Truthfully, I was so overwhelmed by the end of the onboarding and training process I almost quit before the school year actually began. I wish I had.
Long hours, including mandatory “PD” after students leave 3-4 days a week.
Constant meetings during the school day, taking up prep periods. This job does not allow you adequate time during paid hours to complete everything expected of you.
Curriculum is written and provided for you, including *exactly*what you are expected to say. If you do not expressly have the lesson plan in your hands or visible enough to your “coach” you will be reprimanded. This is not a place for out of the box thinking in educators.
You are required to provide your personal phone number to all families, even though there is a messaging app also utilized for the school. When I took medical leave due to the stress of this position, I was called by a student seeking help. Of course, I did what I could, but during a difficult personal time I shouldn’t have had to take care of school issues.
I was regularly messaged outside of paid hours by my team lead for work related matters.
Control is the name of the game at KIPP MA. There is a a spreadsheet of how you are expected to decorate your classroom, including mandatory boards for various core areas and what should be posted there. But you are also expected to keep walls quite bare so there is room to display all of the anchor charts the curriculum demands you create. Your classroom is not really your own.
