1. Notice that the fighting here stopped soon after Curt’s death. He was probably bipolar, and often used multiple personalities in emails to staff (as well as messages on this and other forums) to secure his power over dissenters. Many say he suffered from dementia along with severe stomach problems in his last months.

2. If you want an honest take on the school, go down and visit it for yourself. Examine the classrooms: are they leaking? is there any heating for those cold winter mornings? are there textbooks for the students? are the computers up to date and working? Ask the uncomfortable questions: can you show me an example of housing? how are we paid? may I speak to other teachers outside of school hours?

3. My personal opinion, after working both here and at other schools in the ASOMEX system: there are better schools out there if you are a professional teacher already. If you are just coming for the experience of living in Mexico and don’t already have established credentials in teaching, this school might look good on your resume and give you an idea of some issues that you face in private education in Mexico.

No school is perfect, but this one has some major issues that needed to be addressed. In the end remember that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, and the other wheels are just tossed off for a replacement.

Well, ASP seems to be growing… with a penchant for attracting lunatics, the school continues to see a steady stream of foreign directors and teachers who have been deemed unfit for employment in the own countries.

Last month the husband/wife director duo fled the country after Secondary Principal Eric Yoak stabbed his neighbor who was playing music too loud at a party. A fight ensued and Eric was beaten by angry fiestagoers who taught the gringo a lesson. With the help of the school’s director Mr. Ramirez, Eric, along with his wife Larraine, fled the country several days later. The Mexican authorities waited outside of Yoak’s house for several days, until they realized he was not returning. Since August, a number of staff members have quit, though none of the stories were quite as sensational as the directors themselves.

My comments should be understood in the context of my role at ASP in 1998-99. I had been the assistant principal at the American Nicaraguan School in Managa, Nicaragua and acceped a three year position as Director General at ASP. With over 20 plus years in both teaching and administrative positions, both in the US and overseas and had been told that I was the eighth Director General in three years and it would be no easy task. I made sure that my contract stipulated that I would be the only one doing the hiring or termination of contracts, though I would still clear it with the Board.
The board is totally controlled by the President and what he wants he or she will get. My first job was to defend the board against certain parents who demanded that they be fired though the board had nothing to do with the past board, who all resigned when the money was gone from the budget.
During my time their I was instrumental in starting 17 major changes at the school, with the help of parents, teachers and the Board. On of the things I was most proud of was that we initiated a new style of electing the board members so that not all of them would have their term expiring at the same time. We also had in the works a brand new library that would be paid for by the parents and would go into a separate account that the Board could not touch. I also saw that the American flag flew daily, along with the Mexican Flag, though it would be flown a bit lower than the Mexican National Flag, which is the correct procedure, Curriculum was the end all. Each Director-General was told to make a new curriculum, with the Board and the OTA not realizing that you don’t come up with a curriculum at the drop of a hat. It takes teamwork from everyone and quite a bit of time to improve it. In reality, it was a gimmick to keep the D-G busy and not interfering with the Board. I refused to do it unless it was done right.
The major problem at the school at that time was disgruntled teachers who would go directly to a member of the Board and fill his/her ears with untruths and they would listen and then try to undercut what I was attempting to do.
By the way, to the person who said that SAC never came to the school until 2.5 years ago is totally incorrect. They came on two separate times in the late 80′s and 90′s and refused to come again since the school had so many problems that the school could or would not change. I am pleased if your current Director General can secure SAC’s blessings as he was my Assistant during my time there and he was invaluable, as was Hector.
I was given a beautiful home and a VW bug as my car and I found everyone to be just wonderful to me…the staff,the children and for the most part, the parents.
One of the hardest things to change, and as I look back on it now I think that I probably moved to fast to fix things…my gring upbringing, no doubt.
Money was always a problem as at the time the starting salary was between 7,500 and 9,000 dollars for the foreign teachers and a lot less for the nationals. I remember I went to UNI to recruit teachers and had 52 interviews and was able to hire only three, since most of the recruits at the fair was offered 2-4 times the amount we could offer.
Now, having left Pachuca over 10 years ago I can look back with a more detached and fair review.
The school was not bad, only a few teachers that spoiled the barrel for the rest. The children were like children all over the world…good most of the time and a problem once in awhile. I remember that one child, the son of a man who became the Minister of Education in Hidalgo had jammed a sharp pencil up the rectum of another student and the parents insisted that nothing should happen to his boy. I told him that if he had done that elsewhere his son would be locked up.
Yes, parents would try to take advantage of their position but for me it did not work. Nicefero and I worked closely together and he is someone you could count on. He has given his life to the school and deserves your support.
The city of Pachuca is beautiful to me and going into he mountains where the silver mines had been and still are was just great. I loved the dining establishments, espcially the Brazilian dining place and watching my first bull fight and my first soccer game.
I would spend 12-16 hours at the school working and enjoyed each minute of it. While there I had hired an American who had a MED from Nicaragua to be the assistant principal of the elementary school and a teacher from Nicaragua to teach at the school. When I left the Board terminated the assistant principals contract before she even came to the school even though she made a holiday trip to be interviewed by the Board.
The Boards were the main reason for much of the chaos at the school. The previous board had spent thousands of dollars having the water trucks lay down 10 tankers of water each week on the soccer field and they bought hundreds of dollars of children’s clothing at a botique in Mexico City.

In closing, if anyone wishes to write to me for any other details they can contact me at brigadier192003@yahoo.com
In all fairness I found my time in Pachuca to be a rewarding experience and one that I was fortunate enough to have. Under Nicefero the school will move forward at the pace it is comfortable with and unless the mature teachers are vibrant and energetic I would stay with the younger teachers. If you think everything has to be like it is in the States you should not apply to ASP. In spite of being one of the poorest states in Mexico the parents do care what happens to their school and students.
One of my more humbling incidents was when we had a school meeting and I addressed the parents and told them that certain members were causing problems for everyone and that while I could not throw them out the parents could. Some ladies in the back started shouting in my favor, “Viva Zapata, Viva Zapata.” I asked Niceforo what did they mean by shouting that and he said it was “you are brave like Zapata, strong willed and fearless.” I asked him what happened to Zapata and he said, “oh, he was shot and killed.”
Give your administration your loyalty and it will be rewarded. They are good people with good hearts and they will do the best job they can for you. If I was accepted I would love to come back as a teacher, but that is just a dream.
The last thing, the doctor was the husband of my personal secretary and he was good. What you may or may not realize is that to get rid of a Mexican national you have to pay a three month salary for each year worked and the school could not afford that much money for those that worked from 7-15 years at the school.
Respectfully,

Thanks.

I tried to post this information once already today and the moderators decided not to publish my posting.

Check this link which includes comments about Curt’s demise from his cousin Lindsey Freer. http://mexicanfever.blogspot.c...../label/ASP

Maybe that’s why you have heard nothing from the school regarding your contract.

Perhaps someone else can confirm this?

Maybe that’s why you have heard nothing from the school regarding your contract.

Perhaps someone else can confirm this?