The International Schools Review Forum

Does anyone know about this school, or the city? I know that it's new this year, in a brand-new city development located on the Red Sea. I searched the forum, and only found one reference to it, before it opened. It's a GEMS school.

Is the city frontier land, or does it already have infrastructure and businesses opening? The school is experiencing quick growth, and predicting significantly more to come, but what could a family reasonably expect in terms of lifestyle and "creature comforts"?

I know there are restrictions that come with living in KSA, (no alcohol, women driving/having to cover, religious freedom) but saw mention somewhere that some of those restrictions may be relaxed in KAEC because they are encouraging international business and tourism there...is that the case, or not really?

It's a pretty small school from what I understand - maybe around 100 students, whereas the KAUST school down the road has over 1000. The Rabigh oil refinery is nearby too. As for the compound - KAUST for example is all in one compound where women can drive, don't need to cover etc, but at KAEC it may be that the residential compounds are separate to the work environment. The package used to be less than KAUST, but the KAUST package has dropped recently so they may comparable. I'd take KAUST over KAEC if I could...

Even though the KAUST package has dropped, it was pretty amazing to begin with. It appeared on Search that the World Academy was not as good a package and was building from the ground up - lower grades first. World Academy will also serve a different clientele than KAUST, which is more for kids of the academics and admin at KAUST itself...if I had a choice, I would go with KAUST over Sonny V's school. That said, GEMS can be an ok place to work at if you go in with your head up and aware of what it is. I know DAA in Dubai is not a bad place and the kids are very decent/parents are very happy.

As for KAUST, I would highly recommend speaking to current staff to hear what life is like in the classroom teaching and living amongst a majority of Saudi nationals.

This school cold-contacted me before the Cambridge Fair, and sent some information about the school in the email. Apparently the student body is only about a quarter Saudi. It's also very small and very new. And there's not much to do in the city. As a personal choice, I would never work for GEMS because it's a for-profit company. As far as for-profits go, it is one of the better organizations. But it's a line I choose not to cross (again).