teacher

elementary school teacher

school principal

substitute teacher

special education teacher

Washoe County School District

This organization has long had the reputation of being the worst place in northern Nevada in which to work. Your livelihood is seriously at risk, especially if you are over 50, and, unlike other areas of the country where school districts are municipal entities, you have to either leave the county or move out of state to resume a teaching career, most likely out of state, if you are terminated or forced out of a job. As a person who was wrongfully terminated back in 2008, I can better gauge the quality of this school district than others who have posted here with positive reviews. My experience was a nightmare the last two years, and, five years later, I have still not been able to get back on track and earn a full-time living.

At the time I worked there, nepotism and corruption were widespread and both still are to a great extent. People were typically hired for teaching jobs because of family or friend connections, with outsiders being relegated to taking the unwanted positions if they were hired at all. Then, if you actually landed a teaching job, you discovered all of the good administrators retired before all of these new "reforms" started taking place. I had some good ones, but then they retired and these people were replaced with unfit, even sociopathic, principals who never should have been hired with the district in the first place. You have utterly no protections from harassment from either these principals or HR, the latter of which was especially corrupt and regularly violated the law when I was there. You as a teacher, and likely as a classified employee, have to have an outside attorney to be able to even keep your job. The "unions" are completely worthless in protecting your job. The administrators, meanwhile, are protected to the hilt by WCSD and are merely moved around or are occasionally demoted when in fact they should fired when they mess up.

Teaching used to be a great career choice, but teachers are disrespected in this district and in others around the country. I am not the only one who has had a terrible experience with this district; there are many other teachers and former teachers who can tell similar or even worse stories.

A typical day would be the middle school setting, all the students come in and place there things in their locker, and check in with me before they went to their assigned classes. Then as the day progressed the students would come into and out of my classroom for behavior management, class work check up, and having the students work on the classroom projects and skills I have set for them per their individualized education plan, IEP. 
I have learned over the years that each child has their own personality that carries over and grows with them, therefore making each IEP different in their own aspect.  I have also learned that the parents are more apart of the intricate planning of their child’s education and future successes.
My classroom management skills come from working side by side with the best aides and assistants that have spent time learning about the students they work with, I try to match each aide or assistant to work best with the student and work in the classroom environment.
The workplace culture is very positive and helpful. The teachers are there for each other. 
The hardest part of the job is keeping the best employees because they move to different avenues in the district and also watching the students grow and move on to high education and never seeing them again. 
The most enjoyable part of the job when working in special education especially is that moment when the students understand a concept that has been taught and they can do it in their own. It’s an amazing feeling because you know that because their is a disability their ability to learn is still striving and growing. 

During school year cleaning my own sections, but work load is far too much, and doesn’t allow much time to get everything done, despite what Housekeeping likes to argue in disagreement. 

No matter how hard you work and how much you do, it goes unnoticed and isn’t good enough. They only recognize those they like. It’s all favoritism. 
And people only keep up appearances when it’s convenient, then when you are there working hard and doing 99.9% which isn’t good enough, they complain and want so much more. 

Management is one thing that I learned, simply cannot be trusted. This goes for Administration, Housekeeping, and anyone who is in a higher position than I am. 

Culture in the workplace is often very cutthroat and far too critical. The unions are useless, they either can’t or don’t do anything much for you. So you are wasting your time on getting them involved. They are just another body or entity in the room, much like a fly on the wall. Just present, not intimidating nor helpful. 

Hardest part of the job? 
Trying to keep your job, because it’s not guaranteed despite whatever they say about unions backing up their members. It’s a joke. 

Being alone, listening to music or podcasts while working, ability to transfer (but you have to make the interview first, by impressing these people, and get hired. Honestly, they want the perfect person who doesn’t exist. Being far too picky. If your teachers actually like you and have nice things to say, but Administrators don’t care what the teachers have to say anyways. 


My typical day at work begins at 7:00 - 7:15 am, although my contracted hours are 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. I usually leave work between 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm. I spend many "at home" hours planning lessons and completing all other aspects of the profession. My experience as an administrator and district-wide consulting teacher (mentor) as well has serving as a lead teacher for college Interns has provided me with many opportunities for increasing and "fine-tuning" my skills. 
I take advantage of attending seminars and taking classes that will improve my performance, therefore, I am considered "highly effective". 

Time management is of the utmost importance, therefore, I plan not only my work duties, but my personal time.

My workplace culture is generally positive, although, many teachers are feeling "stressed" with the requirements of the profession. We are in our second year of writing formal Student Learning Objectives that is now part of our evaluation. Hours were spent developing them, and many of us would like to simply "teach". If you are an effective teacher and do what is best for kids, you will plan for differentiation, formal and informal assessments, and meeting the Nevada Academic Content Core Standards.

Parents are very involved at our school, therefore, my communication with them is daily and/or weekly. I have a positive relationship with my parents.

The most enjoyable part of the job is assisting new teachers, and watching my students grow in their social/emotional and educational endeavors.

