28. Research Careers and make a serious decision about my job direction

While this may not have been the most long-term career decision it was still a really big (and difficult) choice for me!

For those of you who don't know, I left my school where I've been teaching for the past four years and am now at BRICK-Avon Academy.  The school is still in the Newark Public School system and  I'm still in the position of 6th grade math.  While there are lots of similarities there are some big differences also.

Avon Avenue Elementary is a public school that had been failing for too long.  It got to the point where they were going to be shut down.  However, a few phenomenal educators that I know got together and decided to work with the district and State to keep the school open under a "turnaround model."  Watch the video below for a quick explanation :)

Under this model all of the school leadership (Principal, Vice Principal, etc) must be new, 50% of the staff must be replaced, and new initiatives and programs must also be implemented.  Of course, the school must then show growth, agree to lots of scrutiny and observations, and there's even an appointed officer from the state who is required to spend a minimum of 100 days at the school.  There's a lot more technicalities than that but I think you get the idea.

My friends added BRICK Academy to the title of the school.  BRICK stands for Building Responsible Intelligent Creative Kids.  Newark also has the nickname of Brick City so it has perfect duality.  They took over during the 2010-2011 school year and this year I agreed to be part of that 50% new staff they were bringing in to try and affect change.

Here is a great article that featured the school last year that was in the New York Times!

All this being said, starting over in a school that was failing more than my last placement is an arduous task.  I don't know the students so most likely they'll be testing me all year, even though middle schoolers tend to do that anyway.  I'm also a newbie to the families, the neighborhood, co-workers, and little routines like parking, getting supplies, or finding where the bathroom is.

However, if I start to feel discouraged I just watch this other video clip and I'm reminded of why I made the switch.  (This video is from the Teach For America 20th Anniversary Summit in Washington DC)