With recruitment fairs, school preview tours, and early contract offers, Hamilton County Schools is stepping up its recruitment efforts to hire top-notch graduates and recruits for some of the district’s hardest-to-fill positions.
On Friday, Jan. 18, six prospective teachers toured East Lake Elementary School – one of four stops on their schedule that day – to speak with Principal Joyce Lancaster, meet with the district’s recruitment staff and visit classrooms. Most of the candidates are finishing up their last semester at local universities and are hoping to secure a teaching position by the next school year.
“It’s a really great opportunity to see what our schools are all about,” said Jerica Johnson, talent acquisition manager for the district’s Opportunity Zone. “A lot of these students said they were interested in learning more about the Opportunity Zone, and this gives them a general idea of what a real school day is like.”
The district employs more than 3,000 teachers and hires around 300 teachers each year. Internally, current Hamilton County Schools employees have until April 1 to request a transfer to a new school – a deadline that is a month earlier than in 2018 – but most principals already have an idea of where they might have vacancies.
The district is already anticipating it will need 35 teachers for fourth and fifth grades, 22 math teachers for grades six to 12, and 22 exceptional education teachers. Other high-need areas include science teachers for subjects such as biology and chemistry, Spanish and English as a second language teachers, speech teachers and school psychologists.