Job Discussion Forums

[Ruqaiyah]

Anyone have any information on this school in El Katamia region?

[blitz4]

They have a website: http://www.hayahacademy.com/
Besides that I don't know much about them. I have been trying to find out about them as well actually - by coincidence, so if you find anything else about them please keep me posted!

[latifa]

Alsalamo alaykom,

I read u wanted to know more about Al Hayah School, my best friend has her son in 2nd grade at this school, and they are so satisfied from the whole thing, education, envirnment and all, it is now very well known that it is one of the best international schools in Cairo I advice you go and see for your self. wish you the best.

[veiledsentiments]

Well, it appears that none of the long term teachers on this board have heard of this school, nor have I. I visited their website and wasn't impressed that none of the supposed links work.

I checked the Cairo Practical Guide and it is not listed among the International Schools, so I would be a bit leery of it. If you can not communicate with current and/or past teachers, I would probably avoid it. There have been too many bad stories about working for some of these places.

VS

[latifa]

after reading the last reply conserning the HIA I will do my best to give you a reasonable answer to all your doubtes and as I heard all around here in Cairo how great this school is I do have to defend it so pls give me a day or two and I will tell you exactly all about it.

[veiledsentiments]

Ms Latifa,

If you check out the thread on the Futures School, you will understand why I caution applicants on this board. Many schools that have happy parents of students treat their teachers very poorly. They is why I caution anyone against accepting a job if they can not hear directly from current or previous teachers.

Too many sad stories have appeared here.

VS

[latifa]

I know dear you as a stranger to egypt should be very carefull when you think of working here and specially en a school , as you said I know there are a lot of sad stories, but truelly I know that this school is an expesive one and usually these kind of schools give reasonable salaries to their teachers ,and I know some freinds who work there and they are truelly very satisfied and they come from high standard families, but I never asked how much they are payed, me myself I am considering working there , as the owners of this school are of good reputation and still I am trying to get you more solid information, and about the site it is still under construction that is why it is still so primitive.

[NWRaft]

As a former teacher at the aforementioned Futures American School, payment is not the only consideration in the treatment of teachers at a school. To me, the educational atmosphere and support is much more important than the money and my experience at Futures was that many parents were happy because even if their students failed their classes, with a little extra money, they graduated. As a teacher, that undermines everything I do in the classroom and makes education a farce. My understanding is that this goes on in other schools, although I have never heard of the school you're discussing.

[lynnknows]

I spoke with a woman this week that worked at the school last year. She was happy there. She left because she got married and moved to Kuwait. She is teaching there now. She was an American from Chicago. She said she has lived and worked overseas for a few years now. The school is new, only 3 years old, so they are still working out the bugs. Other than a few kinks she said it was a good expierence for her. The staff was very nice to her and very helpful.

Hope this helps

[chrisd]

I interviewed via phone with Dr. Dusseau, the school Administrator, and found her to be quite a delightful person. She was genuine and transparent and we discussed the negative reviews the school has received in the short time it has existed. Academics with PhD's often come across as "full of themselves" and I found Dr. Dusseau just the opposite. I looked forward to working with her. In spite of the fact that Dr. Dusseau was in the process of moving, she took whatever time I needed to discuss every issue I brought to the table. She also took the time to address further issues I thought about later and which I asked her by email.

I was offered a contract which seemed fair to me. It was unambiguous (unlike those from China). Dr. Dusseau also provided me with several school documents to look over. I told Dr. Dusseau that I had two other interviews pending, but "would be able to give her an answer soon". This was acceptable with her.

Two weeks after receiving the contract (and just about the time I decided to accept it), I received an email from Dr. Dusseau stating that the owners of the school had instructed her not to make any new hires and that my contract was being withdrawn. I was disappointed, mainly because I wanted to work with this lady. The reasons for the contract withdrawal were somewhat vague, but it seems that the owners have expended a lot of money on the infrastructure of the school and my contract was withdrawn due to budget constraints.