It’s hiring season at ISW. Our program and enrollment are both growing, and we need more teachers! I love hiring.

Perhaps the most important attribute for any teacher is that he or she wants to be in the classroom. Teaching must be a calling; it should always be a first-choice job. High quality teaching at any level requires an enormous outpouring of energy, both intellectual and emotional. It requires 100% commitment. Our students deserve teachers who are well-versed in their discipline, who are passionate about progressive education, who know how to connect with young people and their families.

Teachers, in turn, deserve administrators who present a clear vision for the school’s future, who seek the faculty’s input in decision-making, and who commit to putting in place every appropriate support.

Given all that, here’s my radical idea:  hire the very best, treat them as the creative, talented professionals they are, and put out everything I have to create the school of our collective teacher-dreams.

If you know of a wonderful candidate for ISW, please ask him or her to check out our job openings: http://www.iswva.org/faculty/.

Looking forward to talking about learning and teaching,

Claire