Achievement First reviews

At first the work load can feel overwhelming, however if you have a strong personal organization system and use preps efficiently the work is sustainable. If you are transitioning from another school the first few months can be challenging (you may feel less experienced than you are), but I found this to be SO beneficial in my development as an educator. My instructional skill grew faster in my first year with AF than 5 years at my past school.

- Really hard to balance work and life. The expectation (whether stated or unsaid) is that every teacher gives everything that he or she has to help kids improve. And there are some great things about this - really dedicated people who you can count on. But, you're constantly exhausted and it seems really difficult to balance raising a family, in particular. Even without kids, I have a hard time maintaining hobbies, interests, and even friendships outside of school because of the expectations for the quality of work and teaching we are expected to give. After six years, I just needed a change. - At the high school level, we haven't figured out how to tap into rich and consistent parent engagement. I think a lot of parents feel like outsiders in the building. It doesn't really feel like a community center or "family" in the way that we'd like to think. - We're a much more diverse school and organization than we used to be, but the network as a whole still feels pretty white, Euro-centric, etc. - Not a lot of true "veteran" teachers around. Pretty much everyone is in their 20s or 30s, including principals and deans.