Applying to be a Special Education Teacher on St. Croix

Aloha, If you could make it on Maui you could probably make it here.

Call VI cargo for shiping cars and stuff

www.viphonebook.com

The schools are sketchy but there are some good ones.

coming down and getting the vibe is just about a necessity

The Vi needs good SE teachers, Christiansted is on the East End and Fredricksted is West.

My husband is a Special Education teacher in the public school system here. Be sure to check the Department of Education website for the specifics on the salary. Yes, there are steps, but there are also MANY additional fees that are taken out of your paycheck. And, once you get your job, it may take awhile for you to get your NOPA signed - which means no paycheck for awhile.

Please feel free to PM me and ask questions. I am also a teacher in the public school system, and I absolutely love it, but please do plenty of research before jumping into this decision.

Welcome to the forum. Bombi seems to know both Maui and St Croix well, he and his kids have lived in both places. I think he just returned from a Hawaii trip. I know both, but not as well. Maui is more like being in the states than St Croix. There are very real differences, especially the schools and the acceptance. When in Maui I lived in Kihei which some call haole-land it would be more like the east end of st croix (where I also lived) in terms of acceptance. Other areas depend more upon your neighbors than any rational reason.

A lot of your questions can be answered and (new questions proposed) if you do an extensive search of this site. (click SEARCH above and search for a year.) There have been many in depth discussions of everything from schools, economy, jobs to crime, acceptance and island living and much more. This is without a doubt the most important site that new residents should access. There is nothing on the web that will be as helpful. Don't be scared by the crime threads. Maui has just as much crime as St Croix, and a lot more people. I use the same skills to avoid crime in both places. Be sure to come for a long visit before you move (PMV) it will help you to understand what you need to do to survive here. Do not burn bridges at home, assume things might not work out here and you will want to go back within a year or two.

There are no simple answers to your questions. Housing is expensive,just like maui. An ok 3 bedroom condo will be about $2000 a month plus very high electric bills (WAPA). You can find places for less. Schools here still having lots of problems, but are really trying to get better. Young children should do well, older children from the states (12-17) face almost impossible obstacles. Most newcomers put their older children in private ( very expensive) schools or home teach.

You will find plenty about car shipping, shopping and moving advice when you do a search. Good luck

This is in reply to all who were kind enough to give me advice on a potential move to St. Croix. Your answers were most clear and helpful to me in our quest to relocate to the VI.

I did do some searching of this site regarding shipping a car and was pleased to find zero tax placed upon my US car. Thanks for the name of the town. I found it on the map and have viewed satellite images of the area to get a "feel" of the topography. As for the teaching position, I will be filling out the application and sending it in by January, (no rush for next school year) I usually do my homework quite well regarding nailing down when my first paycheck will be. In Maui, I landed there on a Saturday, rented a car in Kahalui drove to a hotel in Kihei, went to work on Monday and got my first paycheck on Thursday, that was awesome.

I will apply for a leave of absence from my current job on a year to year basis, like I did when we moved to Maui, my district grants these types of teaching sabbaticals.

Is it true that he DOE only awards up to 10 years credit max for incoming new teachers? That is what was told to me on the phone and it is also on the usvidoe web page.

Housing is very important, we need it quiet in the evening to sleep. We used to shut our sliding glass doors and crank the AC on Maui, many parties at our complex, but we joined in on the weekends.
As for crime, we are not victims and have never carried ourselves like that, we live in an area with plenty of crime right now, and Maui has tons of domestic violence and crystal meth. As an educator, all we can do is learn from other peoples mistakes.

The visit will help us decide and if the numbers work out then It's a go.

I will ask more questions when they arrive.
Thanks again,
Kove

This is in reply to all who were kind enough to give me advice on a potential move to St. Croix. Your answers were most clear and helpful to me in our quest to relocate to the VI.

I did do some searching of this site regarding shipping a car and was pleased to find zero tax placed upon my US car. Thanks for the name of the town. I found it on the map and have viewed satellite images of the area to get a "feel" of the topography. As for the teaching position, I will be filling out the application and sending it in by January, (no rush for next school year) I usually do my homework quite well regarding nailing down when my first paycheck will be. In Maui, I landed there on a Saturday, rented a car in Kahalui drove to a hotel in Kihei, went to work on Monday and got my first paycheck on Thursday, that was awesome.

