Pros
Comraderie: Fantastic support from other teachers, administration, struggling new teachers will receive vast amounts of mentorship, everyone will help you if you are actively trying to improve your craft Professional Development: As mentioned above, new teachers or teachers who struggle to fit will receive lots of mentorship. KIPP Foundation has annual conferences for PD, and Safety and learning environment: Safe environment for students and children. Calm and quiet, conducive to learning. Results: Most students come in several grade levels behind in reading and math in 5th grade and most leave 8th grade on grade level. They are not just Supplies: Adminstration will provide the supplies, money, etc. for anything you need to achieve success in your classroom - as long as you have a good reason for needing it. Teachers do not have trouble getting adequate supplies. High expectations: Everyone is the building is working very hard to ensure kids are learning, evaluate data, and make each day better. As such, it creates an environment where slacking is not allowed and the school is productive. Observation and feedback: Weekly observations and check-ins give teachers the ability to get constant feedback from administration and more experienced teachers. Autonomy: Administrators do not tell you what you need to teach. They allow you to set up your curriculum and continue to use it as long as it is working. Students: The school is strict, but that causes it to be efficient. Students are generally respectful and follow directions and do not cause huge disruptions in the classroom or hallways.
Cons
Work load: Long hours (10 hour mininimum standard work day from 7:30-5:30, with most teachers arriving around 7:00 and leaving between 6:00-7:00). There is also mandatory summer school for three weeks - Summer break is only a total of four weeks. High expectations: Teachers are expected to pitch in to help out however. You will not just teach your subject area, you will be expected to fill in to help out in other areas as well. There are many additional duties that you be required to fulfill. You will also be observed on a weekly basis, so if there is anything about your class that is not tight you will be expected to address it. No substitutes: When a teacher is out for sickness, other teacher sub in. No outside substitutes are used which means that teachers may have to give up planning time to cover if other teachers are out. It is also important to plan far ahead if you plan to go to a wedding or another major event since other teachers sub for you. Vacations are supposed to be planned during school breaks, not during school days. Flexibility required: You will be asked to do things that are inconvenient or cut into your planning time so that school runs smoothly. These type of teachers will not like the school: *Those who don't like to plan far ahead or don't like others to criticize their lesson plans *Those who don't like strict rules *Those who want to get out of work at a regular teacher time, or want to have summers off *Those who do not like to be told how they should teach *Those who would like to teach one subject and not be involved with classes or students outside their subject