> The established schools (Dalian, Tianjin and Wuhan) are tier 2 schools.
> The recent expansion schools (Luoyang, Chongqing, and the 2 Shanghai
> schools) are arguably tier-3 schools, but with a few more years to
> establish themselves I suspect that will change. At the other flagship
> schools, the students are roughly 85% national and 15% international
> (largely from South Korea, Russia, Mongolia and Japan). This may be lower
> at Wuhan as it is further from any border.
>
> The salary is roughly comparable to a teacher back home (if you don't
> include the pension), and is paid in Canadian dollars. This makes it easy
> to send money back to Canada, but also means the salary becomes worse as
> the RMB appreciates. I made less (in RMB) in my last year than I did in my
> first year despite several raises. Taxes are roughly 13%.
>
> Considering I pay approximately $2000 a year for housing, I don't find the
> lack of accommodations in the contract a big deal.
>
> The flight allowance is actually more generous than $1500. The school will
> pay the entire cost of the flight, if they book the flight for you. $1500
> is what they offer if you choose to book the flight yourself (for example,
> if you'd rather travel over the summer rather than return to Canada).
>
> The workload is on the high side (in terms of contract hours, actual
> working hours, and class sizes). The past 2 years, we have worked about 10
> Saturdays throughout the course of the year. However, the vacations are
> long (5 weeks for the Chinese New Year, and two other 9 day vacations), so
> there are extensive opportunities to travel compared to other international
> schools in the area.
>
> I have nothing but positive thing to say about current administration from
> top to bottom. The current principal at Wuhan is a great guy (although he
> won't be there next year as he is transferring to the Foreign National
> School).
>
> I'd argue it is a great place to launch your IS career, especially as a new
> graduate from BC.
>
> I hope this helps - if you have any other questions, feel free to give me a
> PM.


Wow! Thank you so much for posting. I was wondering if it would be ok for me to ask my questions publicly, so that other people may find your advice useful as well for the future? I guess I'll shoot my questions in a list:

Did your campus have a gym? And by gym I mean a westernized weight lifting place to add some mass?

How were the students? Did you live in Maple Leaf's accomidation? how was it?
How many classes did you teach? What about preps? Does Maple Leaf offer any prep periods?
How did you find the resources? What subjects did you teach (anything you can share (i can also give you stuff in return ;) )). I have 1TB of random resources in all subject areas which I can share with you if you prefer. I kinda robbed my public school during my field experience =D.

Thanks so much for your help, and I hope my questions weren't too overwhelming!

??

I'm glad to read your praise about the admins at Maple Leaf-- how long did you work for them? Where are you at now? Did you find your experience (even though its not IB or AP) at Maple Leaf aided you in finding another job abroad in China (if thats where you are now)?