yeah. but dental work in TX is so different from overseas...

Interesting note. Dr. David Hawley, formally the President of UWC Pearson College, is the new Chief academic officer at the main IBO office in the Netherlands. "Thats all UWC is. They are respected by themselves and their believers." Apparently, the IBO is a believer...

"Those arent facts or reality they are YOUR perceptions and your opinions."

"Those arent facts or reality they are YOUR perceptions and your opinions."

Those arent facts or reality they are YOUR perceptions and your opinions.

"Those arent facts or reality they are YOUR perceptions and your opinions."

@SonnyCrockett
The issue of isolation does present itself at some UWCs. Though the campus life can be almost overwhelmingly active, some of the schools do struggle with separation of school/CAS/dorm life and ones personal life. It's a double edge sword because in order to create the intense experiential nature, the communities can function in a bit of a "bubble." For teachers with small children this can be ideal, like any boarding school. But for singles and teachers with kids who are still too young to apply to the program it can be a challenge-- especially UWC Pearson, USA, Atlantic, India, Swaziland, Armenia and Shanghai. If a family has children, it can be hard to find good local schools to send your own children. The schools in the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bosnia, Germany and Italy are located nearer to towns with public transportation and more of a night life for teachers (and students!)

To clarify what Shadowjack mentioned about fee payers..only Singapore and Maastricht have fee payers for the K-10 grades that go through a regular individual school process for admission. This tuition is set by the school and is certainly not the 80,000 mentioned. For the DP program only, students go through the National Committees. In the past, the schools had an agreement to only accept those who went through the process. If a student did not get accepted, but made it in to the final interviews, they could choose to become fee payers at certain schools. The scholarship is worth 80,000 for 2 years because it is room/board/education. However, the national committees pay substantially less and donors like Davis make up the difference.
That is why Singapore is unlike any other UWC and clearly NOT "the flagship". They function more like a regular international school and compete with other international schools in the region. It is probably why so many International teachers are familiar with it. Certainly, College of the Atlantic is considered the flagship of the movement Each school has its strengths and weaknesses. They are in NO way a chain. The UWCs were some of the first schools in the world to adopt the IB and its teachers were involved in writing much of the early curriculum.

Having facts, experience and information does not make it a "sales pitch." It enable one to answer questions based on something other than farfetched theory and stubborn ignorance.

One can not compare the UWC admissions process to any other international schools. No UWC admits its own students except Singapore, and now Maastricht—because they are K-12.There are 187 National Committees around the world. Each committee raises its own funding in order to provide scholarships to its students. Some countries are only able to send one student to one of the colleges each year. The US selection committee receives approx. 500-800 applications per year. The extensive process includes an application process, personal essay, test scores, skype interviews and a final round of interviews where students are flown in to meet with the national committee. Only 50 students are selected to be a prestigious US Davis Scholar and of those, 25 remain at the Armand Hammer school in NM and the rest are sent overseas to the other schools. Only 25 % of the host population selected remains at each school. Hong Kong exceeds that number at 30% due to a govt. mandate.

The idea is that students are representing their nations around the world and there are not a lot of TCKs since students have to go through their national committees to be accepted and most expat families are posted overseas already. A candidate would have to return to their passport country to interview with the National Committee. Students with dual passports have been know to apply to represent both countries. Recently, some of the schools have begun to explore accepting fee paying students, but the majority of schools work on a scholarship basis. Consequently, students come from diverse socio/economic backgrounds. Students from small villages, refugee camps and conflict regions can receive a full scholarship based on merit. Since parents can not buy their way in to the process, many middle class students with public school backgrounds end up receiving the benefit of this private school education for free. The scholarships are worth over 80,000 dollars per student and money may follow them to college as well.

85 + nationalities are represented at each school. Approximately 200 students live in the dorms together and they have an intense 2 year experiential DP experience. On top of the strenuous academics, they do service, and each school has a particular emphasis: College of the Atlantic (Ocean rescue) Pearson(marine biology & stewards of Race Rock island) UWCUSA (Wilderness rescue and Conflict Resolution) Norway (Red Cross and Refugees) etc..This is one of the reasons the schools are off the beaten track. The schools are often housed in famous old castles and historic buildings. Though Kurt Hahn of Outward Bound was the force behind the first school, patrons have included Nelson Mandela, Queen Noor and Prince Charles who came together to support the early schools. Because the schools are limited to a 2 year cycle, servicing 80 students per grade, there are not a lot of jobs available. Teachers do not tend to leave their positions and alumni often return to teach in the UWC movement. It is an extended community that stretches across the world. Many of those still teaching at different UWCs were instrumental in writing much of the IB curriculum and have trained teachers for decades.

Students graduate with IB scores that average 34/35 with many closer to 40, and move on together into colleges. There are US and Canadian Universities that have large populations of UWC graduates from around the globe continuing their educations together. It is about more than the IB scores, for them it is about the ideals that brought them together. I am not in administration--though it is wonderful place to be in leadership (teachers/admin are on first name basis with the kids and there is a informality due to much of the decision-making being in the students' hands) I have been involved with almost all of the schools over the years and have watched each new school formed create its own identity. Though they are run by separate and distinct Boards, they all share a mission statement. It is a transformational opportunity for those students who have gone outside of the box and sought a unique educational opportunity. Parents seldom contact the national committees first. Initial interest is generated by the students, which may explain their lifelong passion for the movement.

Interesting observations about your PYP teacher "just not getting it." I believe that would mean that you would have to work at the International School of Copenhagen as it is the only PYP program listed on the IBO website, and yet I'm pretty sure you don't work for that particular Head of school. So, here we go again with a concocted story meant to pass on made up advice/knowledge. and please don't attribute my post to anyone else. I am not a new member to the forum, just don't often feel impelled to weigh in on subjects when they are being honestly discussed.

Interesting observations about your PYP teacher "just not getting it." I believe that would mean that you would have to work at the International School of Copenhagen as it is the only PYP program listed on the IBO website, and yet I'm pretty sure you don't work for that particular Head of school. So, here we go again with a concocted story meant to pass on made up advice/knowledge. and please don't attribute my post to anyone else. I am not a new member to the forum, just don't often feel impelled to weigh in on subjects when they are being honestly discussed.

I took the liberty of a little investigative journalism of my own. Psyguy, much of the information that has been passed on to new teachers is not your "perspective" but downright false. I think the most egregious fraud is perpetuating this belief that you are an administrator and therefore qualified to look at their resumes and comment. Considering that you are also looking for a science job presently, it is unethical to pretend to be helping someone while scouting the competition. The interesting thing about terrible grammar is that it can create a pattern of writing that is instantly recognizable. If anyone on this forum would like to join me in browsing Texas Teachers.net there is a poster who bears some remarkable similarities to this one. Oh..except he claims to be an ESL teacher and consultant for C-scope. Of course those claims could be false and he might not really be presenting his "true" identity to his fellow Texans. Disturbingly, there is a lot of "advice" offered on that site as well, and as of January 2012 his time zone seems to be stateside. As for the ongoing blacklist question? Psyguy's silly claim that headnet is only an IB tool that he alone has accessed is false. As other posters have tried to explain to him, a form of headnet has been used by international educators who belong to AAIE for years. It's goal is certainly not to bash teachers, it was created for heads of schools to have a forum of their own, but if there were a teacher who was seen as being dangerous or unethical, I imagine they would get the word out. Perhaps he has no access to that site because, sadly it is only accessible to administrators.