The International School of Port of Spain is a private, co-educational school. The school was founded in 1994 and is located in Trinidad and Tobago. My old friends and colleagues, Tom and Alene Tunny were the founding teachers of the school. The Southern Association of Schools and Colleges accredit it. The school offers a PreK-12 college preparatory program. ISPS is an IB World School with authorization to use PYP.
There are 14 classes in the Elementary school with approximately 16 students in each class. There are approximately 500 students in the school. The majority of the students are Trinidadian; the second largest group is from the United States. The school has students from 40 different nationalities. There are 112 students in the high school; approximately 25% are from the United States.
Mission and Philosophy
ISPS mission is to provide an excellent education for both local and international students that will enable them to attend university in the future.
Facilities
ISPS has a very nice library which is prominently displayed on the school website. The school also has air-conditioned classrooms, sports facilities, a computer lab, and more.
Curriculum
The ISPS offers an international education based upon a US curriculum model. The International School of Port of Spain utilizes the rich and diverse environment of Trinidad and Tobago and draws on the special qualities of the ISPS community to prepare young people for the challenges they will face as citizens of the twenty-first century. ISPS uses the PYP. If you know the IB philosophy, you’ll find it on the web pages of the school when they discuss what the elementary curriculum is like. The middle School uses block scheduling. Core classes are Math, Social Studies/Language Arts. Science, Spanish, Health and Physical Education. Technology is integrated throughout the curriculum. The high school curriculum is college preparatory and Advanced Placement courses are available. The school uses the following standardized tests: PSAT, SAT Reasoning Test, SAT Subject Tests, ACT and AP Exams.
Extra-curricular Activities
Community service is an important part of the school as are educational and experiential trips. High school students take part in many activities including sports, student government, drama, the Model United Nations. The Middle School has an Outdoor Education program.
Technology
The computer lab has Internet facilities. There are 250 computers in the school, including 4 mobile wireless labs. Most of them are Windows based, but they have a few iMacs. Every classroom has 2 computers. Computer skills are introduced and reinforced through a project-based approach.
Professional Development
The school has a PD committee and provides professional development opportunities.
Employment
The school website has an interesting page with the profile of a successful teacher at ISPS. The points that they list are the common ones that you will find in most teacher contracts including supervising after school activities. The website has an excellent guide for new teachers. The requirements for a teacher at ISPS are: a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in the area of vacancy, at least two years of recent, full time classroom teaching experience in the area of vacancy, international experience or experience in a North American system, current/valid registration with the Ministry of Education or possess a valid teaching certificate from abroad, computer literate and good organizational skills.
The school no longer has the salary schedule online, but they do note that teachers will be able to live comfortably but probably will not be able to save much money.
Benefits include: medical insurance, retirement contribution professional development opportunities through the PD Committee, life insurance, one year’s non-paid sabbatical leave, after 3 years of full-time service, three month Maternity Leave, with full pay, one week paternity leave, with full pay, 5 days bereavement leave, with full pay, 10 days sick/personal days with pay, annual round trip airfare allowance (US$1500.00), car provided for personal and professional use, furnished housing provided (2-3 bedroom flats); singles do not share, shipping/settling allowance (US$1500.00) beginning and end of employment and free tuition for accompanying children.
Interested teachers should send a letter of interest and a CV to the school at elarson@isps.edu.tt. Openings are listed on the school website.
About Trinidad and Tobago
Well, obviously being in the Caribbean is going to make this school popular with many prospective teachers. So what is there to do in Trinidad and Tobago?
You will have the opportunity to take part in many different types of physical activities from hiking through the rainforests to scuba diving to bird watching. In fact, Trinidad has more than 450 species of birds, 108 types of mammals, 55 forms of reptiles and 620 types of butterflies. This is a nature lover’s paradise.
Trinidad and Tobago are the home to a diverse ethnic population as witnessed by the various celebrations and ceremonies that can be found on the island such as Divali, Eid-ul-Fitr, Christmas, Carnival and much more.
You can find restaurants and bars that celebrate diversity around the island along with that intoxicating steelpan music. Sounds like a pretty good place to set down some roots for a while.
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