It has been a while since you've heard from, I know. I've been back two weeks from our long "summer" vacation which just happens to take place in the middle of the school year. 7 solid weeks of travelling and exploring (more on that later) didn't really leave much time for anything else. Some of you know that I decided that I was not going to renew my contract in Paraguay and would be looking to move on after finishing up my two years. As part of my vacation I spent a week in San Francisco at a job fair and yes, I ended up with a new job, a new school, and a new country for next year! In July I will be moving to New Delhi, India to work at the American Embassy School. I am not sure that I can tell you a whole lot, except that I now realize I'll be in the 7th largest country in the world, in a city with a population over 14 million. It will sure be a big change from Paraguay which has a total population of 5 million! I will be teaching high school math although I don't know specifically what yet. The math department is in starting a process to introduce a new curriculum which means that things are going to be gradually changing each year. However, the principal and the department head seem to have a clear idea of where they are going so I am not too worried.
What can I tell you about the school? It seems to have a good reputation in the international school circuit as everyone I spoke with that had heard of it had good things to say, from teachers to parents. There are around 1450 students from Kindergarten to grade 12 from 53 different countries. I believe the largest percentage is the 35% Americans, which means I should be teaching at a school that is actually international this time around. The high school has 418 students so it is about twice as larger as the school I have been teaching at but should still be small enough that I will know most of the students. There are 7 teachers in the math department and the school seems to offer the AP and the IB diploma programs. When I asked the director about staff retention I was very encouraged to hear that in the 10 years he has been there only three people have left after their initial contract was up. It looks like I'll have a great new school to start exploring another part of the world from!
