The International Schools Review Forum

Hello,

anyone out there who can comment on this school? How is the school "climate" like? how are the students? any help will be appreciated! :D

It's a fantastic looking school with great resources but, like anything, if you look a little closer you see some serious flaws. It's a high pressure school trying to accomplish a lot. Student body is truly international/diverse and for the most part kind and polite. Not very motivated academically though.

Elementary and secondary are pretty different. Which one are you interested in?

Thanks justlooking! I am interested to know more about the upperschool program. Seems like the school hired a lot of new teachers for next schoolyear. I wonder if it's because they are expanding or something else. Could you elaborate more on what you mean by serious flaws?


thanks again :)

I'd prefer to answer this off the forum. If you don't mind supplying an email address, I'd write you there.

anaapleaday1@hotmail.com

thank you and I look forward to hearing from you

This thread's a couple years old- Any recent info about working at GEMS World Academy-Dubai? How's the work/life balance for teachers, overall atmosphere? (in the Middle and High School) How’s the housing? And do you need a car in this area of Dubai (Al Barsha South)?

Any thoughts at all would be appreciated. Thanks very much.

Eric, this is a high stress school, so you can get some work/life balance, but it's not easy. The expectations are high.

The whole school has grown very quickly. The elementary school is full now with waiting lists for every grade, but the secondary (although busting at the seams) is still accepting students. With class sizes up and teachers without their own classrooms, I would say the atmosphere is OK but I know many people are planning to leave at the end of this school year.

Housing varies a bit. Singles, couples, and those with one child live in nice apartments- some in the city, some way out in the desert. Larger families tend to get nice villas but they usually have to contribute something over the housing allowance and utilities are pretty high.

Taxis are plentiful and not too expensive. You can get by without a car by sharing with another teacher but I don't know many people who do that. Just a matter of preference. It's easy to drive here.

Just remember that it's a for-profit school and although very educationally minded on the local level, many decisions are still made at the corporate level and those are usually not good for students and teachers.

Just over a year ago, Gems moved to a massive and beautiful new campus in Khalifa City A, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. It's in the same area as The Canadian School, Raha School, Horizon and a British school (can't remember the name). There is such demand that many schools have waiting lists. The area seems out of the way but it is developing quickly and you wouldn't have a problem living there. Some really nice bars and restaurants have opened up within the area, and Yas island is very close (if you want a night out without going into the city). I do think it would be difficult to enjoy living or traveling out that way without a car. When I was in Abu Dhabi having a car was a must, and although there are probably more taxis available in Khalifa A now, I wouldn't want to be waiting around every time.

As for the school, the campus is new and beautiful and there is a very international student population. I agree though that this is a high stress school. As with most schools that shell out a load of cash on a new campus, the way to start making the money back is a bums on seats policy, so anyone who pays gets in. I've spoken to quite a few that work, or have worked there and I have only heard bad stories about the way teachers are treated and the excessive work load that is thrown upon them. There is apparently quite a negative atmosphere, though admin have apparently been working hard to boost morale. It does seem that many simply go through their contracts and move on. You don't get so many staying longer than the standard 2 years. That's not always a sign of somewhere bad, but when you see so many people who are seemingly desperate to get out, it doesn't paint a good picture.

Maybe the people who I know are too negative. It Would be interesting to see if anyone has heard things from a different, more positive perspective. My overall impression is that it would be a good place to start out in international schools to get the experience, but beyond that it's not a place you would go to further your career.

Hope this is useful.

The school in Abu Dhabi is not Gems World Academy, Dubai. Know several people who work at the World Academy in Dubai, mixed reviews. A few middle school teachers who quite like it, and a PYP teacher who finds it too restrictive.
I've heard teachers from that school, and American School of Dubai and Dubai American Academy (another GEMS school) refer to the compound in which I live as "way out in the desert" and it makes me chuckle. We chose to live here as it's peaceful, beautiful, with flowering bushes and grass everywhere, a very nice community pool and gym, no commercial air traffic overhead. Although we work at a school three times as far away as Gems World Academy, it takes us only 25 minutes to get to our school.
We've attended events at GWA and it took 10 minutes to drive there. I did notice at those events that the atmosphere seems far more formal than most international schools I've encountered. Teachers were all dressed as if they were going for a job interview, yet these were normal work days. The facility is beautiful - a 50 meter outdoor pool and a planetarium. Yes, a planetarium. I believe it's the most expensive school in Dubai for parents.

Scribe is right, I was writing about Gems Abu Dhabi which is different from Gems Dubai. Sorry. My mistake.