I've interviewed several competitive places w no luck... One school was definitely not a good fit. However, I was offered a job on the spot for a lower income type area in an undesirable district as I mentioned before. I visited the school and liked it today. However it was hard to gage how happy the staff was. I did observe the classes and saw the different dynamics. The kids seemed sweet w some difficult kids too, but generally they seemed pretty good...it's hard in this district. The pros are its my favorite grade, the teachers seemed nice & like they collaborate, it's close to my home so I'd have more time to spend w my two yr old (and no traffic). There's a university close by w an admin program I'm interested in that I'm sure works w that district. But I'm nervous about it since I don't know how strong my management is and I think I'm replacing a nonrenewed teacher! I've heard there's a high turnover of staff too. I feel like it could go either way: I could have a positive experience but if it ends up being negative I could reapply elsewhere in a yr. I haven't signed a contract yet. Here's the issue: today a very desirable and highly competitive district that already screen interviewed me called me for an interview the week after next...They are so competitive they have two days of interviews. They have a paper that says" we r so competitive that even if we r your first choice district if u get another job offer from another district you should seriously think about accepting it!" It's Far from my house..the school is even further too within the town....lots of traffic daily too. I would see my daughter even less and I'm a widowed single mom.... I suppose if I take the undesirable districts job offer I could always resign and reapply elsewhere the following year if it's an unhappy situation... including the competitive district.... I don't know why I keep going back and forth on this....lol. I feel so uneasy.
Last edited by basketball777; 06-05-2015 at 11:49 PM..
You gave a long list of pros for the one that was offered. You'd have more time with your daughter. It's just for a year. It will be good experience, I think.
You know that with the way things are changing in education- there are no sure things. Things can change year to year- a new batch of kids, some switches between grade levels, a new administrator, a new set of standards- and presto- nothing will appear to be as it seemed initially. My friends teach in an undesirable district and would not have it any other way. They can see that their efforts are huge in the children's lives.
A very competitive district could have huge demands on teachers. Our district is small, but ranks well. Our teachers come in early and stay late. Many come in on the weekend. Most take work home. These are not requirements- it is the culture. Our new administrator came from a less desirable district. He is very surprised at how much time and effort we put into our curriculum. (It may be that nothing stays the same for two years in a row! ha, ha)
I say go for it. See if you can make a lunch date with some of the teachers you will be working with over the summer. Read love and logic and get your management plan lined up over the summer.
I would go with the district that already offered the position. The colleagues may be more welcoming.
The competitive district may think that they are so competitive that the staff act very unfriendly & arrogant.
Their statement sounds too arrogant to me.
Quote:
They have a paper that says" we r so competitive that even if we r your first choice district if u get another job offer from another district you should seriously think about accepting i
Go for the sure thing. It seems perfect to me with your needs. Close to home, more time with DD, friendly staff, etc. I have always worked in an urban setting that was not in the best area but I enjoyed it. Brush up on your management style over the summer.
Don't listen to people about the school, it is your decision and their problems. You seemed to have found the school acceptable and that is the only thing that matters.
Last year I was displaced because the district ended my program. It was hard for me to reconcile leaving my old school because I had been there for 6 years, and felt at home there. Conversely I was tired of the commute. My old school is in the opposite end of the city from my home.
I had two job offers, one from a school less than 2 miles from my home, and another from a school near my old school. Both offers had a lot of merit, and I read the school climate surveys and spoke to people at both schools about working conditions. I chose the school close to my home, and have not regretted it. My husband and I decided to become a one car family since I walk to work and he takes the bus to his job. We sold the more expensive car, and no longer have the insurance to pay. Unless we go somewhere far on the weekends, we buy gas maybe once a month. With all the walking, I cancelled my gym membership. Best of all, I am very happy at my new school.
I work in a school like your first choice, but we achieve good results because we have excellent teachers. It is rough and stressful. You have to have rock solid management or they will rat you alive. That is why the high turnover rate exists.
I would never work for your second description. They sound so full of themselves it isn't even funny. I would take the first one hands down. Just know you have to go in strong and get good control of your class from day 1.
I would probably take the first one if the administration seemed supportive of teachers. I find the principal makes or breaks an urban school in my experience.
I didn't read all of the PP replies so I might be repeating. In my opinion you should go for the job you have been offered close to home. Spending time with your daughter is priceless. She will never be little again and will grow up fast. Take it from someone who has a 21, 17, and 14 year old. There is no joy like a young daughter or son can give. And she needs you, too. Maybe once she starts school you could transfer and have her at your school. But for now I'd stay close to home. Good Luck and let us know what you decide.
I agree with all of the previous posters. I worked in an urban school for 10 years and loved it! I met some great friends and students were a joy to work with. I think they get a bad reputation. I would definitely prefer an urban school than dealing with some more well-to-do kids that may have difficult and demanding parents. I think it would also look goon on your resume. Just make sure you are strict from day one so that kids don't take advantage of you. Good luck!!!
