Pros
At its heart, their mission is wonderful and the kids are incredible.
Cons
Uncommon is a brainwashing propaganda machine. They hire people with zero teaching experience so they can mold you how they want. There's a month of training, where you're taught how to control the children behaviorally and very little practical lessons about how to actually teach. They ply you with swag, and brainwash you into becoming one of their minions, and then just release you into teaching with no support. I was laughed at and told i wasn't trying hard enough when I asked my principal for support setting up my classroom. It was a vicious, take no prisoners environment where each interaction was more toxic and upsetting than the last. We were working from 6 am to 8 pm every day. When I expressed concern about driving home because I thought I would fall asleep, I was laughed at. I sobbed every night on my way home, and every day on my way in. I can't say enough how awful these schools are. And if you do last through your first year, which many don't, you're stuck. You'll never make as much teaching somewhere else as you make at uncommon, so if you are as miserable as I was you'll have to make a complete career change. I was "teaching"'kindergarten. I lasted three days with the kids. All I did for those three days was bang my fist on babies desks and scream at them to stop smiling, laughing, talking, looking around, moving their feet, moving their hands, eyes etc. it was awful. I can't say it enough. Stay away. More than a year has passed since I left and I still feel sick when I think about my time there. As a final note, my principal was one of the worst people I have ever met. She was cruel, rude, nasty and ungrateful. I have never had a boss that made me feel sick at the idea of talking to her or asking for help. I cannot express enough how toxic she made our work environment.