Pros
Working with an amazing community of children in Trenton, New Jersey.
Cons
The work day is extremely long and preps are usually interrupted by having to cover for colleagues who are absent (NO Substitutes). Please be advised that during the course of an ordinary day which is 9 hours 15 minutes, (6.5 hours are allocated for teaching, recess duty, homeroom, and Advisory. In addition, 2 hours and 45 minutes is suppose to be for preps but be mindful during this time you also have to attend feedback meetings and an 03 meeting which cuts into your prep time. Since there are no substitute teachers be prepared to serve time in other classes at least 3-4 days per week teaching subjects outside of your content area. Feedback meetings are frequent and SUBJECTIVE. What is most interesting about this is that the School Leader who provided feedback my level very has limited experience and knowledge of the various content areas be taught. Feedback meetings between a staff member and a School Leader is in an open area (Staff Lounge) with other staff members in observance, this means you have no privacy at all. Students are suppose to adhere to the discipline policy of the school and in most cases they do. However, there are several students with behavioral and emotional deficits referred to as " High Flyers" who will totally impede the learning in the classroom. Yes, it is the teachers job to maintain classroom management, however, in these instances the students in any other institution would have an IEP and be placed in a behavioral classroom setting. Instead, High Flyers cause great disturbances throughout the school daily with behaviors such as: crawling under the desks, yelling and screaming, throwing objects across the room, and fighting amongst each other. The sad thing with all of this is, there is a supervisor designated for behavior, who rarely answers text messages, phone calls, or shows up to help the staff members with these daily disturbances. I almost forgot, one would think it would require teaching experience of some sort in order to complete this task or maybe that's why no one ever shows up. After school staff meetings, professional development seminars, and content meetings will have staying afterschool at least TWICE a week until 5:10 pm. These meetings could be on half-day Fridays. Oops.. I forgot.. Fridays are filled with meetings too. There is not too much planning going on during "Planning Time Fridays" . Don't believe the hype! In conclusion, the worst mistake I could've made was giving Foundation Academy my 60 days notice. During my last 60 days with the organization, my supervisor refused to speak to me directly but told my colleagues in multiple meetings that he doesn't respect people who leave mid-year. I'm so glad that this is a distant memory...
