Job Offer Accepted!

After a long job search that basically involved me typing all the same information that is in my resume, references, letter of recommendation, transcript, and license into many, many electronic databases I have a plan for next year!!! Hooray!

One of the most frustrating parts of the job search was just never hearing back from people about what was going on. Most districts and principals never responded to say they received my application and they would be reviewing them in a certain amount of time. In fact, I think there are still schools out there who haven't even started their interview process yet.

Anyway, after two interviews and two job offers, I decided to accept the one closer to home. After all, if I am leaving a job that I like right now for the main reason of being closer to home, then I should actually BE closer to home. Starting in the fall I will be working at a private, international school located in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. The school is international because only about 20% of the students come from Minnesota while the other 80% are exchange students who come to study abroad for 1-2 years.

I am thrilled about the international aspect of the job, since that is something I have really appreciated about teaching in Colombia. I do think the smaller school (only about 200 students total in grades 9-12 versus about 1,300 in my current K-12 school) will take a bit of getting used to, but I am excited about the chance to know other teachers and students well. I will most likely be teaching AP Statistics, Geometry and Algebra I, which is a big change from just teaching five sections of Algebra I for the past three years. I think I am ready for the challenge professionally, and my school is already investing in some professional development to help me out by sending me to a one week summer course on teaching AP Statistics.

Teaching in downtown St. Paul, being closer to friends and family, and still getting to work with students from all over the world is pretty much my dream job...so I cannot wait to see how it all works out in the fall!

Now...who has a good game plan for me not to spend all my money at the many downtown locations of both Caribou and Starbucks???