Location, Location, Location - School #20

I was sent to a vocational school in Western Queens and it was refreshing to be with a student body that was well behaved and respectful after my hellish experiences in Southeast Queens. Most of the students go to this school because they want to go into the trades such as plumbing, electrician, and for the girls business and cosmetology.

The school is over 90% Hispanic and while most of the students struggle academically, their engineering program attracts top-notch students who take Advanced Placement courses such as Physics, Calculus, and Statistics.  Discipline issues are few and are handled very efficiently by the Deans. Students get to class on-time and few stragglers show up late.  The Administration treated me well and accommodated my personal matters by adjusting my schedule after the first day.  The teachers were friendly and helpful and the students, for the most part, did their assigned work and gave me little problem.

The downside of this school is parking.  There is no parking in the area and if you are on late schedule, as all ATRs are, you cannot even get paid parking spaces!  The administration has a cordial but not collaborative relationship with the staff.  They suffer from the "top down mentality" that the DOE has instilled on their young principals.  Interestingly, the principal hires all "newbie teachers" for all subjects except for Math.  Apparently, she believes "newbie math teachers" are not the answer and has hired two experienced Math teachers in the last year.

I was treated well, shown respect, and allowed to go to Professional Development.  The school is very nice but don't even bother to take your car there since you cannot find parking. . If only this school was in a more accessible location with parking.  I would give the school a try if offered a position there.

GRADE "B-"

No Pathway To College Here. - School #19

Well, I found myself in another school in Southeast Queens and this school shares a building with their own middle school and another middle school.  Its four stories and no elevator. The staff is fairly young with less than eight years of experience but were all quite friendly.  On the other hand, the administration is lead by another "Leadership Academy Principal" who hid in her office during the week I was there.  The hallways are narrow and crowded at the bell change and the odor from the students bathrooms into the hallways can make one gag.

The high school students are supposed to wear uniforms but few do and many of the boys display the "thuggish look" as they keep the pants down and show their underwear.  School tone is poor as administrators don't handle the discipline problem like they need to do.  Some classes are totally "out of control" while others were somewhat manageable.  The "college and career readiness" scores are abysmal in the low single figures.  Meaning few, get advanced Regents diplomas and online courses are needed for many of the students to graduate.  A new state-of-the-art-science lab was essentially destroyed in two years and is barely useable.

The teachers room has no computers, and the administration walks in whenever they feel like.  The school is 95% black and many of the students are in the halls, walking into other rooms, and are "unprepared to learn".  Teacher morale is poor, primarily due to the many requirements that the administrators pile on the staff.  Like many of the unscreened schools in Southeast Queens, the freshman class consists of "1's" and low "2's with behavioral issues and the staff has their work cut out with this grade.  The 10th grade is little better.

This school suffers from all the maladies of the other schools in Southeast Queens, lack of academic tools, little student diversity, and administrators that blame teachers for the ills of the school.  On the bright side, the school is easy to get to and parking is available with a block or two from the school. I wouldn't want a position there.

GRADE "D"

Dodging A Bullet At A Disrespectful School. - School #18

Well I lucked out as I was covering a class in my content area that already had seven teachers  since the semester started and was told they might keep me until the original teacher either returns or tells them that he's not coming back.  However, it seems the school's administration, led by another "Leadership Academy Principal" didn't bother to do the paperwork to retain me and thankfully, I'm on my way to another adventure. I feel sorry for the students as they are feeling betrayed as they have a new teacher weekly and are well behind academically .  Passing the Regents is almost impossible but "its not about the children" to these "Leadership Academy Principals".

The school, that I was in is 85% black and 10% Hispanic.  If you look at the unrealistic school progress report, the school is doing well.  However, being there I experienced, first-hand the downside of the school.  A general disrespect for authority, failure to get to their class on time despite the short distance between classes, and lack of manners by many of the students.  The freshman classes in all the schools in this Southeast Queens school campus are the worst ever.  Like all the schools in this campus, the quality of students are falling off rapidly and declining college readiness scores reflect it.  The school is no longer attracting high quality students and are forced to accept lower performing students to keep their numbers up.

At one time few special education and English Language Learners were part of the student body as the school attracted many academically achieving students as they needed.  Unfortunately,  the school can no longer count on this and the influx of Special Education students has required the school to consider self-contained classes and to add a special education teacher to the staff.

The only good thing is that the school has its own parking area and the commute wasn't terrible.

GRADE "D".

Transfer Me Outta Here! - School #17

Last week I found myself in a small transfer school that's located in a closed and decrepit Catholic school.  The school has a student population of 165 but the school's lucky if 50% of them attend.  Like all transfer schools the students have academic, behavioral, attendance, and family problems that resulted in them being "kicked out" of their previous school.  In fact, one girl told me this was her sixth school and this was her last chance. 

