teacher

paraprofessional

custodian

substitute teacher

elementary school teacher

Norfolk Public Schools

I was a daily and long term substitute. I love the work I do in long term especially but the students are very challenging to work with.  If they know you are a long term teacher, they talk down to you as if you have no worth.  They disrespect the teacher, no matter how great the teacher is as a disciplinarian.  They are defiant,  disruptive, argue with your authority as if they have a right to say how things go in the classroom,  they question your rules in the classroom,  they have major attitudes toward subs in general and think they can talk to you any way they want to. Teachers complain they are getting the same thing as well.   Students have been prone to cursing you or calling you bad names.   When you write up referrals, nothing is done to any of the students.  When you call security, often they leave the student who is disrupting class in your classroom not caring if the other students are able to concentrate or focus, much less you teach. When you call parents, they act very supportive and angry their child is acting that way.  They assure their child will change their behavior. Unfortunately, it works only half of the time with various students.  Unfortunately, I have had the awful pleasure of running into some Principals who did underhanded things to me and my position  in their school not even based on my job performance with their school. Ive learned not to trust anyone at all.   Students hit you and nothing is done about it - they get away with it. Students curse you out, and nothing is done about it.  I would absolutely love my job now that the pay is better for Long term subs if the students are taught that bad behavior in the classroom is not going to be tolerated and there are strict consequences that works..  Teachers leave in droves every year in hopes of finding a better environment to work with.  Daily subs have to work four blocks per day, most of the time, due to not enough subs filling jobs for the day.  This gives the daily sub no time to catch their breath, no time to get to the restroom or even eat lunch  Middle School students will act like a zoo in the classroom if nobody is in the classroom as soon as they change classes.  High school students can be very pleasant to work with if you have Honors, AP classes, higher level classes, and IB or Pre IB classes.

My typical day at work is checking work orders and figuring out what work can and can not be done by talking to seasoned techs in the shop. If the work order is accessible, I drive over to the facilities to observe and plan how the work order can be assessed.
Most low voltage installation junction points are in inconspicuous locations of the buildings; I learn where those points are and make note of it for my next visit. Things that are not my specialty I learn from the seasoned techs of the electronics shop incase someone is out.
Management is very compassionate about its employees here. The Open Door policy is forthcoming to anyone in need of a question or concern. Management allows its employees to voice their opinion on certain matters. No concern is disregarded as Norfolk Public Schools Plant Facilities is one team and offers a family oriented environment.
My coworkers, not only in the electronics shop, are very helpful and approachable on work matters or personal advice. 
I would say there is no hardest part to the job. The work here is self-paced and if there is any advice needed, coworkers are great references to contact on intricate issues pertaining to work orders. The most enjoyable part of this job is waking up and doing what you know you are good at. The work load is relatively easy but may require some extensive time to figure out a solution to a problem.

Honestly I can say that there is no real pay raise except the 25 cents to 32 cents that one may receive annually.  

There is often frustration or ill feelings between team members and it is obvious to staff as they do not appear to work as a team at all times in the best interest of the students. 

Contracted classified classroom paraprofessionals are not always treated with respect in giving them consistent communication on evaluation of their work ethics.  

The dress code is NOT enforced as anything is allowed to work which includes items Indeed has listed to check: significant tattoos on arms, colored hair, tight-fitting pants or leggings, short skirts and dresses, and sexy apparel, shirts with logos or pictures not connected with education..  All of this has been seen allowed to work with obviously nothing said.  It varies from school to school.  Some are worse than others depending on the environment set by the principals of each school.  

There are some very loyal ones I have worked with and the highlight of this career is enjoying students' improvement and continual growth in academics and in behavior from elementary to graduation.

Avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid 
Many employees live in two worlds. In one, you are told that laws require employers to ensure you don’t face racial harassment, hostility and intimidation from co-workers, clients, managers and supervisors. Most workplaces conduct mandatory training to attempt to clean up everyone’s behavior and publish page after page in handbooks about how to conduct yourself appropriately.

In the other world are the people who seemingly never get the message, who don’t control their comments or behavior and yet are very adept at skirting the consequences.

The right thing to do is to say something, even if the racism isn’t directed at you. Here’s how you should handle racial discrimination at work:

Recognizing racial discrimination

Anyone can be a target of workplace racial discrimination, which, in general, takes two forms: Direct and indirect. 

