Wow, the first couple of posts encapsulate for me some of the worst of what this site has become at times. If you don't have anything positive to say, why spend the time?

Perhaps this person's child does not have access to a computer. Maybe they are so busy with life, or they don't know about this forum. Or maybe they are just trying to do something nice for their child.

Yes, it's important to allow one's children to grow and make their own decisions. However life is to short, and I hope that when my kids are grown, I can help them when I can.

Finally, down the road the poster might have something to contribute that is of value to one of you. Do you think they'd want to now? Would you say that to their face if at a social function they leaned over and asked if you'd heard of this school because their son/daughter was thinking of going?

Not the reply you are looking for, but there have been 3-4 posts here in the forum regarding your question on quality of life there (mixed at best). UWC is certainly an established school in Singapore and IMHO, one step below SAS- which is not bad.

"Regardless of whether we are hired or not, we do not plan to stay here."

That seems to answer your question. Had a bad experience trying to manage property from overseas- and wouldn't want to do that again....for what it's worth.

I'd put it up now and plan on moving no matter what.

There are enough elementary teachers out there that they'll only take a teaching couple where one can fill the job. So if you are applying, your partner better be able to fill another vacancy there.

[quote="hallier"]JIS hires inexperienced teachers, so long as they sense those teachers will buy in to the vision of the school. If u r an excellent inquiry oriented teacher with good tech skills and an interest in service learning, you may get in. Inquiry is the big focus at JIS right now. Don't be intimidated by those big schools - absolutely no harm in sending your application their way.[/quote]

I agree. My wife and I were hired at SAS in June. We had 20 days to sign the contract, pack and go.... Not a 'normal' hire- maybe a pregnancy, sickness or some other last minute fill. However you know you won't be hired if you don't apply. There were a number of 'first timers' at SAS when we were there.

Having been a kid at JIS, SAS and ISKL- I'd say all three, from personal experience, are great. Each has it's own strengths, but your children would be lucky to go to school at any one of those.

[quote="PsyGuy"]@JISalum

Yes the car is cheaper, but your still overpaying for it because of the COE. That cost just gets passed on to you. So that 6 year old Honda thats only worth $4K costs you $12K, which is still a 3 fold increase above its actual value..[/quote]

Correct, vehicles are not cheap in Singapore- that is clear to anyone who has lived or visited there. However teachers do purchase used cars and some find them useful- especially ones with families.

In terms of car ownership- yes NEW cars are very expensive. , and PsyGuy is correct, no one buys a NEW car. However many people, including teachers, buy USED cars. That is what we did- as did other teachers/staff.

We car-pooled every morning to get to school from where we lived. Yes, we could have taken public transportation, but that would have been 2 buses and the train- or an expensive taxi. Plus, getting taxis in Singapore when it's raining it nearly impossible at times.

COE's, or Certificate of Entitlements are the 'right of ownership' papers that were mentioned. These are indeed purchased through a bidding system, not unlike stock. However when you buy a used car, they come with the vehicle. A COE is good for a set time (10 years I believe), and you can renew once. Once the COE is expired the second time, the vehicle is removed from the road.

So the car we bought at the time was $13k. The COE had 5-6 left- I don't remember. We used it for two years and sold it for $10k. $1k per year was worth it for us.

Having a car makes a big difference. It allow to so see parts of the island that you otherwise didn't. Some teacher had cars, some did not. When we were there, during our orientation, a local used car dealer was catering to teachers by selling them Honda Civics for a set price. It wasn't bad- you just needed to adjust your expectations. You were going to pay a cost for a used car that you would pay for a new one in the States. However you could be assured that the resale value would be high.

Petrol was indeed high. Insurance was very low- I was surprised at that.

It would be a great city for a 5 year old. You're going to make many friends also with young children. It's easy to get around- public transportation is good. You can buy a car if needed (we bought one for $13k SG. Sold it two years later for $10.5sg).

SAS has a great preschool program- one of the best I've known. There are a variety of opinions you'll hear of Singapore; it's boring, it's a mall and all that. I grew up in Singapore, and taught there. It is what you make of it. You can still find the 'old' Singapore if you want. Yes it can sometimes get repetitious, but then I challenged myself to go find something different. Also, you can always fly out somewhere. We used to do cheap vacations to Malaysia.

Get a place up near Woodlands and you'll be close to school with an easy commute. We lived near Holland Village to be near more stuff to do. Either way it was great.

About the weather- you'll adjust. The first month I lost 20 pounds. I run though. Growing up, I wore jeans and got cold when it rained. I loved the rain and still miss that. It's all relative. Just don't move there and spend all your time in air-conditioning. Get out, that's the only way you'll get used to it. I loved our house in that it was open. I hated air-conditioning. My students at SAS would get out at recess and just go hell-bent in the middle of the day. None of them melted.

One issue was my wife has allergies- the mold was a problem until she found the right medication.

Also, as a parent, it's real nice when it's January and you're not stuck inside because of snow and can take your 5 year old out.

Neither of your two concerns would come even close to preventing me from taking a job there is I was in your shoes.

Also, if your 5 year old is going to go to SAS, David Hoss is a great principal. One of the best.....

You are going to find it hard to find someone who has taught at both. I have taught at SAS, and worked with people who came from HKIS. You can also search the forum for impressions of both places and draw your own conclusion. I can't address the teacher eval system.

Having taught at SAS before, I'd go back in a second. It's demanding, pays well and you are treated as a professional.

For what it's worth, with what I've heard/read/talked to friends who were there- about HKIS, I'd have doubts (compensation, administration, religious affiliation, housing, turnover). If I had the choice between the two- SAS easily.

Have known a number of teachers/admins who retired in US and then moved overseas. Most in mid-late 60's who enjoyed great time overseas. They can afford to take jobs for less money in schools/locations where lifestyle fits their needs. Planning on doing that myself.

Here are two threads:

http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... merica+top

http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... merica+top

And two comments from above:

"Best schools/best in terms of salary (bit subjective): Nido in Chile, Campo in Venezuela, Graded in Brazil and (decent salary) Lincoln in Argentina...and CNG in Colombia"

"The best paying schools in Central and South America are ECA (Campo) in Caracas, Venezuela and Graded in Sao Paulo. However, these are not cities in which you would want to retire."

Isn't Search also conducting a Leadership Fair in Cambridge at the same time as the main fair- may have read that in the recent TIE newspaper? Not sure if it's new or not, or how it's different than the teacher recruitment going on at the same time.

Will be looking at junior admin/director position but can't afford the Bangkok Fair. Other than contacting schools directly, considering Boston.

How are you going to post the success story about the kid without mentioning any problems/concerns about the student? I'm assuming they came from a position of needing help to one of achievement?

If other students saw that, couldn't that be embarrassing? My son gets individualized services and if one of his teachers posted that, even in the context of any improvement, I'd be pissed if even just his picture was included.

If one of our teaches did that in our district, at minimum their sense of responsibility would be questioned. If I was considering a teacher that did that, I would think twice.

Take the above advice and don't. Save it for any interview you have.

Check out some past posts for further information. I searched 'middle east top 10' to get:

http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... e+east+top

http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... e+east+top

http://internationalschoolsreview.com/v ... e+east+top

Then search for some of the schools mentioned specifically to get more info.