The Principal is your typical "Leadership Academy" graduate and requires the teachers to do lesson and unit planning and large amount of data mining.  The teachers have little time for anything else. As a "push in teacher" I saw first hand what stress the teachers experience daily with these transfer students.  The students are disinterested, distracting, and disrespectful.  Many of the students are consistantly using their cellphones, playing music, sleeping, or simply ignoring the teacher as he tries to teach a lesson to no avail.  Teaching with this student body is a disaster.

There is no teacher room or bathroom key as the bathroom is in the basement next to the cafeteria that doubles as a gym.  Furthermore, the non-profit provides guidance counselors and some of them look as old as the students they service.  Parking is difficult on Wednesday and Friday and one teacher parked almost a mile away!  The main office treated me with indifference and made me feel like an intruder but that's the life of a traveling ATR.

Thank goodness I don't work there and would actually think of retireing if I did.

GRADE "F"

A Healthy School But Watch Out For The "Gotcha" Administrators. - School #16.

The school I was at for the month of February has quite a lot going for it.  Screened and well behaved students, an experienced and friendly staff, an easy commute, and finally adequate parking.  This would be an "A" rated school if it only wasn't for the administrators.  The administrators are down right unfriendly, don't collaborate with the teachers, and use the Danielson rubric as a punitive weapon.  While as an ATR they left me alone, it was very obvious to me that they enjoyed doing a surprise walk-thru at inopportune times to try to get the teacher.  This group is the real "gotcha squad".  In fact, its on chaz's "do not apply" list.  The result is that many teachers took days off as they needed to get away from the administration and I found myself covering a class for each day I was at the school..

Except for the school administrators the screened students (mostly "3"s and some "4"s were well behaved, engaged, and cooperative.  This was the school that my field supervisor did my observation in and the students were just wonderful. The experienced staff was friendly and in the teachers' room we had many discussions and helpful advise.    Moreover, the payroll Secretary was very nice and helpful. Parking was adequate and there is no "alternate side of the street parking" in the area.

 Like all small schools the students griped about lack of good electives, after school activities, and Advanced Placement courses.  However, overall it was a great school, except for the administration.  I would take a job there but I would need to be careful of the "gotcha squad".

GRADE "B-".

Sleeping And Reading - School #15

I found myself at the "fight club school" in Southeast Queens once again during Regents week since this school had my W-2.  I had a very relaxing week, as all week I either read my book or slept in the teacher's room.  They chose not to use me or the other two ATRs to proctor the exams or use us as hall monitors.  Therefore, my entire week consisted of rest and relaxation, can't beat that.

My week of doing nothing helped me realize how much stress the school's staff is under.  Unlike the ATRs the school staff had to prepare second semester unit plans, lesson plans for the next unit, and a twelve page questionnaire to be given to the Principal by Friday.  Many of the teachers complained of having three or four preps and some not being certified in the subject they were being forced to teach.  Others felt really stressed and affected their health.  They were looking to take sabbaticals to recharge their batteries, while others were thinking of resigning and leaving teaching.  It appears many of the teachers were not happy with the observation reports they received and are distrustful of the Administration they were once close with. 

Its good to be an ATR than being a teacher in this school with or without the students present.

GRADE "D-"

In A School Far, Far, Away With Young White "Newbie Teachers". - School #14

Well, I found myself in the second of three small high schools in a closed comprehensive high school in Southeast Queens. This school is a 6-12 school and are required to wear uniforms.  This doesn't mean that the boys keep their pants up and don't show their underwear, they do!  Interesting how the Administration thinks that uniforms will change the behavior and academic outcomes of the students.  Maybe in the middle school it might make a difference but not in the high school.  This is a themed school but I wouldn't want any of the student body working on me if I was in need of medical care.

The school is top heavy with administration and they just hired their sixth AP, this one looks about 25 and I don't think he has ever shaved.  His job is security and doing observations.  On the other hand, the school has only one guidance counselor for the 425 students in the high school while having four teachers working as a one period guidance counselor for their circular six period.  To me that seems dangerous and is a disservice to both the four teachers and the students they work with.  These teachers don't have guidance licenses and could find themselves in trouble if their advice ends up to be harmful to the student. The school should have hired a second guidance counselor and not an Assistant Principal.  I guess the Principal doesn't want to do observations and that's more important than giving the students the support they need.

The student body is nearly 100% minority with Black students making up the majority of the population and Hispanics making up most of  the rest  Teaching them is a nearly 100% young, white, and mostly untenured teachers in their 20's.  Not a good fit if you ask me. Interestingly, the students were reasonably well behaved because  of the snow and cold and more importantly, many of the problem students didn't bother to show up to school this week since it was the end of the semester and their grades were already decided upon.  According to one teacher the school doesn't allow a grade of less than 55% since it allows the Principal to raise the student's grade to passing if the student can achieve a 65% the next semester, giving the student both credits instead of one.  Credit recovery by another name if you ask me.

Parking is adequate but traveling there is a horror.  I would not want a position in this school

GRADE "D".