I will apply for a leave of absence from my current job on a year to year basis, like I did when we moved to Maui, my district grants these types of teaching sabbaticals.

Is it true that he DOE only awards up to 10 years credit max for incoming new teachers? That is what was told to me on the phone and it is also on the usvidoe web page.

Housing is very important, we need it quiet in the evening to sleep. We used to shut our sliding glass doors and crank the AC on Maui, many parties at our complex, but we joined in on the weekends.
As for crime, we are not victims and have never carried ourselves like that, we live in an area with plenty of crime right now, and Maui has tons of domestic violence and crystal meth. As an educator, all we can do is learn from other peoples mistakes.

The visit will help us decide and if the numbers work out then It's a go.

I will ask more questions when they arrive.
Thanks again,
Kove

I'm sure you will soon get several other comments from board regulars. I chuckled when you mentioned how easily you got your first paycheck on Maui. In the Virgin Islands I doubt if the Governor even got his processed that quickly. That is one of the things that you will learn. Island time on St Croix (in all of the USVI) is just that. Most bureaucratic things take much longer than in other places, including Hawaii.

One of the most important things to know about St Croix is that it will be very different from Hawaii. You have an advantage because you have done some island living. Think Kauai or in town Molokai. People moving from the states are often overwhelmed by the differences. Maui is very tourist oriented, but St Croix still has a village feel to it (unlike St Thomas). While we may need and want tourism it does not yet dominate the island. That is a very important thing to know.

"Is it true that he DOE only awards up to 10 years credit max for incoming new teachers? That is what was told to me on the phone and it is also on the usvidoe web page."

Yes, that is true! I know that it's a bit frustrating - especially if you've been teaching for awhile. But, you know where you're going to start on the payscale.

I also had to laugh at your post about the speedy paycheck. Before our teaching here began, we started the process in December, came here in the spring to finalize interviews (which was a joke), moved here in June, began teaching in August, and received our first paycheck in November. Yes, we started the process early and were told "No problem." over and over again, but it was tough to teach without a paycheck for so long. I'm just stating the facts of life here. But, if you are serious about teaching here, we really need teachers - especially in the Special Education field!

Thanks Ms information and meowruff,

Ohhhh, so would having 5g cash available when we land and a bank card from a local bank set me up until first paycheck? I guess It could be 2 months until a pay check comes in If I start in AugustSeptember of '10/11 school year. When you interviewed was it at a hotel with several principals in different meeting rooms? Did you have a chance to visit the school? How many days of interviewing did you do? What hotel do most interviewees stay at? I signed on in Maui with a drive by of the high school in up country (King Kekaulike HS) As a sped teacher flexibility is my strength. I stayed there for the two years of my contract.

Life on Maui was not cosmopolitan at all. Our life consisted of me working, my wife and 2 young kids going to condo pool, big town pool complex or kamole beach. A big trip was to Costco. The best pizza was there also, and being a New Yorker, pizza from a box store was unheard of and gross. The best deli sand which was from Subway, gross again. We adapted, spam became a staple. We ate fish, my was is Latin so we still had rice beans and yucca. Entertainment was camping up in Haleakala or out in Hana, surfing, spear fishing with one Hawaiian sling, picking opihii from lava rocks.

My real question is can we live on 45 g a year or am i going to be augmenting this with my bank and credit cards? If the public schools are as bad as people say, we'll home school. What is bad, the teaching, behavior of students what???? we live in a very diverse area now. My entire village 80% Hispanic, 10% black 10% white.

Thanks again for the responses,
Kove

Check out Catholic Schools-preschool-8 -St. Mary's/high school-St. Joseph's
Many other church affiliated schools on island

I sent you a pm

The Pearl B Larson Elementry Scool on the east side is said to be the best elementry school on the island.

Living on 45k will be tight but can be done. You can have a blast here without spending a lot especially if you love the sea.

Stx is @ 2% white the rest back and hispanic. We don't have the severe homeless and ice problem like HI .

No sales tax but food is about the same as Oahu.

...food is about the same as Oahu.

Perhaps in cost, but definitely not in selection.