Thank you all for the comments. Everyone has some pretty positive things to say about the school and community, I am wondering what the red flags are? Would this be a good place for a first time international position?

Thanks for the input. The one gripe seems to be with the school provided housing. Can anyone speak to that? Has anyone lived in Amman recently? How are the cost of goods? How is the harrassment of western women? I really don't want my wife to be subjected to that, especially with my young son in tow.

Anyone have information on the school, package, and life in Amman? I have heard some positive reviews and Amman seems like a progressive city with a lot of history.

I was just curious as to what kind of qualifications it would take to be an AD at an international school? At least in the state I am in, it is almost impossible to break in to this position with so few positions. I've coached in the past, and played competitively in multiple sports through high school and one in college. Yes, I am a teacher. However; I have no AD experience. Thoughts?

@elgrappo Thanks for the input. I read about it being on the Red Sea. The overly negative reviews that I read had to do with the hiring process but I haven't heard anything about the package, benefits, or specifically the school.

Anybody have any info on the package or even about the actual school itself? Thanks

The reviews seem to be overwhelmingly negative. Anyone have any current info on the school, community, and package? How does it compare to Aramco?

@expatteacher99 Thanks for the clarification on the pay issue. I am glad to hear it is more complicated than simply women getting paid less.

As far as what I said, I was simply repeating the words verbatim from the principal in stating that women get paid less.

[quote="PsyGuy"]They are still paying woman less, solely because they are a woman. When I was there they were trying to get an exemption/waiver, and they had several internal plans to "equalize" pay. I would think they would have been successful by now. Why anyone would want to raise their children in an environment where the culture and the government deems a person of less value because they got an extra X chromosome instead of a Y chromosome. The ME is a craphole?[/quote]

I was just stating what I heard directly from the principal. It seems like the company enjoys certain freedoms that are impossible in the rest of Saudi Arabia, but also has to follow certain laws that perpetuate the male-dominant society. Saudi Aramco definitely has the clearest pros and cons of any school I know of.

@wiscokid
My wife and I just had a preliminary interview with Saudi Aramco last night. We got an e-mail literally out of the blue about interviewing. All I did was send an e-mail through Search stating our experience, what positions we were looking for, and how we wanted to learn more info. It was with the Abqaiq school which is about 45 minutes from Dharhan. Apparently, the other compounds are becoming so full, that many of the new hires are going to be housed in Abqaiq. The school population is supposed to jump from around 250 to 375 for the 2013-14 school year so they will be hiring quite a few teachers.

As far as the interview went, it was basically a get to know you interview, and the principal talked a lot about the school, the community, Saudi Arabia, etc. The principal has not been told how many people he will be hiring yet so it was more to gauge interest. He was very up front and honest about both the positives and negatives of living in such a place which we both really appreciated. FYI, we were told that my wife would be paid less per Saudi law.

@gus Well we have both applied in the past couple weeks, but haven't heard anything. That is why I was wondering if there were somebody specific we should be in contact with? Hopefully we will start hearing from schools sometime soon?

@gus Thank you for the specific information on each of these three places. My wife and I have a young son, so somewhere safe and family-oriented is definitely of interest. As far as Abu Dhabi is concerned, is it necessary to have a car? Are there decent beaches near by for Westerners? If we are going to be somewhere hot, we need to be near water.

Is there anybody specific we should contact at ACS about employment? My wife is an elementary school counselor and I am an elementary teacher. Both with our Masters and 5+ years of experience. Unfortunately, we haven't heard from anywhere we have applied except the Saudi Aramco schools, which is supposedly difficult to get into. What's our next step?

Thanks for the help.

[quote="PsyGuy"]Just about every major metropolitan city having a car would be a liability.[/quote]

Since many of the schools are outside the city center, I was just wondering how people got to their schools without cars. Sure, maybe you could live next to your school, but how about getting into the city on a daily basis? Many countries don't have the infrastructure to provide excellent public transportation or it is unsafe. Obviously, WE and much of EE does.

@PsyGuy I would not be able to get where I need to go on a daily basis here in Denver without a car. The closest light-rail is a 10 minute drive, and bus routes are not close to my home. Maybe I am missing the point of what a "major metropolitan city" is.

@shadowjack Thanks for the response. There really isn't a whole lot out there as far as info goes, it all seems to be secondhand knowledge. I gathered it was smaller and in the middle of the desert as opposed to a couple of the compounds much closer to the Gulf. I'm actually looking forward to hearing the truth when we talk to the principal.

If I was looking for schools that were either close to city centers or located in cities with excellent public transportation, where having a car would be more or less a liability, where do people recommend? Especially cities that aren't outrageously expensive.

Hey All:

I just received an e-mail last night from the principal at one of the Saudi Aramco schools, Abqaiq, to set up an interview. Anybody know anything about this school specifically? I know there is plenty of Saudi Aramco threads, but it seems like much of the information is what people have heard rather than actual first-hand experience. Any help would be fantastic to learn more about what is actually true about Abqaiq and Saudi Aramco schools in general.