teacher

special education teacher

english teacher

substitute teacher

teaching assistant

Chesapeake Public Schools

This job included reporting to work at 7:25 AM, checking your mailbox, and getting your room ready for the children to arrive at 8:05 AM.  Typically the resource children would arrive from approximately two - seven different Regular Education Teachers.  The children were from two or three different grade levels.  Therefore you had to do as much grouping as you could for example: The Morning Opening would be a combined event, all the children would participate.  During the 15 minute morning opening a Book was read by the class or listened to from a tape recorder, calendar was completed and the schedule was gone over so that every child knew what they were suppose to do or what their responsibility was.  

    I taught 45 minutes of Math, 2.5 hours of English or Language Arts and sometimes Social Studies and Science on alternate days for 1/2 hours.  It would depend on whether the child was self-contained which meant 3.5 or more hours of their day would be with me.  Or if they were resource which meant they were with me for less than 3.5 hours per day.

    The children would return to their Homeroom or Regular Education Teacher for Music, P.E., computer, recess, lunch and to pack up and get on the bus.

    I learned so much on this job because they had In Service Training often.  Management was wonderful for most of the working years that I was with Chesapeake Public Schools expect for the last year when I was about to turn 55 years old and I was pressured to retire so the Virginia Retirement System would not have to pay me double the amount of money they do before you turn age 55.

    My co-workers were wonderful and I miss them very much.  Of course the most enjoyable part of my job was working with the children and seeing their smiling faces everyday.

Been a custodian a while. And the pay dosent match the work in the least.you’ll always get extra duties and in my school if the head custodian is absent in the morning they’ll pull a night crew member and leave the night crew short with extra work but if a night crew member is absent the position is never filled and the crew gets extra work.they must know the pay is bad because they’ll always give you a fake”thanks for everything you do” but also in the same breath there’s always something you did wrong.like a person could be out like a week and instead of good job while being short you get complaints from the principal voiced to the staff who worked short staffed from their head custodian.and don’t you bring up issues about certain classes and they are left disgusting (I know we are paid to clean,but if a class looks on a daily basis like someone took milk and spilled it on the floor every where then told the class to throw all your papers on the floor we have a reasonable gripe) you get the “you know what you signed up for” treatment but when asked to move objects over 25lbs which is over the wait limit mentioned in the duties you get them manipulating the words in the contract to benefit them.the pay is very underwhelming for the work that is done.I could go on. But just be weary that just because it’s a city job you will not make good money.the support staff dosent make enough for what they do.

I worked three different positions and they clashed frequently. I was the lead secretary (managed the office, worked directly for the Administrator, and helped parents, students, teachers, and others). I was the bookkeeper (who managed money and kept up with the time for all staff members and faculty (that was a two person job). Sometimes I was put in a place where I had to do what the Administrator at an elementary school wanted me to do over what I needed to do and in those moments, I had to in a sense "put my foot down". I learned to be truthful and honest with myself about what I was feeling, if I was feeling overwhelmed, say so. Overall, it was a very fast pace atmosphere most of the time and when there was downtime, you learned to cherish them. I definitely was underpaid. The stress level alone should have been considered. 

•	Prepared daily lesson plans and pace guides for various courses in Technology Education. 
•	Courses include: Basic Technical Drawing, Physics for Technology II, Materials Processing, Power and Transportation, Photography (B&W and Digital), Production Systems, Graphic Communications, and Communication Technology. 
•	Member of the Virginia Career and Technical Education Robotics Curriculum board 2013.
•	Member of the Chesapeake Public Schools Power and Transportation Curriculum board 2011.
•	Served as Chapter & Tidewater Region Technology Student Association Advisor 2004 - 2013.
•	Served as President & Vice President of the Tidewater Region Virginia Technology and Engineering Education Association 2009-2013.
•	Founded a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 2890 in 2008, Main Sponsor 2008-2013.
•	Founded a FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Team in 2012. Main Sponsor.
•	Founded three VEX Robotics Teams in 2012. Main Sponsor.

The world of education is fast-paced and unpredictable, making a typical day unlikely. Each day brought new challenges involving communication with teachers, principals, parents, and co-workers.  I  became familiar with various educational programs including I-Ready and Benchmark and provided technical assistance to the schools utilizing these programs.  I assisted both management and co-workers with technical issues.  My strong Excel skills enabled me to work closely with management on projects outside my job description.  This included developing strategies for collecting, managing, and tracking test results and other sensitive/confidential student data.   Because I enjoyed my work, there was nothing I found especially difficult.   Chesapeake Public Schools was a professional yet relaxed workplace.  Like myself, many employees were former students who returned after graduation to begin a career.

Working as a special educator is both a challenging and deeply rewarding career. Every day presents opportunities to make meaningful connections and help students with diverse needs reach their full potential. It requires patience, creativity, and resilience to adapt to each student’s unique learning style while addressing their social, emotional, and academic growth. Collaboration with families, therapists, and other educators is vital to creating a supportive and inclusive environment. While the job demands can be intense, the joy of witnessing a student’s progress—whether mastering a new skill or building confidence—makes it all worthwhile. Special education is more than a profession; it’s a commitment to advocating for equity and celebrating the abilities within every individual.

School nursing is not as easy as I thought it would be and as easy as people often think it is.  It is a difficult profession that is unfortunately often overlooked and underpaid.  There are more and more responsibilities as children with muti-dimensional needs are entering the school system. We must strategize with parents whose knowledge-base is varied.  I enjoy working in the community that I am in but it can be very frustrating with lack of understanding from staff and parents.  I often feel very alone, yet, I must always think like a team player because there are always those times when we need each other in one way or another.

Check board to receive work assignment, finish said assignment as soon as possible. Inventory assets located in schools throughout the city. I've gathered a lot of information here that I cannot apply in my life outside of work, so I learned nothing. Supervisors/Managers of departments need to communicate better amongst themselves concerning projects. Miscommunication is so common to the point where you wonder why they get paid as much as they do. The culture is great: children's education! The hardest part is arriving at a location and the administration of said location is trying to get you to do more than the original job description. The most enjoyable part of this job is the coworkers. We really have each other's backs.

A typical day entailed checking emails, mailbox and clearing any paperwork which may have been added so as to be able to input information into Starbase and place records into appropriate file. I learned how to quickly and accurately input data and kept the  records room meticulous. Additionally, I was also responsible for the enrollment and withdrawals of students.  At times throughout the school year I was extremely busy and could become inundated with paperwork that needed to be sorted, entered into the computer and filed. However, although this required a good deal of time, it enhanced my ability to multitask. It was always challenging and that made it enjoyable because I remained busy throughout the day.  

Working at CPS has been a great experience for me, A typical day consisted of delivey of furniture, custodial goods and other items to individual schools and offices. The summer consisted of a lot of moving of furniture from classrooms, offices, portables and other places for renovations and other reasons. My co-workers were very easy to get along with. The hardest part of the job is the lifting of things like wrestling mats and moving them from school to school. The most enjoyable part of the job was the friendships made throughout the entire school system. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teacher 3 salaries reported	$61,667 per year
Special education teacher 3 salaries reported	$53,101 per year
English teacher 3 salaries reported	$60,333 per year
Substitute teacher 5 salaries reported	$15.40 per hour
Teaching assistant 3 salaries reported	$23,300 per year

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