Whether you are looking at RIS as a potential teacher, or a school to educate your child, it is…read morebest to keep looking. I am a foreign teacher who taught at the school for a 2-year period. To start with a positive, the best thing about this school is without a doubt the students. The majority of the staff are amazing as well, especially the Brazilians. They have huge hearts and welcome you in as family. The overwhelming problems of the school begin and end at the most foundational level, the "owners". The "director", "president", "head of school", or whatever title he has decided to go by this year has enormous vision, but absolutely no practical experience in teaching or working in schools in order to make success a reality. It would be great if the "owners" surrounded themselves with educated and qualified professionals who could provide insight into educated decision-making. However, if you question anything, or basically show that you know a thing or two about teaching kids, you are immediately targeted and shut out. You end up spending more time defending and dodging high school level drama than actually contributing to developing as a teaching professional. Absolutely nobody at the "administrative" level has any business making educational decisions for children, because they simply are not qualified. This was evident, as no "policy" or "new idea" ever lasted, because there was no one to oversee follow through. After working in this environment, there is a very clear and evident lack of understanding about curriculum, best practices, or even how to train the teachers. Resources were extremely limited. Outdated textbooks. No resources for teaching ESL (which the majority of the student population were second-language learners). There was only one priority that was very loud and clear: money. Oh, and status. Always trying to compete with the other bigger and better international schools in the area, at the expense of the students and the education they received. I saw countless teachers come and go, many of them with their spirits broken. It was the same story every time. Always dissatisfaction with the management of the school and the thinly veiled poor quality of education. As a teacher and advocate of education, it would go against everything I believe to ever send my child here, or recommend any other serious professional to seek employment. If you are a parent, give your children better than this, there are similarly priced options that would have to be a million times better than the quality of this school. If you are a teacher, value yourself and professional development enough to aim higher and dodge months of frustration and unhappiness you would ultimately find if working here.
