Social Studies Teacher (Fairbanks, North Pole: job openings, school district, moving to)

[HellyOle]

I'm moving up to North Pole next week to look for a Social Studies teaching position. Does anyone have any advice or experience teaching in North Pole?

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by HellyOle

I'm moving up to North Pole next week to look for a Social Studies teaching position. Does anyone have any advice or experience teaching in North Pole?

Well, be careful since the elves, although very short, can be mean! Sorry, couldn't resist

I will let somebody else answer your questions about teaching in North Pole.

[kittymama]

Did you check with the borough school district site to see if there are any openings? There are not always a lot of teaching jobs open here. The borough school district actually includes Fairbanks and Eielson too. You may have to sub for a year or two before you get a job. There is not a huge amount of population growth here. Job openings usually come when other teachers relocate, quit, or retire. Most of the teaching positions in Alaska are in the bush, which even though North Pole is considered rural by lower 48 standards, it is not by Alaskan standards. I wouldn't move to North Pole to hope to get a teaching job unless you had something fairly certain lined up beforehand.

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This is the borough website. You can click on employment and start filling out an application. Today, they have no high school positions available at any school and the only openings they have at all are a junior high math teacher and science teacher, neither of which are in North Pole. North Pole Middle is looking for a building sub and that would be your best bet to get into the system. However, even building sub positions can have multiple applicants here. My husband was a subsitute teacher last year and is certified to teach math and physics. He went to a job interview at a high school and was told there were 10 other applicants to be interviewed after him! This is a pretty competitive market and unlike other areas, there are not many schools. We are moving to Texas in a week to seek employment there. And yes, he may have to sub for a year there too (that is common when relocating to a new area, even for certified teachers), but there are just so many more possibilities over all in a bigger area. My husband's cousin is a certified music teacher and has been a building sub at North Pole for several years now. It's just that the best chance to get a full-time job is usually for someone to leave and that may take a few years.

Also, most teacher hiring here is done in March. If you are experienced somewhere else, you might consider applying in March and traveling to Alaska at that time for interviews, etc...

[HellyOle]

Thank you. I am in North Pole now and signing up for sub duty. I have some special ed training and may follow through on that. Appreciate your post!

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by HellyOle

Thank you. I am in North Pole now and signing up for sub duty. I have some special ed training and may follow through on that. Appreciate your post!

Welcomed to North Pole. The recent rains have made things much easier to see