The first 6 weeks of 2012 have been BUMPIN here at Achievement Prep. As I said in my last post, we're now in the thick of our recruiting season for new students for the 2012-2013. We worked with an outside company to develop an online application this year (it's always been paper in the past) and the applications are flowing in! It's my job to reach out to these families to schedule tours of the building so that they can see classes in action and ask questions about the school. I've been giving tours in tandem with our new Families and Community Coordinator (who actually was FCC last year and returned after Winter Break) but yesterday I had to suddenly give my first tour flying solo. I was literally terrified, even though I know tons of information about APA and can probably answer every question a parent might have or easily snag someone in the hallways who does, but I just felt super super nervous, knowing that a prospective parent's opinion and perspective of the school could be so heavily shaped by my tour. But actually, it went really really well and the mom liked the school a lot. And then I gave another tour by myself today and it went even better, so I'm feeling really good about that. I've got eight more tours scheduled through the end of next week and a lot more parents to follow up with. (I hate phone tag.) What an exciting time!
Additionally, I spent a big chunk of last week working on a grant proposal that is due on Friday. Right now, the head of school is looking it over and then is going to send it back to me for final copy editing. It was actually really stressful and I kind of had thesis flashbacks, but I felt so good after I submitted what I had written to her, and she said it was good! So I'm happy.
And of course, dear reader, you must be dying to know why on EARTH I am working on Saturdays. In addition to our long school day and long school year at Achievement Prep, we also run sessions of Saturday Academy (9am - 12pm, two 1.5 hour classes) for "cuspers," students who just need a little extra push on a certain subject to achieve solid proficiency. The Director of Academic Achievement needed someone to teach 6th and 7th grade reading & writing on Saturdays for the next 8 weeks (now only 6 left) and I agreed. I've taught lessons in my art class and done small group tutoring but I've never really taught a class before, and it's really exciting that I get to be a classroom teacher for some of the time and then do all this behind the scenes administrative stuff with the External Affairs office. Last Saturday I subbed for 4th grade math (money word problems), but it's back to ELA next Saturday. I'm looking forward to it. It's actually nice to get up early on a Saturday and then have the rest of the day after 12:30pm free to do whatever. If I wasn't doing Saturday Academy I'd probably sleep past 12:30pm anyway.
I really am incredibly thankful that my job has given me so much flexibility and opportunities to be creative and try new things. PP55 is awesome! And good luck to everyone who has interviews coming up for next year's crop of fellows. What an exciting time!
Also, sidenote: I really really love DC. I love the size, I love the way the buildings are so short but wide, it makes me think of Paris. It's so much more open and clean than NYC. I love all the museums, all the culture and history and the way that I have totally mastered the grid (NW, NE, SW, SE). I love that Arlington, where I live, is so nice, but it's so easy to get into the city. I always was SURE I would end up in NYC but right now I can't picture myself anywhere but here.
Additionally, I spent a big chunk of last week working on a grant proposal that is due on Friday. Right now, the head of school is looking it over and then is going to send it back to me for final copy editing. It was actually really stressful and I kind of had thesis flashbacks, but I felt so good after I submitted what I had written to her, and she said it was good! So I'm happy.
And of course, dear reader, you must be dying to know why on EARTH I am working on Saturdays. In addition to our long school day and long school year at Achievement Prep, we also run sessions of Saturday Academy (9am - 12pm, two 1.5 hour classes) for "cuspers," students who just need a little extra push on a certain subject to achieve solid proficiency. The Director of Academic Achievement needed someone to teach 6th and 7th grade reading & writing on Saturdays for the next 8 weeks (now only 6 left) and I agreed. I've taught lessons in my art class and done small group tutoring but I've never really taught a class before, and it's really exciting that I get to be a classroom teacher for some of the time and then do all this behind the scenes administrative stuff with the External Affairs office. Last Saturday I subbed for 4th grade math (money word problems), but it's back to ELA next Saturday. I'm looking forward to it. It's actually nice to get up early on a Saturday and then have the rest of the day after 12:30pm free to do whatever. If I wasn't doing Saturday Academy I'd probably sleep past 12:30pm anyway.
I really am incredibly thankful that my job has given me so much flexibility and opportunities to be creative and try new things. PP55 is awesome! And good luck to everyone who has interviews coming up for next year's crop of fellows. What an exciting time!
Also, sidenote: I really really love DC. I love the size, I love the way the buildings are so short but wide, it makes me think of Paris. It's so much more open and clean than NYC. I love all the museums, all the culture and history and the way that I have totally mastered the grid (NW, NE, SW, SE). I love that Arlington, where I live, is so nice, but it's so easy to get into the city. I always was SURE I would end up in NYC but right now I can't picture myself anywhere but here.
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