Miss Bennett in the Bay

Ok, it’s for real this time. This morning, in my inbox waiting for me, was an email called “Tentative Alum Rock Placement.” My eyes got wide and my heart did a flip flop. Finally, what I’ve been waiting all this time for- my school and grade level placement! I must cherish this moment.

Ok, I can’t take it any longer! I open the email and read it about as fast as I can. Congratulations on your tentative placement in Alum Rock Union Elementary School District! Ok, this is already better than the previous email I got about placement. Then, it gives a list of all the corps members in Alum Rock and their tentative placement. I search the list for my name… oh, there I am! I’ll be teaching at Russon, 2nd grade! WOO! I wanted early elementary. I’ve never heard of Russon, but that’s ok, I know what I’ll be teaching.

The email continues: We use the term “tentative assignment” because is it relatively common for grade levels to change. Even school-site assignments can change due to shifts in student enrollment. If this happens, you may be assigned to a different grade level or school within the district. Well, such is the life of a TFA corps member. I suppose I would rather have a tentative assignment that could be changed than no assignment at all.

My next step is to look on the Alum Rock school district website and find out where Russon actually is. Hmm, that’s odd, it’s not listed on there. I do a Google search for Russon in San Jose and the only thing I get is a “Did you mean Russom?” No, no I didn’t. Not according to this email anyway. So, that’s interesting. Maybe there was a typo. At any rate, I have to call TFA today anyway to figure out my transcript situation. Oh, that’s something I forgot to mention. I realized yesterday that I gave the transcript people at CU the wrong address for my new apartment, so the transcripts I worked so hard to order will never get here. At this point, it’s too late to order another set before Sunday, so I need to find out exactly what they want me to do. I checked my unofficial transcript this morning and my degree has finally been conferred. I sort of doubt it, but maybe they will accept one of those. We’ll see. Anyway, I have to call them today so I’ll ask them about this mystical place called Russon.

As I’m sure most corps members will agree, waiting to get your official school site/grade level placement can be quite the anxiety-inducing experience. Everyone wants to know right away where they will be teaching and what grade level. For me, it’s not so much the school as the grade level. If I knew which grade level, I could be doing my pre-institute work with them in mind. I could be going to garage sales and looking for appropriate books. And I could be talking to my teacher friends (read: Sarah) for ideas. But, alas, the realities of serving under-resourced communities make it impossible to get hired this early.

So, imagine my excitement when I check my email last night and see one from TFA called “Alum Rock Placement.” Alum Rock is the name of the school district that I interviewed in a couple of weeks ago at the May Hiring Fair and CSET Testing Weekend. “Wow,” I think to myself. “Maybe those interviews paid off after all!” I open the email to quickly discover this is really more of a tease than anything else.

First paragraph: “Alum Rock Union Elementary School District has confirmed that they would like to offer you a position for the upcoming school year. We are thrilled to place you in Alum Rock.” So far, so good. I know I’m in east San Jose, which means I don’t have to have an especially horrendous commute.

Second paragraph: “Alum Rock expects to be able to provide your specific placement (school site and grade level) in late-June. This is because Alum Rock is now completing transfers of current teachers within the district, in accordance with district and union guidelines. We will let you know as soon as your specific placement is available.” Oh. So, what is really happening is that they are just confirming the assumption that I have been operating under this entire time. Since I visited San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, I believed I would be teaching in Alum Rock. I’ve been telling people this. I figured the folder I received at the May Hiring Fair that said “Alum Rock” on it was their way of telling me that Alum Rock was my district. Though, I suppose I could have been bumped to some other district in the South Bay if some emergency had arisen.

The email goes on to say that I better have passed the CSET (not much I can do now- it’s over. I’m pretty sure I passed) and that I better pass the CBEST. Oh, god, the CBEST. I kind of pushed it out of my mind. It’s coming up here pretty quick. I don’t remember which day I have to actually take it but it’s sometime the week of June 24. I should probably figure that out. I don’t even have a study guide or anything. So, now, on top of the last five lessons of the pre-institute work, another classroom observation, and all of the millions of things that one has to do when one moves 1,000 miles across the country, I also have to study for another super-important, super-stressful standardized test. I just love the No Child Left Behind Act, don’t you?

Anyway, this email, while not giving me a lot of specifics, at least gives me a timeline for when I will be hired. And it confirms that I WILL be hired, and I WILL sign a contract with a school during Induction in June. So, it’s a step in the right direction. And since my classroom observation yesterday, I am feeling very excited about this whole process. I went into it thinking that I would never want to teach middle schoolers (my assignment is K-8). I just preferred early elementary. I think I still prefer the wee ones, but now I think I would also be ok with middle schoolers. Each age group has its pros and cons. So, I’m embracing this process, and I will keep you updated on every step of the journey along the way.