education assistant

elementary school teacher

high school teacher

special education teacher

general worker

Sioux-Falls-School-District

I was being ‘trained’ to be a lead clerical. They throw everything at you at once. They give you zero time to digest the information. I didn’t have anyone that could help me with everyday tasks. I felt like I was mislead when taking on this role. There was no guidance and I felt like I was set up for failure from the start. I asked for help several times and no one seemed to have an answer. Principles should be cross trained in how to do every single role in that school and this was not the case. The principles are not leaders and do not know how to manage their staff. It’s chaotic to say the least. There are a lot of things that were left out during my interview that I would be dealing with everyday. The parents at Garfield elementary are extremely trashy and hard to talk to. The school definitely caudles parents to make them less accountable. Ungrateful parents take advantage of this.  This school has a lot of kids that belong to parents that shouldn’t be allowed to reproduce. 

The work is easy, if you can move fast enough. My supervisor was really helpful, but the rest of the management didn't really say much to me. It was hard for me to finish my entire area every night, especially with my asthma and the cleaning agents. I tried to explain that to upper management, but they didn't seem to understand. There's no food provided, although sometimes a teacher will leave us some chips or donuts or something as a thank you. There are plenty of fast food places nearby, and there's a fridge if you bring something from home. The main drawbacks are how particular upper management is with cleaning, how inflexible the work hours are, and the lack of communication between my two supervisors/the principals and the school district management.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I loved my job. The insurance benefits in the SFSD are some of the best.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The administrator in the building I was assigned to caused me the most stress in my job.  You never knew exactly what version of her you were going to get.   Due to this, there is a ton of turn over in staff in that building.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The SFSD always expected more and more of everyone.   There were more and more meetings and duties assigned.   If your administration didn't like you, they would just assign you more duties. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Non stop.   I would often have students from the start of the student day to the end only with an30 minute lunch break

Typical day entailed cleaning an assigned area including halls, bathrooms, and classrooms.
 Learned to use a variety of machinery including carpet extractor, auto-scrubbers, small tractor for lawn care and snow removal, among other various machines.
 Management did a good job of working with staff for any issue that came up.
 The job includes work with people of all different backgrounds including your peers, teachers, other school staff, and management.
 The hardest part of the job was the physical demands. The most enjoyable was being able to work at my own pace within my schedule to complete the tasks at hand.

I am a life long learner and enjoy the atmosphere that the Sioux Falls School District provides for the students and the staff. 

The best part of the job is interacting with students on a daily basis. The staff all the way from custodians to Principals to Administration  is always caring and professional in every school that I have had the opportunity to work in. 

The hardest part of my job is not  being able to help students beyond the classroom setting. 

It is by far the best possible place to grow as an individual and as a team member.

There is a lot of support out there for the teachers of the district. However, you have to go looking outwardly if you want it to continue beyond the first couple years of check ins. I found there is a fair amount of red tape that limits what teachers can do. At times, I found that teachers will walk on their own path and do things that they feel is right without ever asking for permission or guidance. While this is not the end of the world, for a young teacher, this leaves us to wonder what we can, can not, should, or should not do for our students' learning and for our own support and well being.

Unless you worked for AP students or were friends with admin, you were walked all over. Students threatened each other and staff.  There were daily fights in the halls, bathrooms and Cafe and teachers were concerned for their safety. Many AMAZING teachers have left the district and went elsewhere were it was safer and they could teach.  Unfortunately,  teaching was rare.  It was putting out fires upon fires.  I was part of the union, it was at every building. It's so disappointing and disheartening. 

The school has a grand ideas of being something more than itself, but has trouble rising above the mundane of any school district. With rigid standards and constant testing, the school fits any one of a number of outdated education practice. The pay is very good for the state of South Dakota, but still way lower then what is required to get the teaching job. My review is much more of a knock on the old ways to educate then the school itself.

The focus in the SFSD is about doing what is best for the students and families we serve. The principal at each building has a great deal of impact on the culture of that building. If you don’t fit in one building you have the option to go where you are a better fit. Subbing is a great way to check out the buildings before you accept a job. I love the diverse populations we serve in the SFSD. Teachers, Administrators, and Staff care about the students and their families!

What is the best part of working at the company?
There wasn’t anything that was enjoyable about the school district.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The pay is low, the expectations were unrealistic and there was no support from administration.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
You are treated poorly and not like a professional.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The amount of extra unpaid hours expected are ridiculous and the workload expected to be done in a day is unreasonable.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Education assistant 6 salaries reported	$17.76 per hour
Elementary school teacher 100 salaries reported	$56,808 per year
High school teacher 64 salaries reported	$56,654 per year
Special education teacher 102 salaries reported	$56,357 per year
General worker 4 salaries reported	$17.60 per hour

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