Concordia International School Shanghai

4.75 / 5

( 5Reviews)

Ranking:

Country:# 1Top 3

Region:# 4

Overall:# 8

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Located:

Shanghai, China

Region:

Asia

Website:

www.concordiashanghai.org

Score Over Time:

Curriculum:

American

Host Country

Grade Levels:

Nursery

Lower ES

Upper ES

MS

HS

Type:

International

Denominational

Co-educational

Day

Pre-Preparatory

Preparatory

Non-profit

Enrollment:

1250

Category Scores:

9.5

Overall Grade

How are scores determind?

9.8

School

9.4

Students

9.9

Administration

10.0

Salary

9.5

Benefits

9.7

Housing

9.8

Colleagues

8.5

Place

9.9

Professional Development

9.9

Settling In

10.0

After Arrival

Affiliate:

Review Summary:

School Students Administration Salary Benefits Housing Colleagues Place P.D.Settling In After Arrival

School:

Question 1:

The facilities of the school adequately provide for a positive learning/working experience.

9.8 / 10

Question 2:

School provides adequate access to teaching materials without any extra expense by the teacher (books, lab supplies, art supplies, materials, copying, etc.

10 / 10

Question 3:

School is well funded to provide students and faculty with adequate materials to support their course offering.

10 / 10

Question 4:

Parent community is actively involved in supporting the school's mission and their child's education endeavors.

9.4 / 10

Question 5:

Classroom student to teacher ratios are kept low.

9.8 / 10

Students:

Question 6:

Students are generally of high aptitude.

9.8 / 10

Question 7:

Student interactions with faculty are primarily characterized by respectability.

9.6 / 10

Question 8:

Students are of diverse ethnicity.

8.8 / 10

Administration:

Question 9:

Administration positively supports faculty in a professional manner.

9.8 / 10

Question 10:

Administration actively encourages a dialogue concerning school related issues.

10 / 10

Question 11:

Administration is actively engaged in developing/supporting/maintaining a clear school vision.

10 / 10

Question 12:

Administration makes sure that the financial stability and integrity of the school is well maintained.

9.8 / 10

Question 13:

Administration/Ownership uses school funds to support the well being of the school.

10 / 10

Salary:

Question 14:

Salary scale is competitive.

10 / 10

Question 15:

Salary provides the opportunity to save appropriately.

10 / 10

Question 16:

Salary provides the opportunity to travel during vacation.

10 / 10

Question 17:

Salary scale provides for vertical and horizontal movement based on years of experience and/or units/degree's earned.

10 / 10

Benefits:

Question 18:

School provides a quality health insurance plan that covers all major medical (health, vision, dental.

9.2 / 10

Question 19:

School provides retirement benefits that are competitive.

9.8 / 10

Question 20:

School provides a health insurance plan that covers international travel/coverage.

10 / 10

Question 21:

School provides for faculty child tuition benefits.

10 / 10

Question 22:

School provides strong support for maternity benefits.

9.6 / 10

Question 23:

School provides an adequate amount for end of contract airfare cost.

9.4 / 10

Question 24:

School provides an adequate shipping allowance.

8.8 / 10

Housing:

Question 25:

School provides quality available housing or a housing stipend that affords quality housing.

10 / 10

Question 26:

The proximity of housing in relation to school location is within an acceptable distance of travel.

10 / 10

Question 27:

Options of moving housing during the course of contract is acceptable.

9.2 / 10

Colleagues:

Question 28:

Colleagues foster a welcoming environment to new faculty.

10 / 10

Question 29:

School hires a diversity of family structures (Singles, couples, families.

10 / 10

Question 30:

Colleagues foster a professional environment that supports growth.

9.8 / 10

Question 31:

Colleagues foster a personal support structure in place of family.

9.6 / 10

Place:

Question 32:

City the school resides in provides opportunities for things to do without having to travel

9.6 / 10

Question 33:

City the school resides in provides easy opportunities to travel to other places.

8.8 / 10

Question 34:

Local culture is apparent in the city/country in which the school resides.

8.4 / 10

Question 35:

Local culture of in which the school resides is open to integrating expats into local customs and traditions.

8.2 / 10

Question 36:

City/Country in which the school resides does not exact personal restrictions on lifestyle choices.

7.6 / 10

Question 37:

City/Country in which school resides provides for potential tax benefits.

8.2 / 10

Question 38:

Quality of local health care is excellent.

7.2 / 10

Question 39:

Cost of living in the city/country where school resides is reasonable.

