I had heard about these reviews but I never really made much effort to find them. Now I have read them carefully and feel I'd like to give my opinion also.
I have been working at Ivy for 10 months and I will be staying another year. If possible I will stay longer because I am comfortable and happy here.
I personally do not see anything wrong with Ivy inspecting their apartments especially after one was totally trashed by a teacher a couple years ago. After all, they are responsible for the apartments. The inspections consist of checking and fixing anything that could break. Things like washing machines, water heaters and kitchen appliances are all in Chinese and without specific instructions on how to use them, we foreign teachers would simply not know how to use them.
The gripes about the TAs telling the director about how your classes are going are true. The director needs to know in order for the school to run smoothly. You are asked to have a good working relationship with the TAs and work as a team. If you have a problem with a TA in your class that you can't resolve speaking face to face with her, then you go to the director for mediation. It is part of your job to make sure that there is good and constant communication between you and your TA as well as you and the director.
I have never felt that I was treated unfairly or in any way bad. On the contrary, I am grateful for all the assistance and consideration that I have received from the staff. I have heard from teachers that have gone on to other schools from here and truthfully, I opt to stick with what I know rather than to risk living some of their first hand horror stories.
There will never be a "perfect" place to work, but as far as I am concerned, Ivy is definately a "great" place to work.