I cannot begin to tell you the problems with the Washoe County School district, I could be here for days. To make it simple it boils down to this. Our higher ups are glad handed yes men and women who failed as teachers and somehow failed upwards into the jobs they have. This is a district where the higher ups spend any waking moment with a magnifying glass on you while not doing even the simplest portions of their job responsibilities. It’s a toxic Cowboy culture where buddies are prompted over smart, competent teachers. This district almost always lacks logic or reason in terms of decision making and they make no effort to improve anything. You can’t say you work in a good school district when once a month the kids do not receive bus services despite how many kids depend on it. You can’t say you work in a good school district when the district has not given teachers more than 1 raise in 30 years. There’s a reason why kids don’t feel motivated to come to school or care about their academics, it’s because they have been given the worst education possible for as long as they have been in the school district. If you want to work in an environment where you’re underpaid, overworked, under appreciated and are surrounded by some of the nastiest and worst staffs you could imagine, come work for the WSCD. 

Everyday we set up the tables, garbage, snacks, and take attendance for the after school program. After fifteen minutes of snacks the children gets a fifteen minute recess. Then we guide each grade of students to their academic tutoring and we either help the teachers or manage to help parents at the cafeteria area. When academic tutoring is done after an hour, we have enrichment hour of fun activities. Each day will be different like, computers, outside activities, art, board games, science experiments, and etc. Finally, the last thirty minutes the children will have dinner and during that time the parents pick up their kids.
     Having patients is the key to success when dealing with about 40 to 60 children. Getting to know the children and being understandable helps to relate to their situations. Managing the program could be hard at times, however we make it through and work together as a team. Communication is the most important part when working with co-workers and handling many kids. It's fun working at an after school program cause everyday is different, sometimes it will be easy or difficult and love to make a positive difference to each children.

Been teaching in the district for 14 years. Had one school year with an amazing supportive administration at SSHS. The other 13 years were a joke ..lots of bullying  and gossip and intimidation among  some teachers and almost all of admin..( bulling is not just happpening with the students)  If you can join our district and change things for our students, please help.. if you are going to only contribute to the disturbing education of Reno Nevada, please don't.   Our principal at Pine once was giving a presentation on "Cultural Awareness.  Mr. B started out his  speech on cultural awareness by intending to help teachers become aware of the various cultures we serve. Completely unaware of showing his racist self, Mr B  began his cultural awareness speech with ..  " I would have brought an African-American person to make this presentation, but I couldn't find one that wasn't in Prison".   I will be leaving the district in search of a better education for my children and a better community ..

I worked at the Sparks bus yard. Management doesn't care about you as a person you just a number. Management will listen to your concerns but that's as far as it will go unless you do something wrong then they are quick to action. From top to bottom poor management. They are always worried about losing their jobs so we got the brunt of that. No pay raise in the last 4 years and with the school budget none in the future. If you choose to work here get your CDL AND GET OUT OR move to one of their other bus yards to avoid the politics. Management looks out for themselves if your caught stilling time you will be fired but if management does it it gets swept under the rug. Proven. Manager caught dead to rights taking a half hour to an hour a day for at least a year....nothing. Dispatcher did the same thing fired with 17 + years of service. No pension no nothing. They talk about seniority based....not. They only use it when it suits them. I hope the other departments in the school district are better. But this department...not good

As a secondary math and science teacher I have had the honor of working with some of the best professional educators in the business. Before becoming a teacher I worked in organizational leadership development. My experience has been that WCSD employs administrators based on social connections rather than leadership ability. The great work of many professional teachers is often impeded by fumbling administrators with backgrounds in home economics or physical education who can't read a data sheet or use proper syntax. Dedicated teachers work 50-60 hrs a week, yet receive ridicule and admonishment for not being able to move a students scores in 8th grade who has a 2nd grade reading ability. I love teaching math and science, and became a teacher and took a 50% pay cut to be part of the solution. I think the solution is to leave teaching and go back to a grateful career where I'm treated like an adult.

A typical day at work is flexible. I visit 5-8 teachers per day at their respective schools. I mentor General and Special Education Teachers teaching Early Childhood to High School aged children.
My duties include, but are not limited to:
Observing  teachers in the classroom and offering feedback.
Modeling lessons.
Writing lesson plans.
Writing IEP's.
Writing behavior plans.
Arranging and accompanying novice teachers on visits to veteran teachers.
Videotaping teachers and facilitating a reflection session.
Assisting novices in writing their long-term goals and short-term objectives.
Assisting teachers in meeting the expectations of their Administrators through the evaluation process.
Collaborating with Administrators.
Collaborating with various departments withing the WCSD.
Maintaining a confidential relationship with my mentees.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teacher 4 salaries reported	$58,500 per year
Elementary school teacher 1 salary reported	$52,509 per year
School principal 10 salaries reported	$104,970 per year
Substitute teacher 3 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Special education teacher 4 salaries reported	$65,729 per year

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