The Teachers

Obviously the successes we've had at Harborside have had A LOT to do with our teachers. Everyone wants to know which teachers are on board. Several of our teachers have taken other positions. And we support them 110%. Meanwhile many of our teachers have been engaging in talks with the Human Resource Department of SD Unified, who would be their employer if (no, when!) this deal goes through. All of our elementary and middle school teachers who engaged in these talks are very close to qualifying and the District has said it is willing to work with them on these matters and push them through on a contingency plan that would allow them to finish their credentials in the future yet still start working in the Fall.

Dr. Aleman has packaged all their apps and is sending them to the State on Monday, the 19th and they are to be expedited. But the State needs to do the requisite background checks on our teachers and that is a good thing and we all know it will turn out well. That is one of the things that takes a bit of time though. Meanwhile, Dr. Aleman has agreed to meet with the teachers to have a Q&A-- we have tentatively scheduled this for Thursday, the 22nd and are currently contacting the teachers to see if this works. We look forward to this meeting because we know how much our teachers matter to us and to you. If they're in, many of us are in too. But of course many of them would have to turn down job offers right now to be free for a future potential job offer and that is scary. So we will see what happens with this meeting and if Dr. Aleman can convince them it is going to happen. Meanwhile, we've asked Dr. Aleman to craft a formal statement saying this proposal has been approved and is moving forward. We'll let you know as soon as we have anything in writing.

We hesitate to mention teachers by name that have spoken with the District because we really don't want to step on anyone's toes and gosh, things change by the minute around here. We can tell you we spoke with Mr. Jufiar (First Grade) yesterday and he couldn't be more thrilled about this plan. Almost all of the other elementary school teachers and lower division resource teachers (Spanish, Art, PE) have been engaged in talks with the District. In Preschool we know that Ms. Alma and Ms. Donna have passed. When we find out any information on where they are going we will post if here for you. Additionally, Ms. Encoe (Fourth Grade) has moved on and taken a position at Warren Walker in Point Loma. We adore them all and respect them and their decisions so much. The remaining preschool teachers are also engaged with the District and we hope to have news on all of them soon.