Inspirational Profile: Wakefield High School

In today's Washington Post, Jay Mathews writes about an inspirational retired principal, Marie Shiels Djouadi, who spent over 20 years at Wakefield High School, in Arlington, VA.  A school like many others, with a large immigrant and low-income population,that was failing.  But it has seen dramatic changes since the 1980's, when Dr. Djouadi took the helm.  According to the article,

    "the school has raised state achievement test results significantly for its largely low-income students. It has tripled participation in Advanced Placement tests, while also raising its passing rate on the difficult three-hour exams. Its record, in a school where more than 70 percent of the students are Hispanic or black and at least 50 percent are low-income, led President Obama to make it the site of a major education address last September."

The Interview Process

So, I skipped over an important part of getting accepted into a program under TNTP, and that is the interview.  The interviews are intense events, and can be pretty hard to prepare for.  I went through 2 separate interview events in different school districts both in the mid-Atlantic region. I did not feel that I did very outstanding in my first interview, and that was reflected by them not offering me a position.  Going into the second interview, I was much better prepared and had had a lot of time to reflect upon my first experience.

What I have been doing while I wait

Right now, I am in the in-between time of getting accepted into The New Teacher's Project (TNTP), and actually beginning the program.  It is a limbo period full of waiting and anticipation and everyone I know always asking me what is the status of my new teaching career.  And the answer is always, the status is the same as the last time we spoke, I am waiting for the program to officially begin... sometime in June... I don't know yet the exact date.... or the exact school... or what grade level I will actually be teaching.  Stop asking, I will tell you when something happens. 

So, I have been trying to prepare by working on the recommended reading list, and I have been working on my Independent Study requirements.  The summer training program (called Summer Institute) is where you get your crash course in teaching before the full school year begins in the fall.  The basic schedule has you attending summer school classes in the mornings, and teaching seminars in the afternoons and evenings.  We have been warned that during institute, the days are long (12 hours) and intense.   Prior to beginning institute, fellows are expected to complete their independent study guides and assignments.  The assignments include a lot of reading and a handful of short writing assignments, as well as observing a classroom for a minimum of 4 hours.  So, this has been keeping me busy already.


An interesting note about the text book we are using, which has been produced by The New Teacher Project, is that everyone is using the book for Special Education teachers, whereas in previous years there were different books for General and Special Ed.  The thinking behind this move is that everyone should be familiar with the specific rules and laws of teaching special ed anyway, and a the teaching methods are valid regardless of whether you are General or Special Ed.