I'm worried because it appears the teacher I am replacing was non-renewed! Or something like that, maybe transfered? I was just non-renewed(but mostly due to a downsizing of staff)! Also, there is a high turnover rate of staff there. The staff is all fairly new. It makes me wonder if she nonrenews a lot....
I also just have a sinking feeling about this job, even though it's my favorite grade. It's a really old building, a district with lack of supplies and resources, a district under fire where students constantly sneak out into other districts because they want better, a highly monitored district, a district that's on the news for the lack of safety in some areas/schools, etc. I avoid going to this town as much as possible. (And it's directly next to my hometown in a more isolated area...we travel to a neighboring county to go places, since my hometown doesn't even have a movie theater etc.) At my current school, many people were negative about it to me: telling me not to settle(which I feel I am), to keep looking, that "anything is better" than this district. It is not as bad as two other urban areas with negative reps.....they are highly dangerous, I would never work in those. But on FB all my friends think I should take the one closer to home even though they don't know which district it is...lol. I guess I could say I am having anxiety/worrying/feeling really nervous about working for a district with such a negative rep..... Even my former teacher friend told me to avoid it and not take the job offer...that he hated it.... I just hope I would have a positive experience there....
I was offered an interview in a couple weeks in the highly competitive district(one of the top in the nation) at a specific school(I passed their screening interview and this principal is interested).....I think I still want to at least try for their job even tho I most likely won't be offered it. I'm thinking of going to the interview...problem is I may be asked to sign a contract by then for this closer to home job. So should I just say I am out of town on vacation? This is where I am at now...I know, I know, bad of me to do that....... It's just this is an ideal district for where I want to be...They aren't known for non-renewing teachers either....they actually say they try not to....
I would go for the sure thing. The "highly competitive" school sounds obnoxious. Just that they put a letter like that out touting how awesome they are, those are people I wouldn't want to be anywhere near. I'm at a school like that right now "we're the best school in the district and everyone wants to be like us." The teachers and admin here are so stuck up and full of themselves I've been trying to break out for over a year. Thankfully, they nonrenewed me. under privileged kids can be a lot of fun to work with, just know it will take time before they'll let you in, but once they do, best kids ever.
Don't let your predecessor's nonrenewal bother you. You don't know why they were nonrenewed, they really could be bad at their jon. Nonrenewal isn't ALWAYS because of a crappy admin.
I've already worked in a low income urban area before and got very burnt out and was very unhappy.
Your experience sounds similar to my recent experience: I was working at the top school in my county and the staff wasn't very nice...I was also nonrenewed.
The current school that wants to interview has almost the same test scores as the school that nonrenewed me...very similar..... However their whole district is highly competitive w equally good schools.
In some ways I was much happier at the higher performing school.....all schools have pros and cons
Last edited by basketball777; 06-08-2015 at 05:13 PM..
I remember your previous posts about your current school that does very well academically. I know you were new, but it sounded like you were really intimidated and unsure of yourself there. You stayed away from the staff, didn't make many friends. And now you want to go to another prestigious school where you will likely feel even more pressure?
I am not saying to take the other job. If it's unsafe and scary, then I would pass. It appears that you are a good teacher who interviews very well -- maybe something in between the two extremes would be a better fit.
I was happier at the high performing school....I kept to myself because I experienced actual workplace bullying there(the admin last year & 2 staff)..prominent in that district. I just told my current principal that and he says that he's actually one of my advocates....
Unfortunately the schools that have called me for interviews haven't really been more in the middle of the extremes. They are in either end because my experience has been on both ends of the spectrum & not in the middle. I can handle the kids better at a higher income area....not so much the low income area, from my experience. I *wish*!the more middle of the road schools would notice me but apparently they don't! if I hadn't been nonrenewed I would've transferred to a less extre school probably...I was nonrenewed due to downsizing of the school.
And by the way I don't interview very well: I've been to many interviews and have only gotten one job offer so far. Iof course the nonrenewal thing is a factor in that I think.. I would say the attitude of most people is: any district is better than the one I got the job offer...most people would pass...the district's just desperate for people. It is an unsafe town but the neighborhood where the school is appeared to be ok...there's no staff parkinglot tho. It's actually not an urban district....its a very large suburb... Working for this district I would definitely want to leave soon after it won't help my career at all. You hardly have supplies, resources, a tiny room etc... It would make me take the next step to advance my career into administration tho(there's a university there) because I can't survive off a teachers salary as a single mom enough to live alone....and I definitely would be unhappy there. I couldn't gage how happy the staff was there they seemed a bit unhappy to me when I observed the school.
Although I didn't post, when I first read your post I thought you should take the sure thing. Now, after reading your most recent post, I don't think you should. You have convinced yourself that you are settling, that you aren't going to like it, that the staff is unhappy, that you will leave as soon as you can. You sound like you feel embarrassed to admit to people you know that you will be at this school. If those are your true feelings about this school I don't think your should take it. It is one thing to have some reservations, but it is another thing to feel so negatively before a job has even started. Thinking you will hate it will wind up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.
> 
06-05-2015, 10:13 PM
under privileged kids can be a lot of fun to work with, just know it will take time before they'll let you in, but once they do, best kids ever.
