school administrators

@egus, I received an email stating they had not received my authenticated docs.  drmoni authenticated about a week before I did.  we uploaded color copies, without taking them apart...as directed.  I then received another email stating they were missing my notarized letter.  they also wanted a letter verifying our employment.  based on all the communication we are taking it as they are definitely working on securing our visas.  we will not mention our new positions until the contract is in hand.  ideally we plan to wait until we know we will be leaving...to much at stake and based on some other blogs we don't want to quit, without a departure date locked in

I just (this very MINUTE) got the offer letter from ADEC!! I just signed it and faxed it back. The letter itself is from ADEC and specifies a basic salary, additional allowance, the total monthly salary and accommodation...provided.

Awesome! does it come in the mail? was there a start date???
WOW!!! Im excited for you!

came in email. I printed, signed and re-emailed it. Now it goes back to ADEC and they draw the official contract.

AWESOME!!!

Were the numbers were you thought they would be?

yes

Excellent...I will keep u posted as to when my notification come...

It's getting more real!

I kno...crazy real. So hard to focus on anything else

I sent drmoni some stuff that may be of interest to you also.

thanks at some point, did your notification have a start date, arrival date, or anything more definitive?

Hi flimbric,

No...no dates as of yet. It's a generic offer specifying the position, salary and benefits. You sign and return the offer within a week of the date the offer is made. Have you or drmoni gotten anything else from TA?

No not yet. We r patiently waiting and packing everything in site..LOL. they told us last week the contract should arrive in the next two weeks.

Have you contacted drmoni about what I sent her?

no..lol i will ask her right now

hey Egus,
Did your contract specify the level you would be working with?

hi egus, i talked to drmoni..good info.  i wonder what the breakdown specifically mean?  when we get our contract hopefully we can clarify.  i will let u know what and if we find out anything..

Good Morning Drmoni,

There wasn't any specification as to the type of school or age level of the students. I believe they tell you when you get there. Considering I'm male, I expect an all boys school.

yes, makes sense. Your current school is K-8? or ??? mine is 6-8 flimric is 9-12.

Yes...K-8 with special ed in the form of LD (upper and lower), VI, HI, and EI. I run 680 kids 65 staff and no AP...lol.

Oh I forgot...I petitioned Central Office two years ago and added PreK-ASD and Elementary ASD...go me!

Wow Egus, u keep urself busy with all those programs...Good for u.

It keeps me on my toes to be sure! But that's what I get the extra nickel for!!  Any news?

no news
isnt it a bit strange that there arent other people participating in this blog or others...its so quiet out there about Au Dhabi right now. I cant find any new info...

I can't find any new information either. As to the lack of forum participation...there's not a lot of spots for administrators and many are reluctant to leave the usa for reasons of their comfort level and obligations. It's going to be an interesting ride to be sure...new faces, experiences, and adventures.

@egus at some point we will have to swap contact info, so we can be sure to meet face to face in AD,  also drmoni has good cell phone info.  fones that can be used in the US and UAE at pennies on the dollar, that hold dual sims cards.

Hi flimbric and drmoni,

Have you heard anything yet? I sent my authenticated documents to my recruiter on Thursday and I can't think of anything else that needs to be done but to wait. I haven't told HR yet...I'm waiting until everything's locked in. Patience..patience...patience...

yes HR will be the last stop.  ideally I would like the plane ticket with enough time to give a two week notice.  (but I don't think it will happen that way) none the less I plan to work here through my depature date.

News to use: Letter of Offer is the "contract" but I believe that there's another, more formal document that will be signed once there. So when do we leave after that? (you may ask)...further research tells that once authenticated documents reach and are processed by immigration there....then tickets are issued...the process time? 6-10 weeks because immigration doesn't just process ADEC...it processes everyone coming in from different companies (makes sense). Ramadan begins July 10th this year...so if paperwork isn't in by July....work goes slow and may be delayed through the month to August (yes...sucks the big wazoo)...but what can one do.

I've looked all over for administrators blogging about ADEC; glad to find you. I've been told that I'm in but had to resend some documents so no actual contract yet. I think there are some recent entries below that I haven't read yet but it seems some of you have more info than I've been able to gather. Namely regional placement. Does anyone know if the accomodations are different than for teachers? I'm looking at a Cluster Manager position. All my information is from teacher blogs so again I'm glad to find you.

Hi Danelectro,

As admin, I believe we have a choice of housing or at least can make a selection where teachers are assigned. As for placement...you go where needed (to my understanding). I didn't make any requests of placement during my interview.

I just read the entire thread and all of your levels of excitement have compounded mine geometrically. Regarding why more people haven't joined in I'm telling you I've been trying for two months to locate anything with administrators and haven't had any luck until tonight. I'm particularly interested in hearing more about the dual sim cards and the particulars about the breakdown of compensation. Does anyone else find it strange that VP, principal, and cluster manager pays the same?

Korbie thanks for your information. I have assumed that cluster managers would be located near the regional office but your post about the CM having to fight to get the villa made me think that he was closer to the schools he's involved with. Is that the case? The larger question is how much time is the CM in the schools as opposed to meetings or regional affairs? Any other insight you can give as to the particulars you've noted about the CM position would be appreciated.

Danelectro,
Hello and welcome. What recruiting agency are you with? In regards to the phones, china manufatctures phones with dual sims and quad core, making them practically 100% global. They are pay as you go and never expire. if you want to keep your home plan at bare minimum to reserve contacts/business in the states you just place your sims card in the other available slot. They work simultaneously.

Hi Danelecto,welcome to the blog.  Cluster manager, wow, congrats. I do find it strange that all levels of admin will receive the same pay. i wonder if it has something to do with keeping us under the tax exclusion guidelines so we do not have to pay taxes in the US when we file in 2014.  As far as the dual sims card goes drmoni found some great sites with smartfones that are designed for travel outside of the US.  She will share the info as soon as she reads this blog.  are you traveling alone to the UAE, i will be taking a my dependant..

i wonder if they have benihanas in Abu Dhabi???? lol

Good Morning All,

Firstly, yes flimbric...there is a Benihana in AD! Here's the address....lol. Ground Floor, Beach Rotana Hotel & Towers, Street # 10, Tourist Club, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. We can make it our unofficial admin staff meeting place:) and the first sushi roll is on me.

@Danelectro: I too have been searching for some time on blogs, posts and forums from administrators with no luck. My conclusion...not many of us out there compared to the teachers. Additionally, I'll defer to flimbric's reasoning as to the even payscale because I can't think of any other reason. I do believe that when tax time rolls around...the first 92K usd isn't taxed.
Are you a principal now or a supe? I equate CM's with supes and asst. supes.

@ egus, what day and time will our admin meeting start? lol  I am there.

Thanks all,
I'm going through Teach Away Inc. and had been a principal for 12 years as well as a district-wide administrator in Tulsa Oklahoma over half of the alternative schools there. My last principal job was over a 1600 student high school in Arizona. Currently I'm working as a Research Associate while trying to finish a doctorate at the Univ. of Oklahoma.

This morning I woke up to an email from ADEC HR noting I needed to give them verifications of employment for 3 of my positions. Ariane at Teach Away had instructed me that I only needed to provide one letter of verification since pay wasn't dependent on years of experience. Obviously that was incorrect so I have to get them that ASAP. Further he stated I would probably be looking at Al Ain or Al Gharbia. I like the idea of "dune bashing" in the desert but God I hope I can live somewhere less isolated. Insha'a Allah as they say.