Pros
The Google Drive is nice because you have all the audios and PDFs of textbooks right at your fingertips. Curriculum for lower levels is pretty easy to teach and you don’t have to turn in lesson plans. They’ll help you open a BAC bank account.
Cons
Administration is dishonest and unethical. The former administrator sent us WhatsApp audios once asking us to lie to labor/immigration officials who were visiting the school and not mention our contracts. We were told to tell them we were part of a language immersion program and we were teaching for free, but we got a stipend for living and eating. Not true. More on dishonesty.. on several different occasions, I was told I was making a certain rate or that I would be reimbursed for something. Then, of course, the rate was significantly lower or they declined to reimburse me. When I objected, the response was more or less “We never said that.” I can count at least 6 other teachers (out of around 10-12) that had similar situations with their pay. All info about visas are a lie and a sham. No teacher that worked at NLA ever had a work visa. The owner and English administrator had begun to talk to people about getting visas for around $800US (plus cost of documentation and postage) and they would pay $250US. Based on how untrustworthy they had been in the past with paychecks, I didn’t believe they would really end up covering the $250 and decided not to get a work visa. I heard immigration visited the school in March and I think the school is getting more serious about making teachers buy work visas. It’s not an academy, it’s a business. The owner is tica and does not speak English. In general, I never got the vibe that she even likes school or languages. She never, ever talks to teachers about classes, students, curriculum, anything education related. Her two daughters both have administrative/leadership positions and, to be entirely honest, are the source of a lot of the miscommunication and misunderstandings between teachers and administration. When they make a major error that messes up your class schedule or paycheck, sharing feedback about them will literally go nowhere. On multiple occasions, I was publicly confronted by a family member in a hostile manner only for it to revealed that they were the one who made the mistake. The family-run nature of the business is not an advantage, it’s toxic. The pay is demeaning. Towards the end of my time at NLA, the owner and English coordinator sat me down and told me that I was their best teacher on staff, a role model for others, and they appreciated how much I helped new teachers. They asked me to be the assistant for the English program. Then, they offered to pay me... 2,000 colones an hour. I was appalled to be honest. It was the most disrespected I’ve ever felt in a job, in Costa Rica or anywhere. In general, the owner seems to think the English teachers are desperate, have no self-respect and that they will work for anything. Many teachers leave because they simply can’t pay their rent, or eat well, pay for their mandatory border runs, or save enough money to take weekend trips. The payscale is incredibly confusing and you never really know what you will make (I’ll include it if I can add photos). I have experience at other schools and know other teachers around the Central Valley of San Jose. While no school is famous for paying teachers extravagantly, NLA definitely has the lowest pay I’ve experienced or heard of. Finally, now that I’ve left NLA and I’m in the job search process, let me tell you this... New Learning Academy does not have a good reputation in San Jose. I read some of the reviews here and the responses from management that boast about 15-20 years in the community. Years of business do not equal a good reputation. Several schools I have spoken to or visited have not taken me seriously because the main experience in CR on my resume is with NLA. I started asking more English speaking ticos what they knew about NLA and not a single person has heard anything positive, only that it’s the school with the blonde girl signs all around San Jose. It got to the point where I’ve decided to delete NLA from my resume and start over. That’s the only reason I’m comfortable enough to write this review as candidly and honestly as I’m doing now. As I’m writing this and reflecting, what embarrasses me the most is that I did not leave New Learning Academy sooner. I didn’t have the backbone to stand up and quit the first time they lied to me or any of the times they put me in a dangerous commute situation. I’m sorry to any teachers that I spoke to during your orientation or first days. I should have told you then to leave and find a new job immediately, but I didn’t have the nerve to be that honest when teachers were so excited to begin a new job in beautiful Costa Rica. I should have left, on principle, when administration sent out a mass email humiliating a teacher about their body odor and the owner defended it. I’m ashamed that I stayed there as long as I did and I’m sorry to any English teachers that I did not immediately tell the truth to.
