By: Deborah Johnson Wood
This last year, Grand River Preparatory High School, Kentwood, had a lot of class -- and in the 2009-2010 school year it will have even more.
That's because the school launched last
year with only a freshman class, but this fall new freshmen are coming
in and the current students will become the school's first sophomores.
That has created a need for six full-time and two part-time
sophomore-level teachers and one administrative position.
Two of the positions, the
history/political science position and the math position, are already
filled with teachers who are relocating to West Michigan after moving
away to pursue teaching careers.
"These are folks that, to find jobs,
had to leave the state and have been looking for opportunities to
return," says David Angerer, principal. "The political science teacher
has been teaching for five years in California, and the math person has
been teaching at a private college prep school in Racine, Wisconsin.
That's a common story with the people I've been interviewing, which is
a great position for me who's hiring and looking for good people."
Angerer is also looking for persons to
teach English, Spanish, Latin, science/biology, physical education and
special education.
"The folks that are teaching at Grand
River Prep are here because it's a new school and we're creating a new
program," Angerer says. "It's a unique opportunity for people who want
to create and work hard to get this program up and running."
Grand River Prep is the sole high
school-only charter school in the region. The school has 150 openings
for freshmen; so far, 170 students have applied. The school will select
the students by lottery.
Source: David Angerer, Grand River Preparatory High School; John Zimmerman, Seyferth & Associates
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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