technician

department head

architect

transportation safety manager

system engineer

Northwest-Isd

What is the best part of working at the company?
I am a current employee in transportation (school bus driver). I’ve worked for 6 districts since 2000 (including Fairbanks, Alaska). This is a very well run transportation department. It’s my top two. They make sure you’re well trained, they care about safety and the kids. 


What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Most stressful? Nothing like Fairbanks Alaska where they put new drivers on the worst route, driving on the side of a mountain, on a narrow road that angles towards the cliff, and the driver has never driven in snow or on ice roads before. 
I’d say that learning student management is the hardest for new drivers, and learning to watch your bus’ tail-swing. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
You can be a social butterfly with coworkers, or you can do your job and go home. Both are acceptable and you won’t be judged. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Typical day? Clock in at 6AM, do your pre trip on your bus. Do your route, I memorize mine, but there is a tablet with a map. The kids swipe in and out with their ID cards on the tablet too (or it can be done manually). After your route, you fuel your bus if needed. Do a post trip inspection of the bus, log it on the tablet. Mechanics are great at getting things fixed on the bus in a timely manner. Sweep it, take out the trash, wash it if needed. Go home around 9am. Come back at 2pm. Do your afternoon route. Pick up trash in bus, do post trip, and clock out around 5:30-6 (depending on traffic). 
Always doing a sleeping-child-check after every single school you drop off at AND after each leg of your route before you go pick up at the next school. 
 And, when you park your bus for the night.

I arrived to my room at 6:30 in the morning each day. I taught  between eight and nine small groups daily. Several groups consisted of students at different levels. Being organized is essential. I learned much from the school’s head sped teacher, the local and district admin, and the school diagnostician. She is the best in the district. The admin, teachers and staff work together as a well-greased machine but with a heart and as a family. The hardest part of the job is doing all the paperwork and coordinating with specialists who are responsible for a number of schools when doing progress reports. The most enjoyable part of the job is working with the students in small groups and watching them improve in their skills and abilities and in catching the vision that they, too, are valuable and have so much to offer their families, classmates, and world around them. This joy is what makes everything worth the great effort and sacrifice it takes to be a special education resource teacher. 

I love to work and interact with students.  You learn with them and get to know them.  I learned that when I first started working at the district, when you go to sub for those student, you have to be firm the first time those students meets you.  The way you approach them the first time is the way they are going to respect you; and once you see what kind of group of students you are working with, then you can be more flexible with them.  Never try to go against them when you are calling their attention, neither be rude.  Always being respectful with the student,  and follow teacher's and school district rules.

I would come to work early to work with the Diagnostician to update student records and accommodations, assist setting calendar for Special Ed and General Ed teachers for parent ARD meetings. I worked with students to ensure they were getting all necessary information to be successful as well as keeping all Special Education staff aware of any changes or updates to student's information. I also filled in as a backup teacher when substitutes failed to show up. When I taught the Business Information Management Systems course to eighth graders for High School credit they learned how to use Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint more in depth and professionally.

I received daily phone calls about open substituting positions that I could accept. Substitutes needed to be at the assigned school by 7:15 that morning. A typical day, after settling in, would be to locate the lesson plans for the day and all the materials needed. I would then great the students at the door as they came in the morning and introduce myself. The staff at all of the schools I have worked in are extremely friendly and willing to help at anytime. I covered the teacher's duties and was off by 2:45. I enjoyed seeing all of the different classrooms and participating in various classroom activities for all of the different subjects.

Everyday is a different substitute job at various campuses. I have learned classroom management skills, working with students with different learning styles and abilities.

The hardest part of the job is looking over the teacher lesson plan and be ready to teach it within 15 minutes. Some teachers are more detailed than others. Learning the students names and retaining that information is hard when teaching a different class each day.

I enjoy when they understand what is being taught and I see the look of understanding.

SPED paraprofessionals are underpaid for the amount of work they do. Moral can get very low because you do not feel fairly compensated for the amount of work you do. You are expected to do all your para duties but also extra duties that were not in your job description. Its would not be a bad thing but the monthly amount your get paid, plus the amount you have to pay for insurance. You can make more working retail. The people you work with at the campus are awesome and supportive but the powers that be really need to rethink paraprofessional pay. Its a joke. 

Northwest ISD is a very competitive and forward-thinking district with state of the art technology.  The most difficult part of the job was the lack of consistency and follow-through on discipline within our campus.  The amount of excessive paperwork also made it more difficult to contribute written feedback to each and every student.  The most enjoyable part of the the job was the personal connections made with students to support their individual needs.

I really enjoyed working at Northwest ISD and immediate supervisors. The workload got hard at times, but overall everything balanced out well. I would have liked more support from the higher ups in the department, but still very nice to work with. I feel like as employees advance up the chain they tend to forget their roots. 

Love the staff on my campus! District leadership needs revision and more leadership opportunities for those on campuses. Daily job/role often entails things that are not related to purpose of our role and it can become overwhelming at times. Also, monthly PD's are more recapping/planning instead of giving us new ideas or new speakers.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Technician 2 salaries reported	$62,640 per year
Department head 2 salaries reported	$72,226 per year
Architect 1 salary reported	$90,209 per year
Transportation safety manager 1 salary reported	$59,500 per year
System engineer 1 salary reported	$80,525 per year

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