Selective Schools Select Experience
AUGUST 13, 2013
Experienced teachers in a stable school, working as a team to promote student learning in a positive environment (photo by the author).
One of my favorite parts of a new school year is meeting new colleagues. I’m always impressed at the variety of experience and talent added to the room when we have our first staff meeting of the year. I happen to work in a high-performing school, in a high-performing district, in a community largely made up of wealthy and well-educated adults. Our district spends much more per pupil than most districts in California, and our teachers are better paid than most in California.
As a result of the quality of the schools and the community, we generally have the opportunity to be selective in hiring. I’d think I was a well-qualified candidate when I first applied, but I interviewed in my district three times in a four-year period before landing my current job.
In a typical year I find out information like a new science teacher has been teaching for several years and has work experience at NASA or Genentech, or a new art teacher has years of experience as both an educator and a studio artist. We’re proud that we’re picking off talent from neighboring districts, and this year, we snagged experienced teachers from Florida and Hawaii. We also typically hire a few alumni from our district, and a few parents from our district – and some of those people fit under both categories. I don’t know if there are studies to prove the