Besides all the opinions posted on the ISR school reviews,
can anyone else their views in here about Narmer ?
Are they going to be moving to a new school site in 2006 ?
Narmer American School
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Narmer opinion
Narmer
Narmer is privately owned by a wealthy Egypian family. The academic and discipline standards are pretty low. It has more integrity than some privately owned schools, but this can be professionally compromising and/demoralizing. Having said that, being a teacher in many schools, both public and private, throughout the world can be the same!
The current campus is located in a run down part of Maadi, near the metro station. It is shared with the Egyptian curriculum school, which is also owned by the same wealthy Egyptian family. The current physical building is pretty much a dump and very limited in space and facilities. Narmer is supposed to relocate to a new suburb in Cairo, but who really knows.
If you want to teach in a school with integrity, I would avoid any school which is privately owned. You also do not have much job security. Lee Yoder is not the strongest administrator and he knows that he is basically a "Lame Duck" and pretty much has to do whatever he is told. Salary wise
Narmer is ok and you can have a decent lifestyle, but they do not wire transfer your salary home and that can be a pain and expensive. They pay a portion in Egyptian pounds and a portion in US Dollars, but that could also change and they have had to change these terms of the contract when local events made it "necessary" to afford pay checks. TIE insurance is one of the best health care systems and that is a good benefit.
Like many schools in the international environment, there are certain subject areas which are deemed more important that others and if you are a specialist teacher like Art or PE, you have been hired only to maintain the accredited status of the school NOT to be supported or maintain high standards for your subject area.
Egypt is a great country and the opportunity to live there might be worth a chancy professional situation, but that would be the compromise.
The current campus is located in a run down part of Maadi, near the metro station. It is shared with the Egyptian curriculum school, which is also owned by the same wealthy Egyptian family. The current physical building is pretty much a dump and very limited in space and facilities. Narmer is supposed to relocate to a new suburb in Cairo, but who really knows.
If you want to teach in a school with integrity, I would avoid any school which is privately owned. You also do not have much job security. Lee Yoder is not the strongest administrator and he knows that he is basically a "Lame Duck" and pretty much has to do whatever he is told. Salary wise
Narmer is ok and you can have a decent lifestyle, but they do not wire transfer your salary home and that can be a pain and expensive. They pay a portion in Egyptian pounds and a portion in US Dollars, but that could also change and they have had to change these terms of the contract when local events made it "necessary" to afford pay checks. TIE insurance is one of the best health care systems and that is a good benefit.
Like many schools in the international environment, there are certain subject areas which are deemed more important that others and if you are a specialist teacher like Art or PE, you have been hired only to maintain the accredited status of the school NOT to be supported or maintain high standards for your subject area.
Egypt is a great country and the opportunity to live there might be worth a chancy professional situation, but that would be the compromise.
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teacherincairo
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:03 am
- Location: Cairo
Narmer is definitely moving to a new site in August. Looks to be a nice building.
"If you want to teach in a school with integrity" you should avoid almost every private American school in Egypt save CAC. But it's not all that bad here. You learn to roll with the punches from the administration and owners, and take what you can get from your students which will make you crazy on many days, but will leave you with many smiles and some great stories.
I am currently teaching at an American school in Cairo that is pretty horrific, but I know there are schools far worse in this city so I count myself lucky. (At least I know I'll get paid!) When I've hung out with teachers at other schools here we all have the same complaints, so it's as much to do with the nature of the students and the nature of the business as it is to do with the school itself. Narmer teachers I've talked to complain, but again, nothing new there. And many have said it's not a bad school at all and will be returning, which is a very good sign. I've chatted informally and formally with Dr. Yoder and found him to be a pretty good guy who seems to want to take Narmer to a higher level than the run of the mill American schools in Cairo which are popping up all over the place, another good sign. Narmer I'd say is one of the better second tier American schools in Cairo. You could do a lot worse for sure.
"If you want to teach in a school with integrity" you should avoid almost every private American school in Egypt save CAC. But it's not all that bad here. You learn to roll with the punches from the administration and owners, and take what you can get from your students which will make you crazy on many days, but will leave you with many smiles and some great stories.
I am currently teaching at an American school in Cairo that is pretty horrific, but I know there are schools far worse in this city so I count myself lucky. (At least I know I'll get paid!) When I've hung out with teachers at other schools here we all have the same complaints, so it's as much to do with the nature of the students and the nature of the business as it is to do with the school itself. Narmer teachers I've talked to complain, but again, nothing new there. And many have said it's not a bad school at all and will be returning, which is a very good sign. I've chatted informally and formally with Dr. Yoder and found him to be a pretty good guy who seems to want to take Narmer to a higher level than the run of the mill American schools in Cairo which are popping up all over the place, another good sign. Narmer I'd say is one of the better second tier American schools in Cairo. You could do a lot worse for sure.
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good
narmer
I worked at narmer for four years and was fairly happy with everything except Dr. Yoder. The school is typical for a for-profit international school in that the supplies are bad and they take any student who wants to come there.
The only warning I could give you is about Dr. Yoder. Dr. Yoder routinely lies to applicants at job fairs and promises them things that he has no intention of giving them. Many of us came tot he conclusion that he either a) has grown old and senile and really believes that what he is saying is true; b) he is so out of touch with the reality of the school that he actually doesn't know the truth or c) he is a compulsive liar and really can't help himself or d) he is a truly evil person who loves to get people into his trap where they cannot easily get out.
I was there for much of the school's history and saw over and over again how he promised people things that he knew wouldn't happen. I was even an administrator there for a number of years and had many private conversations with him in which he reiterated his contempt for teachers and their opinions.
He has now surrounded himself with vice-principals who share his views (the other one left in the middle of this year after becoming disgusted with Dr. Yoder and the other vice-principals).
It should be a signal to everyone that some teachers stay forever (the ones Dr. Yoder treats with kid gloves) and others constantly leave even before contracts are up because things are so bad there.
Be careful--this could be good or very bad for you.
The only warning I could give you is about Dr. Yoder. Dr. Yoder routinely lies to applicants at job fairs and promises them things that he has no intention of giving them. Many of us came tot he conclusion that he either a) has grown old and senile and really believes that what he is saying is true; b) he is so out of touch with the reality of the school that he actually doesn't know the truth or c) he is a compulsive liar and really can't help himself or d) he is a truly evil person who loves to get people into his trap where they cannot easily get out.
I was there for much of the school's history and saw over and over again how he promised people things that he knew wouldn't happen. I was even an administrator there for a number of years and had many private conversations with him in which he reiterated his contempt for teachers and their opinions.
He has now surrounded himself with vice-principals who share his views (the other one left in the middle of this year after becoming disgusted with Dr. Yoder and the other vice-principals).
It should be a signal to everyone that some teachers stay forever (the ones Dr. Yoder treats with kid gloves) and others constantly leave even before contracts are up because things are so bad there.
Be careful--this could be good or very bad for you.
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Guest...
Narmer
I worked at another school in Cairo and am a PE teacher. I want to caution any PE teachers to avoid Narmer, unless you want to just throw out the ball. Like many "schools for profit" a certified PE teacher is hired so they can get accreditation, not because they value physical education or are commited to buying equipment for curriculum. If the school does indeed move to the new campus, maybe things will be better, but I doubt it.