Albanian International School

Hello Parents and Educators! You already have a recent school review (June 19th, 2019) that covers the most important aspects of AIS. I would like to add that I have very much enjoyed my teaching experience here (upper-level English) and although I have accepted a different assignment for the upcoming academic year, I do hope to be returning to AIS in the future. The small class sizes are wonderful & students are smart and motivated. Administrators and office staff have been polite, helpful and supportive. The school is striving to improve, so that suggestions from new faculty seem to be welcome and there is a genuine willingness to cooperate on all levels. To all foreigners: living in Tirana has been more than pleasant. The climate is wonderful & I have never had any issues with safety. The school has a prime location, directly across from the U.S. Embassy. Albanian teaching colleagues at AIS are very welcoming as well.

This is a small school with small classes and a family-like atmosphere. The school follows an American common-core curriculum with Math, English, French, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, and P.E. along with Albanian Language and Albanian History courses. The school building is wonderful for their small class sizes and the children are served hot lunch and snack every day! What makes AIS special is their goal to remain accountable to the students learning. The students are tested by an international,  standardized test three times a year to make sure the students are on track. The school has also qualified as a candidate for certification from WASC which is an unbiased and respected international organization that helps oversee the schools best practices and gives feedback to the school as it develops.

Great school, we highly recommend this school...We are happy that our daughters are learning in this school.

This is a polite warning to any teachers about to be pulled into this school. I know most reviews are from embittered staff who have personal issue and take them out on the school. I can only assure you that this is not so. Pros. Great kids, I taught 3rd grade homeroom and I adore them! We had a great year. The school provides and aparment that is walking distance to work. The pay is on time. Cons. Todd Combs the "academic director" is crude brutish and vulgar. Under his rule the school has a not been able to retain a single teacher. No one is returning or has returned. Staff are fired, leave and replaced all year long. Anu teachers whi ask questions are caed "unmotivated" or "unable to reach high standards set" Threatened the fired or leave. Todd has been blacklisted from teaching in the USA for reasons unknown. He has verbally assualted a female teaching calling her a " F*ing c*nt" in a meeting. I did not witness this but the story was told first hand by 3 teachers. Todd has cursed at me and tried to intimidate me literally white foam in his mouth cussing at me shaking in anger. He did so while sitting because he knows that I am not a 5'5 girl, his preferred target. The curriculum he "designed" is the free failed common core standards availavle online. Todd has no idea what it means to design or plan for students. He cut and pasted the whole program with no regard for cultural differentiation or learning goals appijg to students who L1 isnt English. Often too hungover to work he hides in his office. Insults about the country the locals and the fellow teachers are the norm. To give you a hint about this man he identifies as Thanos from the avengers cut and pasting his head onto Thanos body putting the image around the school. Todd likes to use his mass to intimidate the mostly female staff and takes any questions as a threat to his ego. I have left requesting specifically that the parents bar him from the 3rd grade class as I do not trust this man to be alone with kids. This is my opinion after working in foster care for 4 years. Alma is nice but has openly told me how little the happiness of her teachers matter. Her goal is too keep parents paying for lessons and to avoid the real issues of running a school. Shut up and teach is the motto. Outdated computers, bad internet (in apartment and school) shoddy curriculum, no job safety, theats , low pay, high expecations, little accountability from management. 25 minute lunch breaks, pay deducted for being 1 minute late ( which is normal) however the Todd and Alma are often not to be found in school. This could be a lovely little school and Tirana is an amazing friendly city! With better leadership. A real curriculum and Todds absense I would recommend this school. Until then, hard pass. Teachers be warned. .

Positive: There is an AC unit in each class, a teacher is allowed to use when it is too cold or hot Negative: All teachers are paid 1000 euros regardless of experience and/ or education No lunch time for primary teachers No school lunch for teachers No rotations for duty while primary students have recess Teachers cover their utilities which is around 50-80 euros a month Out of about 100 students at school 15 of them are owner family children, who do not pay tuition and bring family power into class. Principal of school has no experience or proper training in either teaching or managing the school. No professional collaboration or cooperation within the school. Teachers are constantly rotating, being hired, leaving, being fired, during a school year, and teachers are not informed about anything. There are No teachers meetings to avoid any discussion of management’s decisions Decisions for field trips or changes in the schedules pop up at the last minute by owner of the school Alma Mulaj, making teachers adjust their teaching plans depending on the mood of the owner. Food at school’s cafeteria is unhealthy, based on mainly so called hamburger with french fries, with no meat. There were days when students were fed with just steamed rice and beans and a glass of water. School events could be counted on fingers of one hand. Regardless the purpose of the event table of cakes, ice-cream and other unhealthy food and drinks would be served for students and parents only. Teachers are not invited. The School avoids paying for mistakes it causes itself. Ex: The School bought my end of year airfare ticket which is not suitable for a non-EU citizen or a non-holder of a Schengen visa, with stops in two EU countries and taking almost 2 days to complete the trip. When I tried to check-in, the airlines informed me that I can not fly with this ticket. There were three office workers in the school office when I returned to school the next morning to request a useable ticket. None of them, Todd Combs, Kelly or Arta, even thought to say sorry for causing me so much trouble. Todd Combs, the School principal yelled at me saying “shut up” and “get out” when I asked for the school to buy me another ticket. I was lucky to have a parent of my student next to me, otherwise I think he would have been physical. It is an accountant, either Arta or Kelly, who decides whether a student should take ESL classes or not. The Homeroom teacher is not considered as a source of information at all. Todd Combs checks students’ textbooks from time to time to see if the teacher is covering all the topics and the pages are filled up in every textbook. The entire teaching expectation is based on following page by page, cover to cover of the textbook. Teachers are not allowed to check for understanding or take extra time to help ELL’s as they work through textbooks designed for native English speakers. They must finish the books, no matter what. There are no study resources at all to teach Math, Science or English on Primary levels apart from textbooks. There is a computer room but computers are outdated, not working and used only to take MAP tests. Any initiative of a teacher to teach IT skills to primary class students is cut down to avoid extra expenses to maintain the computers and electricity usage. There is a small library at school but no regulations for how the books are used and/or leveling the books. Teachers are split by those who are close to the “office people” and those who are not. Those who are “office-friendly” would be informed in person of upcoming events and news. Other teachers would be informed about changes over email which would be sent 5 min prior to the change.