SPONSORED
Direct racial discrimination is overt and clear, such as racial slurs or jokes, harassment, bullying or physical threats
Indirect racial discrimination is subtler, and includes race-based inequities in pay, job classification, promotions and layoffs. Being denied certain benefits, such as training opportunities or the ability to work flexible hours, if those are extended to your peers and not to you, could also be fundamentally racist

What is the best part of working at the company?
Obviously, the kids are the most vital draw in being a teacher.  Some are precious, and some make your teaching days challenging, but they are the reason we get out of bed in the morning.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The Human Resource Department with Norfolk Public Schools is a nightmare.  They are the #1 cause of teacher shortages in the city.  They hardly ever communicate with you.  For nearly a decade, I witnessed horrible behavior.  They ignore phone calls, emails, and refused to see me in person when I drove to their offices.  Only 2% of the staff are doing their jobs.  They have ruined the careers of multiple teachers due to their failure to act, and have lost many other teachers to other school districts due to their unprofessional behavior.  The worst part is that there is no accountability.  There are no compliance measures over them, so they are able to do these evil things unchallenged.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
In a large part of the individual school buildings, gossip and cattiness dominate.  Unbelievably, the "adults" are typically worse than the actual children.  However, some locations are better than others, depending on the standards set by the administrators.

Let me start off by saying the job itself is not bad. It's actually a very fun and fulfilling job. Great benefit and paid summer, breaks and holidays off. I have great coworkers, management and students. My only 2 complaints is the pay and the building age. My first year working for NPS, the teacher I worked for left within a month of me starting. So I sub the class for the whole school year alone. The second year I was paired with a teacher who was hardly in the classroom. So my first 2 years I was doing teacher work without teacher pay because I am a para. Para's hardly make even half of what teachers make and we do almost the same things. I get that a teaching license is key but I have a bachelors degree...that's got to count for something.

The building I work in is pushing 70 years old. There's asbestos in the floor. Admin says it's fine unless cracked but mostly all the floors are cracked. It doesn't help that contractors were tearing up and replacing the floors while students were in school...which is a thing at Norfolk public schools...they think that it's better to renovate rather than to build a new school. Coming soon, new windows! :D Just replace the school already for the love of GOD. The school is literally falling apart.

A typical day of student teaching in the Norfolk public schools can look very different depending on where you are at. in the elementary it is very high energy. The class times are short and we try to maximize the students learning by packing as much activity in as possible. The coworkers are very friendly and willing to collaborate. In my experience at the high school it has more of a laid back feel. At that stage the students are becoming more self sufficient and given more freedom. Part of the time the students are also in the classroom environment for health and I really enjoy teaching that subject. The hardest part of the job is in the beginning when you don't have the years of experience and lesson plans on file. It is time consuming to test your methods out to see what your style is and you are build your curriculum that you will have for the rest of your years teaching. The most enjoyable part is making a difference in the lives of the children. The majority of my students enjoy physical education and it is so fun to help them learn and grow.

Many of the companies and business that I worked with where outstanding involving the atmosphere and the other employees. I experienced a feeling of family devotion which made me wanted to give them 110% of my work ethics. Another valueable thing that I learned especially in manufacturing is its imperative to care about the quality of your work. As a supervisor I would always inform my employees that you may not buy the product but the quality of your work determines your job longevity. If you give the consumer defect products than they will not patrionize you again. My motto was make the product as if you were going to purchase it. The most enjoyable part of the job was working and motivating my employees. Happy employees give you the best work.

Norfolk public schools in general is a great place to work. There are plenty of opportunities to learn née and exciting ways to teach through professional development . The Admin.offers a variety of classes on those days. The teachers and staff at my school are some of the best professionals I’ve seen. They work hard and are focused on making every student successful. It is so very easy to work along side the Principal and AP.  They are a huge factor in why our school is successful. Best part of my job is working alongside them and interacting with the parents of all students through my customer service. The only negative thing I would say is NPS does not have a high enough pay for the work I do to make the school successful. I am the first person staff and families see when they come in and I am responsible for all payroll, absences, securing subs, all budgets, credit cards, ordering, distributing, and coding . As well as Nurse in some days.. NPS does not have a good pay grade when it comes to its classified staff.

Urban school districts tend to get a bad rap from newspapers and word of mouth, however, I greatly enjoyed my experiences as a teacher in Norfolk Public Schools.  I always felt respected as an employee and was given the benefit of the doubt even when challenges arose as a teacher.  I attest the success to the school I was at and the administrator, both of whom were top-notch in the district.  The hardest part of the job was the management of the students and the paperwork.  If you don't want to deal with students who will "tell it like it is," I wouldn't recommend a school district like Norfolk.  But if you are patient and willing to give them a chance, you'll be surprised how much they can accomplish under the right instruction.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teacher 3 salaries reported	$58,883 per year
Paraprofessional 21 salaries reported	$15.91 per hour
Custodian 2 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Substitute teacher 4 salaries reported	$160 per day
Elementary school teacher 1 salary reported	$94,782 per year

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