How did the reconstitution go at your school?
I thought my portfolio was excellent and that my interview went well. This was back in May that we had interviews. I even got a high five from the assistant superintendent and the other lady that interviewed my has seen me in action this year and knows of the work I've done. It has been a tedious process, however. I was disappointed that I didn't find out my fate when all the other teachers found out on the last day of school.
Did any of the staff get to stay?
Yes, about half the staff is staying. I was surprised by some of the people they "let go" though that just means they will get a job elsewhere in the district. I was more surprised by some of the people that they chose to stay, however. I guess some of them is because they are fairly new and therefore they think they may be trainable, but I would not have chosen some that they did decide to keep on campus. We lost our band director, choir director, art teacher, two ELA teachers, two science teachers, two math teachers, and maybe a social studies teacher. One of the SS teachers retired which is probably good because although he is a nice guy, they would most definitely have let him go.
They announced the replacement of our principal several weeks ago and she has no idea if she will get another principal job or be demoted to a VP position.
One of the counselors is choosing to go back to elementary. The other counselor, the assistant principal, the campus instructional specialist and myself still haven't heard whether we are staying or not. I did get a response from my email which stated that I would find out via email by Friday. If they decide to let me go, they better do it in person as I will want to know why. I got a perfect score on my evaluation. My overall "score" was to be tied with the reading scores for the school and since they kept all the reading teachers, I assume that they are happy with those scores. I thought the interview went well. My concern is that perhaps the new principal coming in might want to bring her own staff in - if so, I don't think it would be fair to let me go when I've done a pretty good job.
Where will the new staff be coming from for the fall?
It will be a mix of people newly applying to the district (which sad to say is mostly new teachers and Teach for America candidates). There may be some people within the district looking to transfer, but I would think that many might not want to work in a school that has so many problems.
Will there be summer training to bring the school up to speed to be ready when the students return?
We have a professional learning conference that starts the week before school starts for about three days. Sometimes its beneficial - sometimes it's not. Most teachers would prefer more time in their rooms to get ready for the year. My job starts two days before all the teachers, but I'll be spending it getting ready for hosting part of the conference at our campus. That will mean multiple projectors and equipment set up in all the rooms being used.
