Any teacher who has been to this school, who has worked at this school, who has associated with this school, or who has ever had anything to do with this school in any way, shape, manner or form has come away either ripped off, pissed off, or exploited.

Stay away!

In response to Jerry & Fed Up In Shanghai

Jerry, I entirely agree with the comments here so far about this horrible, horrible school. Please do yourself a very big favor and stay clear of this place.

The comments posted here so far seem quite accurate, and if you have even a reasonable offer from any other school -- you should take it. Phoebe or Fabby or Fabiola, or whatever she is calling herself this week, is a liar and a thief.

In my short time at her school, the Chinese staff told me that they had been through roughly seven foreign teachers in the previous six months. More recently, several parents have pulled their children out of the school and demanded that their tuition be paid back.

Through it all, it is the "foreigners" who Fabiola says is to blame. This is despite the fact that the school I was at had been open for six months and to date only has about 25 students. The reason for the failure is obvious: There is no sense of direction there, the woman changes her mind ten times a day, the staff run around like blind mice trying in vain to satisfy her every whim, and she will spend a dollar to save a dime at every turn. Lastly, there is a really bad karma to the place, you can feel it when you walk into the building. Dark. Gloomy. Ugly.

Stay away. Just stay away!

By the way, Fed Up, nobody "hit" Frank but it may be true that he was accidentally pulled off of his chair by an unpaid English teacher.

Erik

Hello, everybody here on the board -
I am writing this from my "safe haven" in Europeafter returning from China some time ago. My experiences with recruiters and employers were negative for the most part, and finally this has caused me to return to my country.
When I came to China, I first ended up with a private employer in Henan Province. I was not given anything that I was promised (I came by a Z visa). Instead of being given an apartment, I was made to stay in second class hotel where the prostitutes used to call in the middle of the night. I could only get rid of them by telling them "I have no money" (mei you qian). The class rooms were not heated at all and the second day I was there I got really sick and had to go to "hospital" (not very clean by our Western standards but the herbal pills I got from a traditional pharmacy really helped!). I left that place soon after and then found a job at a middle school in the northern part of China (Fushun City). This was a private school, too but the headmaster was a really nice person and I was treated really well - I would say exceptionally well compared with all the other places in China.
There are even some government-run schools/colleges/univbersities where they are going to cheat you and where accomodation is not appropriate (Jiujiang University is such a place, there were rats around in the house and the administration did not really care to do anything about it). At the same time I have heard of other government- run schools where foreign teachers felt treated well and correctly.
So what I am trying to say is this: You cannot say private schools in general are bad and state-run schools are good in general. There are some good ones and some bad ones among the private as well as the state-run schools. It really depends on the individualm you happen to come to. I have several PhD and Master degrees and even this does not save you inh general from ending up at some of the worst places you could ever get to in China. One really needs to sort out and chek the place as much as possible before eventually going there.
Among my foreign colleagues, I have also seen some more doubtful figures - still quite young, not well educated with a big mouth and really unsensitive to Chinese etiquette and culture. The person in question was a good and heavy beer drinker, but on the other hand he used to slap his Chinese students with a broom - he says this was out of fun but made the Chinese students concerned feel humiliated.
Chinese people will judge us as Westerners,and again here - some are more "appropriate" in their education and their behaviour..you cannot really generalize....reality is somewhat more complex than a pure white-black perspective.
The real problem in China these days is that the market for English language instruction seems quite chaotic which may allow for so many crooks to turn up to run illegitimate schools. And the government authorities concerned do not really seem to be in controll of this....Anyway, you can make your way but you need to insist on what is your good right and you should not be afraid of contacting the provincial Bureau of Foreign Experts if your employer does not treat you reasonably.
Good luck to everybody here on the Board and have a happy New Year 2007!

Hi Jerry!!
Okay the school is located in the Putuo District of Shanghai on Xin Cun Lu and is very close to a Carrefour. It is situated inside of a residental compound with the school being in the middle. Phoebe (Fabby, Fabiola) is a rather large Taiwanese woman who can speak both English and Chinese. She wears glasses and always wears her hair pulled back. She also claims to have invented the NNA (Native Nature Approach) and she will tell you that she has a Ph D from America.

If it is the same woman and she told you that she has never had foreign teachers she is LYING. She has gone through about 15 foreigners in the last two years. I would check this out throughly Jerry as I know that a Pre-School/Primary school are not legally allowed to hire foreigners. Ask her to see the license stating that she can do this.

If she won't produce it than that should be an indication that she is dishonest. If you still have your doubts than please check with the PSB and ask them if this is a legal school.

It is better to be safe than sorry. I wish you all the best and hope that everything works out for you!!

Jules

Hello there!!! I just wanted to say that I loved your post. I too once worked for Phoebe the witch from Taiwan. I have a post in here warning teachers to stay away from this school. I put it under "Outstanding American Preschool" and my tag is "Fed up in Shanghai" She is the worst boss I have ever had in my life....

A quick question for you.......are you the guy who hit Frank?? If you are I wish I was standing in front of you to shake your hand!!! Well done!!!

I only wish that I had been there to see it!!