Let me tell you a little about my wonderful school. We are the middle school campus of a charter school. We have about 500 kids in 6th-9th grades, and we cap most of our classes at 25, but we’ve had to go as high as 27. Our kids wear uniforms. We are an accelerated charter, so our 8th graders can leave here with up to 8 high school credits. Our board cares more about MAP scores (student growth) than they do about state standardized test scores, so we do NOT teach to the test. Also, autonomy is encouraged. They don’t hand you a textbook and turn you loose with a directive. They trust you as a professional to come up with curriculum that is appropriate for the students in your class.
Oh, and there’s a castle on our campus, so we’re pretty much Hogwarts.
Sounds like heaven, right? So how come no one applies for jobs here? I mean, I’ll admit, I didn’t know what a charter school was before a friend of mine told me about a job here 5 years ago. But I thank the good Lord every day that she thought enough of me to call me about it!
We are looking for an ELA teacher, and we don’t have much to choose from. I have to think it’s because people just don’t know about us, or they think our pay isn’t comparable (I make more here than I would make in the district where my kids go). So what do we do? Take out a billboard? Shower the city with flyers? I just know if people knew what it was like here, we would have to beat them off with a stick!
For now, I’ll just hope the application fairy drops a couple more in our inbox before it’s time to make a decision. And if you know anyone looking…well, you know. 🙂
