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Post by donalgdon on Apr 13, 2012 18:54:34 GMT -5
Wanted to share some happy news with you guys.... The school my wife and I work for now has begun a steady decline in morale due to poor management. It was formerly owned by a man I greatly respected and enjoyed working with, because he knows how to run a school. I had lost touch with the man, but two days ago, I learned he had built a new school, and that he was trying to contact me. After carefully weighing the options, I decided to call him. Today, he offered me a job for nearly twice my current salary... and he hired my wife, and gave her a raise too! I won't carry my tenure to the new school, but after three years, I'll be a permanent employee with tenure. The job is in a new building with twice the classroom space and twenty minutes closer to my house. Change is always uncomfortable, but I think it's a good move for us.
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Post by Holy Schist on Apr 13, 2012 18:59:44 GMT -5
Cutting 40 minutes a day from commuting is a great benefit by itself.
Good luck!
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Post by Rhapsody on Apr 13, 2012 21:06:29 GMT -5
Congrats to you both!
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Post by thedude on Apr 13, 2012 22:09:23 GMT -5
That's great news. Congratulations!
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Post by donalgdon on Apr 13, 2012 23:28:51 GMT -5
I will miss the students I have now very much. Honestly, I have not told them that I had planned to make the change, but most of them know the previous owner to whom I was referring. One of my colleagues is also moving with me there, and the students found out about it today and were quite iterally crying to see him go. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I was leaving also. It was so sad. These kids really do care about their teachers, more than most of them realize. One of them said to me, "Teacher, if you go too, I'm going to ask my mom and dad to put me in the new school, because this place is getting to be like the Titanic."
I tried not to show any emotion, but it was hard to deal with, because I agree with him. There is no director currently. The acting director is a businessman, but clueless about running a school like a school should be run, and in total, there's a good chance that 15 others may leave by the end of the month, and this school has been a fixture in the country for 25 years. This year marks it's 25th anniversary. The company that bought the school is from Costa Rica, and they are essentially siphoning all profits away from the school and diverting the funds into their failing real estate investment in Columbia.
Ironic, in a way, that I just found myself staring at the tribute mural to the history of the school in the hallway on my lunch break today.
The students pick up on things very quickly. It seems to me that kids are often (in some ways) smarter and more intuitive than many adults. It's a mixed emotion for me, because I'm happy for the opportunity, but I'll be sad to leave the kids. I really do hope many of them join me in the move.
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Post by sordello on Apr 14, 2012 3:58:08 GMT -5
Yes. Congrats to you both!
Sounds like your students just need s bus service that can take them to the new school?
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Post by donalgdon on Apr 14, 2012 8:55:16 GMT -5
We serve what might be considered an upper-middle class sector of the population. They aren't the 1% crowd, but definitely the parents are wealthier than the majority of the country. I'm fairly certain that many of the parents will pull their students out and put them in the new school once they get wind of the mass exodus, because the former owner and director still maintains their respect and loyalty, which is one of his strongest assets. He has a real people-centered management style that makes his employees loyal to him also. I've heard strong rumors that, in total, 15 people are jumping ship, and quite a number of those may end up with us. I have a strong connection with those people also, so it will be like nothing much has changed in one sense, because these teachers are very dedicated to what they do.
I have more qualifications on paper than nearly all of them, but I don't have any more heart for the kids or ability to convey information than any of them, and that's what really makes a good teacher in the end. Degrees are, in some sense, meaningless.
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Post by naill on Apr 14, 2012 15:04:15 GMT -5
Congratulations, Don. How exciting.
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Post by donalgdon on Apr 19, 2012 20:06:06 GMT -5
Just talked with my new boss today and it seems he's willing to let me keep my current status, which as a permanent employee, gives me even more benefits and even better pay! I never expected that, because it's extremely rare here, and I didn't ask for it. He voluntarily offered it, so that means I won't have to spend three more years building it back up. I was in my fourth year in the current job, so I was regretting that loss. Seems he anticipated it.
Also seems that he's really interested in putting together a great team of like minded folks, and I'm getting more excited about it.
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Post by sordello on Apr 19, 2012 20:33:01 GMT -5
You're leading a charmed life!
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Post by donalgdon on Apr 19, 2012 22:00:12 GMT -5
I must be evolving!
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Post by donalgdon on May 11, 2012 17:10:22 GMT -5
Turned in my letter of resignation and had my exit interview today (wife and I both) at the close of business this afternoon. The personnel director is a fine person. She was very gracious and thanked us both, wished us well, and said she'd miss us, and I don't think she's just saying that, because at last count, there are about a dozen more headed out the door this week. She actually asked me to put in a good word for her in the new school.
I am currently "unemployed" by choice for the second time in 17 years. I tend to stick with jobs, as change is often harder for me to accept than suffering, but I'm learning. I think we made it out just in time, becaue all the positions in the new school are filled, as I understand.
I'll update the thread as things progress, but right now, we have two weeks to go. The hardest part is going to be telling our students. They are very emotional about such things, as most children are, so I dread that more than anything. The last time a teacher left, the students literally in all the classrooms from 4th and 5th grade were sobbing like it was a funeral for 3 hours.
It was awful, but I think it was because of the way the guy handled it. He just told them the same day, rather than breaking it to them gently and helping them adjust.
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Post by sordello on May 11, 2012 17:42:58 GMT -5
Nice to hear the move is progressing well. You've been pretty fortunate in your employment life - I think your details will not apply to many jobseekers out there. "Job security? Oh yeh.. I remember my grandad mentioning something like that used to exist!" Amazing the lousy spy network your students have. In many places, the students know which teachers are leaving before the teacher even knows!!
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Post by donalgdon on May 18, 2012 21:29:15 GMT -5
I chose to inform my students directly today that I was leaving so that I could give them the opportunity to express their feelings on the matter before my last day, which will be May 30th. Most took it pretty hard, and I really had a hard time with the announcement. It was much more difficult than I imagined it would be. My own homeroom was in stunned silence for what was about 30 seconds, but what seemed like forever... and then the tears. It was heart-wrenching. It's honestly wonderful to be appreciated by the students so deeply. I wish the administration shared even a fraction of their sentiment toward the staff. If that were the case, I'd probably not be leaving at all, but the school has become a business first and a school a distant second, so for me, it marks the beginning of the end to it's illustrious history.
I am choosing to stay beyond my two week notice so that I can be there as my students take their semester exams with me, for moral support, since I taught the material, I wanted to close it in the best way I could.
I have an interview with another private school next week to consider another offer. I'll keep you all posted.
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Post by sordello on May 19, 2012 22:08:07 GMT -5
Maybe you can plan something in the future to ease the trauma?
I wonder if several schools can get together to do a field trip or something - combine costs, share them over several schools (your new school and the one you're leaving included) for savings - and then you can tell your students "we will meet again" sometime and get together to do something. At least it isn't telling them the break will be permanent. That it isn't just, "Good bye and good luck."
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