7.2 / 10

Question 40:

City the school resides in has excellent infrastructure for mass transportation (e.g. - is a car required.

9.6 / 10

Question 41:

City/Country in which the school resides provides for adequate personal safety.

9.8 / 10

Professional Development:

Question 42:

School makes available a variety of professional development opportunities.

10 / 10

Question 43:

School makes available funds to support continued development.

10 / 10

Question 44:

Time is specifically set aside in the calendar for faculty and staff formation.

9.8 / 10

Question 45:

Faculty and Staff are encouraged to professionally grow by the school.

10 / 10

Question 46:

Faculty and Staff are encouraged to experiment, implement, and bring up new ideas for classroom innovation.

9.8 / 10

Settling In:

Question 47:

School meets you on arrival and escorts you to accommodations.

10 / 10

Question 48:

School provides an adequate orientation to the school and local culture upon arrival.

10 / 10

Question 49:

School provides an allowance to support the transition.

9.8 / 10

After Arrival:

Question 50:

Facilities of the school were well represented during the hiring process.

10 / 10

Question 51:

Contract is honored based on what was agreed upon during the hiring process.

10 / 10

Question 52:

School actively maintains a dialogue and support structure to make sure basic needs are being met.

10 / 10

Review Narratives:

5 reviews

9.6

Reviewed:

07/05/2016

Concordia is a wonderful place to work. Moral is high, and admin treat teachers like professionals. It's not a "stress factory" like some of the schools in the region, but that doesn't mean that standards and expectations are not very high. Concordia does a good job at enabling intrinsically motivated professionals to do what they love. Staff turn over is generally quite low. Show me the money - Experienced teachers can start at step 15 on the pay scale, which is over 10,000 USD above any other school in Asia! Take home cash, including retirement, now tops out at over 90K per year. Daily life - Shanghai is the most cosmopolitan city in mainland China (true, it still lags behind Hong Kong). Air pollution really isn't that severe. Concordia is located in an expat bubble. Almost everything you can imagine is readily available for sale, but at a price. Housing - The school is ideally located, but that means that rents have soared in recent years. For example, when I came to Shanghai, my apartment was valued at about 1.5 million USD. Now it would sell for over 3 million! Crazy right? A metro stop and new shopping mall should open in the next few years, and once that's complete, property is going to be ridiculous. My belief is that at some point Concordia will need to place teachers in apartments further away from school, and have busses that run each day. Other school in Shanghai already do this. One big downside is travel. China mandates holidays, and the whole country seemingly travels during the main breaks. This causes flights to sell out and airfares to be sky high. It's normal to have to pay over $1000 just to fly for a couple of hours.

9.7

Reviewed:

01/07/2014

Concordia is an outstanding school. I have been impressed with the calibre of educators assembled. I have to say that of all the international schools that I've been at, this one does the best job in providing opportunities to grow professionally. Shanghai is not a perfect city, but I've really enjoyed living here and being part of this community.

9.2

Reviewed:

12/31/2013

I would put Concordia in the top 10% of overseas schools as a place to work. Great modern school, nice facilities, better than average pay package. The suburb where the school is located is set up for expats, this is both good (ease of living) and bad (easy to get stuck "in the bubble"). The school is international but heavily Asian/Chinese with some tiger moms adding to the high expectations that the community, including the teachers themselves, put on teachers. Concordia is a Christian school which is great if you are a Christian but gets awkward for the less religious. Housing is good and all is biking distance from the school. Most of the kids are great to work with. Campus is compact with only one large athletic field and no pool. Wonderful travel and service opportunities. Because China is a big country it is hard and expensive to get out of the country for the big holidays; if you travel within China on the Chinese holidays you are always headed to a crowded location. Good healthcare is expensive in country and most travel if possible for anything serious, fortunately a good insurance package helps with this. Overall a wonderful place to teach.

9.4

Reviewed:

12/28/2013

No written review provided.

9.7

Reviewed:

10/22/2013

Concordia is a fantastic school, for students, teachers, and families. As a Christian school, there is something palpably different about the way staff, students, administration, and families interact, compared to other schools where I have worked. The degree of collegiality is outstanding. Students and programs are top notch. There is also a culture of service, of genuine interest in performing service for its own sake and living out a Christian mission. Not surprisingly staff turnover is very low. Facilities are excellent, material needs are readily met. Everyone works hard and finding balance in one's life can be a challenge at times, but that is as much internally driven as anything else. Shanghai and China are fascinating places to be, although might not be everyone's cup of tea.. Medical care certainly has room for improvement, as does air quality.