07.22.06
Piedmont High School
Whaoo! I’m proud to say that I am officially employed in the state of California. For the 2006-2007 school year I will be teaching special education at Piedmont High School. I had a few interviews and out of all my options I would have been silly to pass up this opportunity. Piedmont is a very nice little town in the hills of east bay near Lake Merritt with an excellent school district. There are 3 elementary schools, 1 middle school and 2 high schools (one being alternative). PHS is thriving with 837 students – Almost as many as my graduating class at Humble. They are very proud of their students who seem to out score every other school district in the Bay Area. The majority of the students (like 96%) move on to a 4 year college – great stats huh? The parents expect the same for the special education kids so I’ve got my work cut out for me. I believe, although it’s not official, that I will be teaching math; mainly pre-algebra, geometry and possibly algebra. I just hope there aren’t any special education kids taking calculus, or I’ll be looking for a high school tutoring group.
The school seems to be awesome, and I’m looking forward to meeting all the teachers I’ll be working with. I’m not sure that I’ll have an assistant as great as Denise, but hopefully it will be someone I can get along with just as well. The school has block scheduling which changes everyday – I don’t know if I’ll ever get the schedule right. On the 6th and 7th days the kids leave early, one day is for staff development and the other day is for tutoring. What a great concept – let the kids go early so that tutoring can be taken care of within school hours. The principal said that the majority of kids do stay for tutoring. Hummm, I’ll let you know how that works out. Also, the kids get a break for lunch AND brunch! Crazy! Now I know that I don’t have to eat breakfast before I leave for school – I’ve got brunch time! Too bad there isn’t a Starbucks nearby. And, finally another great thing about teaching in California is that there is no dress code for teachers! Yes, you heard right I can wear jeans and tennis shoes or flip flops everyday if I want. They call it California Casual. I’m down with that.
On a sad note – I just can’t win in the mascot category with any of my teaching jobs – I moved from being a WPE Panda to being a PHS Highlander. Maybe eventually I’ll get to be a panther or falcon or cave troll (ok, I admit, I put that in there. -matt) or something. I’m sure men who wear kilts and run around with bagpipes are fierce…. We’ll see. There are some pictures of the beautiful PHS campus here as well. Take a look. The campus does not have AC but thankfully with the California temps we don’t need it. I’ll keep you posted on how the first few days go – the teachers don’t report until 2 days before the kids. None of this HISD 2 weeks stuff. I hope I can learn it all before the first day! Until then Go Highlanders!
mama Y said,
July 22, 2006 at 8:48 pm
Congrats on your new position. You will do a great job educating those high school kiddos. MYF here you come. The school is beautiful and the views are wonderful. I’m sure the residents take all that forgranted. Can’t wait to hear more. Love y’all bunches. mom
Connie said,
July 24, 2006 at 12:46 am
Way to go Linds!! We will have to compare notes on how to deal with parents. I was told that my hardest job will be to convience the parents by 8th grade that their LD kids will not be attending Harvard or Yale.
Give Matt a hug for me.
Lesley said,
July 24, 2006 at 5:07 pm
You are a brat! Congrats on the job. I’m so jealous of the view and of your no dress code. UGH!
Cindy Likos said,
August 28, 2006 at 6:33 pm
The school sounds great and looks great too. Have you started yet? How is the pay? Great dress code. That’s why I love Austin because everything is casual. I don’t know about schools though.
Cindy Likos